runners

[Rip-Plugger]

Has anyone here ever been spooled?,,if so give us the whole story,we want to know all the details,if you have time to share them.


R-P

[DarkSkies]

First albie experience.

Last year, 2007, went to Sandy Hook because I had a hunch they would be there. Driving down to moco, the high winds were rattling my truck. This was at 5am in the morning. You know when it's windy in the morning it's going to be a tough day.

I got to the lot, and decided to hang for awhile because it was so windy. I set up my one rod with a green deadly ****, #3 or 4 size (larger one). I checked all connections, tied it directly to a 20# flouro leader, carefully checked my knots. Made sure I had spare pre-cut fluoro coils in case bluefish came along. Then I set out with my surf bag and 2 rods.

Sometime after sunrise around 7am, I made it to the sand. As I was walking, the ferocity of the wind made me question my sanity. This was one of the days whe the wind was blowing sideways. Blowing steady at 25mph, with gusts up to 45.

I'm walkin out to the water, sayin I must be an idiot to fish this wind, no one else will be here. I get there and there were at least 10 other guys bundled up and casting in this crazy windstorm. :kooky:

The wind was so bad that as I walked out facing into it, I turned my back, and tried to lean as if I might fall down. I couldn't, the wind kept me upright. :banghead2:

The only positive thing is that the wind was blowing hard from the NW, which made casting off the beach a breeze. I set up in the que of guys, picking a place a little away from the crowd. At first, no one was catching, but they were casting and reeling like madmen. After about 15 mins, the first fish was caught, and it was on like Donkey Kong!:wow:

As soon as I saw that albie beached, I knew I had to get one too. There's a lot of different advice out there about retrieve and presentation for albies, but that day the guys using deadly ***** and reeling like madmen were catching the most.

And it ain't easy unless they are in a frenzy. Where we were fishing, you couldn't see albies or bait. If you walked by us, you might wonder what the heck we were doing, only one hit every 50 casts or so.

But what a rush, what a trip when one hit the metal! I was lucky, my first one was pretty big, 10 or 11 lbs, while some of the others were 6-9. Took half my line on the first run, and then made another run after I had it halfway in, almost as long. After that, it was tired. I brought it in quick.

The relatively large size of my first albie was enough to keep me hooked forever. I will always remember those powerful runs.

_____________


Bass -fall run 2008 - this wasn't a huge cow, somewhere 20+# class. I originally estimated it on the small side, because i didn't want to exxagerate. A week later I got one almost 21#, and reeled it in no problem. So the fish in the story below was probably a little larger. Not the biggest I ever fought, but one of the nicest fights. This time the fish won. :clapping:

When I got there, it looked dead, but I saw bait in the water. 2am - Rigged up with one of my 12" needles, wire leader in case bluefish around. First cast was such a perfect one, that needle cast a mile with the wind at my shoulder. Got it into the current, 10 secs later had a nice hit. I set the hook hard, and the fish took off.

No head shakes like a big bluefish, this fish just stayed deep, and steadily took line. After almost a minute, I see the I am about to be spooled. I know thisfish is moving with the current, and things don't look good. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't turn this fish, or even pump up the rod a bit to gain some line.

With limited options and the line almost to the end of the spool, I decided to tighten down the drag a bit. Line popped soon after, and I lost the fish and one of my favorite custom needles.:(

As it slowly sunk in that I lost what was probably a decent bass, I was disappointed in my efforts, thinking I could have done better.

I pulled in fish 14-16 lbs with that rod and 50lb braid, was always able to turn them. I pulled a 30 in this spring with that rod, but not in intense current. This fish was different, stayed low and deep, kept pulling drag, I could not turn it, and didn't have enough line to let it tire itself out.

I would conservatively estimate that fish to be a bass, somewhere around 20 or slightly bigger. No huge prize, but big enough compared to all the rats we are getting lately.

After that adrenalin packed experience, I got another fish on my 3rd cast, but it became unbuttoned. I spent 2 hours after that casting without a tap, that was it.

[voyager35]

We were out at the canyon at the end of last tuna season. There were squid in the lights, but no tuna on top. I snagged a big one and put it down 100 feet. 10 minutes later something hit the rod like a freight train, and spooled a Penn 50. It was amazing and frustrating at the same time. :burn:

We never got a look at a fish. One of my friends thought it was a big swordfish. The captain said it was a tuna over 300lbs. It took line like a tuna, so I'll go with the tuna story.

[Rip-Plugger]

these stories are what I love reading,I have a few and will post them.
c'mon guys.keep them coming!


R-P

[surferman]

Saw someone get spooled by a cow nose ray in cape may last week. At least we think that was what it was it took him down to the end in about 45 secs. I was wondering if it might have been a big shark but there were some older guys there who said it had to have been a ray. They said sharks are more common in the night or sunset times.