10 Second Panic Attack....

[Sandy Bay]

Early one Fall AM two or three years ago, I set up a brand new (cheap, but literally never before used) rod and reel combo in a spike on a small beach in Rockport. It was close to the H2O, but the tide had turned, and the surface was very calm. I then turned to hoof it down the beach a way to set up another, when I suddenly heard a noise behind me. Turning quickly to look, I discovered that the whole bloody setup had vanished! I sprinted back the few yards to where the tackle had been, only to find the empty spike few feet offshore, on the bottom, pointing straight out to sea.

Like a jerk, I'd never adjusted the drag when I set the rig up, only to find out the hard way that it was apparently on tight. A local guide whom I talked to about it told me that a bass as small as 10 lbs. could manage that trick. I hope so; I'd hate to think that it was that first 25 pounder that I'm still looking for!

...painful, painful drag-setting lesson learned.

[numbskull]

Sometimes luck is against you, sometimes stupidity rules instead.

Sauerkraut likes to troll Lake O in the early spring solo for big brown trout. When he hooks a fish clearing lines can be an issue. So he had the brilliant idea of clipping a marker buoy to his other rods and throwing them over the side to get them out of his way. One sweet custom UL rod and Diawa SS reel later he now does it differently.