Last month, I fished Cuttyhunk with the CSA crew. We stayed at Pete’s Place Rentals. The fishing was fantastic. The catching was challenging. All of us hooked fish. Some of us landed fish. I lost the fish of a lifetime, for a second time!
On the third night, I fished with Mike Mullen from High Hook Lures and his girlfriend, Mary, at a spot fifty yards down from Heart Break Rock. After one hour and twenty minutes, at 8:20 PM, Mike yelled out: “Fish on!”. Having fished four previous tides without fish, the 32″ fish looked HUGE to me! Mike quickly released the fish after a quick photo and landed two more fish. Mary joined in and landed a fish as well. AT 9:00 PM, I walked up to Mike and asked if he had an extra of his stubby needlefish plug. He said, “No.” After he saw hope drain out of my face, he unclipped his stubby needlefish and handed it to me. I started to hike back to my spot when he said, “No! Fish here.” I was not going to question a surf sharpie. I perched myself on the rock he pointed to and began casting.
My first cast, nothing. My second cast, bump. On my third cast, fish on! OMG…what a fish. My 11 foot rod rated for 3 – 8 ounces was bent in a perfect parabola. The fish pulled line off my Zeebaas reel like the 40-pound drag was not set. Eventually, the fish stopped swimming towards Martha’s Vineyard. I tried to reel in the line, but I could not move the fish. It felt like I was pulling the ocean bottom. While keeping full pressure on the fish, I walked backwards up the rocky slope to move the fish in. After reaching the top of the slope, I systematically reeled in line as I carefully moved over the grapefruit-sized boulders to the water’s edge. After doing this three times, I could see and feel that the fish was in the last wave before the surf line. My confidence vanished in an instant after my line went slack. After swearing in multiple languages, I examine my line. The swivel, leader, teaser, clip, and plug were all intact. The hooks were not straightened out. I stood there in shock, motionless, staring into the surf. Mary walked up to me, looked straight into my eyes, and said without sympathy: “Go catch another one! Her words awakened me back into reality, and I began casting frantically. After what felt like 10,000 casts, I caught only pain in every joint in my body.
I replayed this scene in my mind countless times. Since my gear was fully intact, since I kept constant pressure on the fish, and since I only reeled in line after the fish stopped swimming, I can say with confidence that I got schooled by the fish. More specifically, the fish turned itself so that it was parallel with the last wave and used the strong undertow current to free itself.
