[JustinSolak]

So let me explain the situation here...

Did my research. Got on the water about 12:30am sunday morning. High tide. Beautiful. Crystal clear sky, high visibility, water like glass. Could it be better conditions?

Location: Undisclosed
Boat: 14ft Sylvan Classic
Gear: 7ft medium/heavy action rod. 40lb braid. Cabela's Saltstriker Baitrunner
Tackle: Fish finder rig. 3oz lead. 45lb steely. 8/0 Mustad O'Shaughnessy
Bait of Choice: Fresh Hickory Shad chunk

We anchored up right in one of my favorite spots. Rig up with fresh shad and toss out our lines at about 1:00am.
The weather is beautiful and my line isn't in the water 15 minutes before I get a feeling I'm not in the right spot, so I reel up and recast. This time a little more into the current. We're kinda waitin around for another 20 mins or so then finally, a bite!!
With my rod in the rod holder and my bait runner engaged, I had it just tight enough so the current didn't pull out line, but loose enough for a fish to be able to. My rod bounced a few times. Excited. Then it bent a little. Still excited, but not gettin ahead of myself. No line taken yet. Then a little ZZZzzz. That music to every fisherman's ears. The drag running. Just a little smidge though. So I grabbed my rod, waited for another tug, and yanked back.
I can feel some tuggin, I must have just merely pissed her off. My first thought: Alright, gotta fish right off the bat. Then, it happened...
The creature starts headin out. Right down current. Not much I can do but try and slow her down. I'm thinkin hey, she's got the current on her side. Til she took off with brute force. Line peelin off my spool in record time. I'm flabbergasted at this point, because I can feel my spool warming up. Few clicks of my drag to tighten it helped a little but it was ALREADY tight. Which a tried to explain to my buddy.
At this point, I'm out a LOT of line. We decide it's probably best to lift anchor and follow the beast, only to look around and realize she did that for us. We were drifted a good 150ft from where we were anchored. Maybe just a coincidence... So she drags us out, then drags us to the right, then back UP the current for some time (ass end of the boat first) then back out and to the left. A good 25 solid minutes have passed. Startin to get tired, but so is she. At one point, she was BELOW the boat in about 30ft of water. Her runs are gettin shorter, yet still as powerful. At one point, I saw my bright red backing.
Then again, a very powerful run. I'm hopin it's the last one. We shine the spotlight out only to see one of the few things every fisherman hates to see in his/her way while fighting the big'n. A god forsaken lobster pot. And she's headed directly toward it.
There was no avoiding it. Truth be told, you woulda thought she purposely wrapped herself around it. Inevitably, snapped my line. Bout 100 yards or so. Gone.

I've hooked some pretty big fish in my lifetime. None like this. Can't really justify that it was just an enormous striper. I had a steel leader. Never even gotta look at it. Coulda been a shark. 3 or 4 solid runs almost draining my spool of 40lb braid each time?
So I guess the lesson to be learned is this. If you think you're ready to handle any fish you hook into, you're not. If you think you're line is heavy enough, it's not. Not if you have a nice chunk sittin on the bottom. Never know what's gonna pick it up.
I guess you could argue that if the lobster pot wasn't there, I probably woulda landed it. You may be right, but if I had heavier line, I coulda steered her from it, or not let her near it.
This is gonna haunt me for quite some time. Definitely ruined my night. Long story short, It felt like a Volvo scooped up my line and tried to drive away with it and I lost it. Thats how I've been explaining the force of this monster.

Next setup. Steel cable with an electric winch. I'm not messin around anymore.

And we're gonna need a bigger boat...
_________________
...of all the liars among mankind, the fisherman is the most trustworthy.

Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught.

[PECo]

I wish that you coulda seen it, too.
_________________
Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

[DirtyDawg10]

Skip the anti-depression pills and get your ass back out there and catch it

That will cure depression quicker than any pill.

[fishfinder]

You didnt by any chance see a 9' Uglystick with a Okuma Baitrunner attached to it behind that fish did ya????? I had something similar happen the other night right before I caught that decent Bluefish I posted up. I dont have a lot of experience saltwater fishing but Ive caught a lot of fish in my days and the one that broke my line before that blue was MUCH bigger and like you she stayed deep enough to not show herself. There was a 4' Sand tiger shark caught in Milford just over the weekend so they are around just waiting to chop on our lines!
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/south/12001849470438/fisherman-catches-sand-tiger-shark-in-ct/ By the way, its 1 reason I use a reel with like 355 yards of line on there for that just in case day!
_________________
There's a fine line between fishing....

and standing on the shore like an idiot!

[catch&release]

I would say it was either a ray, or a bull shark
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Bad fish! Not like going down to the pond and chasing bluegills and tommycod. This shark, swallow ya whole. Little shakin', little tenderizin', down you go.

[JustinSolak]

A ray? How big do rays get around here? There's like 10-15 types of sharks up around this area. Well the north east anyways. Shyt, the state record brown shark was hit right off shore in old lyme. They're out there. Gonna grab me a conventional rod with 100lb test and a clicker. I'm talkin about sharkin'.

Do your research. Read some articles. There's a small number of guys who fish from shore for sharks along CT and RI. And they get em a LOT more often than you think. Wouldn't mind givin that a whirl, eh?
_________________
...of all the liars among mankind, the fisherman is the most trustworthy.

Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught.

[fishingkid]

Could have been a MONSTER bluefish maybe.

[fishingkid]

[asianfisher]

Ive gotten some 5 footer sharks last year...... they are big and fight hard.....

[DickVanPike]

with that setup, it was probably just a really nice striper. Have you ever caught a cow? I caught a 40lb striper a couple years ago and I was using a Penn Senator with steel wire and they are not easy to bring in...although its pretty exciting and really cool to think it could have been some sort of shark...

[slim2043]

I also would not rule out a monster bass unless you were fighting it for hours. There are some big ones out there
_________________
Never give up!

[catch&release]

I think the guy that caught the 81 lber today may be the one that got away from you! Check on the water there's a pic of the monster
_________________
Bad fish! Not like going down to the pond and chasing bluegills and tommycod. This shark, swallow ya whole. Little shakin', little tenderizin', down you go.

[fishfinder]

81 lb'er!!!! Good lord that is sweet!
_________________
There's a fine line between fishing....

and standing on the shore like an idiot!

[JustinSolak]

Saw that picture. 81.88 lbs. Thats a damn behemoth bass!! For sure, thats the one that got away from me. lol

I've gotten some pretty large bass. Same setup I use, which is why I never upgraded to heavier line. Never had a fish give me a run that hard for that long. Took out at least 250 yards of 40lb braid with my drag pretty tight. The speed of which the line was comin off, you woulda thought a still had my bait runner engaged.

Oh well. I'll never know what it was. But after doin some research, I'm gonna go ahead and think it was some sort of shark. Never came off the bottom, never saw it. Can only wonder.

Btw, if anyone catches a shark or a massive striper with about 100 yards of green braid attached to it, let me know. I want my hook back. lol
_________________
...of all the liars among mankind, the fisherman is the most trustworthy.

Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught.

[fishfinder]

It may also have a 9' Uglystick and bait feeder reel with it also. That fish is a swimming tackle store! Hehehehe
_________________
There's a fine line between fishing....

and standing on the shore like an idiot!