When you lose the biggest, baddest fish right at the boat...

I had that experience with a Walleye or a Northern Pike. Never did find out what it was. It happened when I was a teenager in Michigan... I had just built my first fishing rod. It was an Sage ultralight spinning rod. I was shore fishing in an eddy on the Muskegon River that was known for really big walleye... one had been caught in that hole that was 46 inches.

I was casting a Mepps Spinner - one of the early Black Fury Yellowtails. I was bringing it in and it passed over a deep spot with a large submerged rock. Something grabbed it but I couldn't see anything so I thought I'd snagged the rock. Then I got a big thump...thump and I knew I had a fish on. I started pulling and then proceeded to watch a monster fish roll in my line - a typical trait for pike type fish. I only had 8lb mono on with an ultralight rod. So yeah, the line snapped. But as the fish rolled, I saw more than 2ft of fish, but saw neither head nor tail. The width of the fish I saw was a good 8 inches across.

So yeah, I've never seen a Walleye that big since, but I can still remember that scene as if it were yesterday. I can tell you where the sun was, what I was standing on, what the temperature was, what that rock looked like, the clarity of the water, the type of reel used, the size and color of the lure, and the color and shape of the fish... 30 years later.

You don't forget that kind of thing. Ever.