It’s been a while since we hit the lakes due to quite a busy February and our boat trailer being out of action so we decided a well overdue day out would get us back into the flow and set us up nicely for March.

The morning had arrived and we decided to venture out on Lough Ramor, I had a feeling this day could be a tricky one with mixed weather forecasted. So the trick for the day was to troll with big lures for the day, but it never crossed my mind that there could be a monster or two lurking in the depths with some tricks up of their own.  We started trolling at 8.00am through choppy waters, I was using the Bass Harasser (Rainbow Trout/Planet Silver) and we were in areas that always produced but there was not a tap in sight not even off a Jack. We headed further down the lake and just as things started to calm down, I saw my rod hammering away in the rest, I had never seen my rod bend like this and for a moment it looked like it was about to snap. I grabbed hold of it knowing what was on the end of line had to be a whopper, I engaged and just as I looked back I saw the fish break the water. It was truly huge as it trashed the surface, leapt up and tail walked and all of sudden the line went slack and it was gone. I couldn’t believe it had gotten away, so I reeled in to reset up and when I pulled the bass harasser out of the water and checked it I was amazed at what I saw.  The Double hook on the Bass harasser had been twisted in ways that I would not have able to do without the use of a pliers and on the body of the lure there were fresh teeth marks that ran down the side of the lure. I showed Noel and we both looked at each other, there was a silence on the boat and it was evident what we were both thinking, no doubt it would have been a new personal best. What went through our heads even more, was the fact that we had lost a fish that could have been just below the 30lb mark on the Bass Harasser.  There was an air of disappointment surrounding the boat as we set up again and trolled on.

A fish was need more than ever now and we headed up towards a spot on the lake that always produces good fish. We trolled around for a while and just as I was letting line off I felt a sharp thump on the rod. I struck into what felt like a mid double and I reeled in. The Pike was not too far behind the boat now and just as it came to the surface, it flicked its head and threw the lure back at me. It even showed up at the surface a second later just to rub it salt into the wounds. I had been well and truly tricked and not just from the Pike as the heavens opened and a hail storm accompanied by high winds trashed the lake and made visibility a nightmare. We tried fishing for another hour or so but the winds and choppy waters proved too much to handle. We headed in, packed up and headed home thinking about what could have been. But not too worry we’ll be back out again soon on the hunt for the one that got away.