Really Stupid

[mike234]

Today went fishing with grandson and he caught a really nice 6 & 1/2 LM Bass on crankbait. Put it in livewell and he immediately wanted to return to his great grandparents home on the lake to show them his fish.
We tied up at the dock and I was taking fish from livewell. As I cleared the top of the livewell with the fish and started to stand up the fish started twisting and flopping hard. I did not have a very good hold on his lower lip and fish twisted out of my hand, hit the rear deck and flop, right back into the lake he went.
I really do not think I have felt any worst about anything. I felt about 1/2 inch high and am still upset.
Have any of you even come close to doing anything so stupid while fishing. I guess the worst part was he said "Thats alright Papaw I will catch another one".

[bamabassman]

Mike...i did the almost the same thing to my brothers fish a couple yrs ago. He caught a NICE bass, about 8 pounds. The net was right there, but in my excitement i didn't get it. i tried to lip it for him. He got it to the boat, i reached down to lip it, fish jumped, fish gone. Yeah, he STILL talks aobut it too. But now it was a 10 pounder, lol.

Kids are great. Him saying he'll get another one was real sweet. That is a very good grandson you have there. Be proud of him mike.

[Old Hooker]

Hey Mike, take it easy on yourself. Unless you are one of the pod people, you're human, and humans make mistakes. It happens to us all. Your grandson didn't seem to be too bummed by it, and now you have that much more reason to hit the water with him.

[66KingFisher]

Kids are real forgiving about stuff like that, so don't let it get ya down.....We've all done something simular.

I remember my little brother catching a huge bream when we were very very young.....Grandpa had taken us fishin in his pond and was thrilled by his big catch....but little brother couldn't leave the fish in the bucket we were using as a livewell, and he begged Grandpa to "give the fish a drink" from the pond.....Granpa broke down and did as he asked....Only as fate would have it the fish managed to wiggle out of his hands and was gone in an instant......lol.....I know Granpa felt bad about it, but little brother didn't make a big deal out of it, and pretty much told him the same thing your grandson told you......I think Grandpa told that story to everyone he knew for the rest of his life, and while he always felt bad about what happened, he laughed and laughed every time he told the story.

[cassidyta]

I know that it doesn't compare to the having it happen with kids/grandkids, but I did that in tournament once. Trying to get the fish from the livewell into my weigh bag. I just stood there looking at the water as though it would come back

[walkeraviator]

I was 10 years old fishin on Kentucky Lake with Dad. We came back in to the cabin for the night, and were taking the fish to the cleaning station. I managed to drop two 3 pounders, they bounced off teh dock and into the safety of the water. I felt awful. Had to eat spaghetti that night.

[mike234]

Wish I had not weighed it so would not really know how big the bass was.

[Chancho]

Let not your heart be troubled, friend. Youngsters know what's important and it wasn't so much the fish as it was just fishing with you.

A few years ago I was in a club tournament on Smith Mountain Lake. My partner and I rode past another club member who started waving us over. When we got there, his arm was inside his livewell and he had a big smile. As we trolled closer, the other member started to pull out a donkey of a fish. It must have been 7 pounds. When the fish cleared the livewell, it gave a massive shake and proceeded to break dance across the dude's deck until it did a perfect triple lutz and a swan dive back into the lake. The three of us just sat there in silence for awhile. What could anyone say, really?

[coachpurdy]

I learned a hard lesson when I first started to get serious about bass fishing. Three of us were fishing out of a john boat and one guy hung a 10 pound fish. He got it to the boat and asked me to get it for him. As I reached for the line to steady his head so I could lip her, I heard "don't grab" , but it was to late. The line snapped and he lost the fish of a lifetime. I felt terrible and he was mad as heck. It was pretty tough going to work with every day and having to hear about it almost everyday.

[bcklash]

Mike I bet you are still the greatest grandpa on earth

[3dkicker]

You took him fishing and he caught a good bass. Those are great memories right there. What more do you need? You and he will always remember the one that got away.

[woody]

The guys are right. The memories are what's important.

One day when your grandson is all grown up, he will look back at this moment and say to ya, "Grandpaw, I wouldn't of wanted it any other way!"


-Mark

[96ecss]

Don't feel bad about it. Spending that time fishing with your grandson is more important than that fish. Childhood memories last a lifetime.

How about losing the Bassmaster Classic by 2 ounces because of dropping a fish?

I took this:

Hank Parker wins his second Bassmaster Classic title, this time on the James River in Va. His margin of victory is just 2 ounces, and he is propelled to the top spot after a keeper bass is accidentally dropped into the water by runner-up Jim Bitter.

From here: http://www.theb*******s.com/e107_plu...hp?content.113

Dave