hays47, you must be a Zane Gray fan (opined).
I have one of those kind of stories. Only the embarrassed was myself. Have a cousin who is so-so about fishing unless its walleye. This was years ago as I had just started using slip bobbers for walleye. Ray , the cousin I mentioned, refused to use any kind of bobber.
I boated like 4 keeper walleyes and maybe twice that many shorties. It was windy as all get out. Bobber would disappear and would have to wait a wave or three. To ensure it was actual bite. Ray had only caught a few panfish and finally was talking like he might want to try the slip bobber method. While instructing him how to set one up noticed my bobber was down and gone. Line was just starting to tighten up all the slack.
I set the hook and the " fight " was on. My long nine foot rod just about doubled. The " fish " was headed toward the west side and we were close to the east. To this point the biggest walleye I had caught that day was maybe 4 LB. I opined that this one had to be a ten pounder. No sooner did I open my mouth about that. The " fish" started to rise about 15-20 foot from the boat.
My prize was about a 20 foot half inch cable. The hook came loose when it ran out of length. For the rest of the day my ears got burned about my 20 foot "walleye". My only revenge was he never did get a walleye that day.
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hays47, you must be a Zane Gray fan (opined).