I went fishing around the dana point area christmas eve in perfect conditions. I had two 7 foot rods with 40lb braid and 40 lb fluoro carbon leaders, fishing with anchoives and dines... Me and my brother had about 6 to 7 combined calico and sand bass on the boat by the end of the day all released even the legals....but my question is about the 4 times we hooked up with something massive and each time we got an empty hook back... two of the 4 fights were 45 minute fights and then BAM, line comes up with evrything intact...I dont know what fish we were fighting, but it didnt move side to side just stright down , slow pulling ....
Were we not trusting the rod and reel enough and 45 minutes is too much time or was i not using the right hooks..(octopus hooks) maybe I should only use circle hooks???...I was expecting the line broken after a long fight but not the hook back intact FOUR TIMES in a row...it was like we kept getting another chance at this fish 4 times...please give me some info if you have it I want my revenge on what ever it was.....Does it matter how long the fight is because I thought I should just let it go for hours tiring it self out...thanks in advance for any tips...