I was on lunch at a brand new spot fishing from the bank and really didnt expect to catch anything in the 30 minutes that I had on this new body of water. I had my favorite jig and trailer on and was slow pulling the jig across the bottom, doing small hops here and there, when it felt like i hung up on something. I applied a little tension and the rod started pulsating with the rythm of a swimming fish. I set the hook and the fight was on but i knew I set the hook bad and too late and within 2 seconds it came loose. I burned the jig back to me to cast it back out again, but when it got 5 feet from me, the water exploded and a bucket mouth attacked it. I couldnt believe it and like an amateur (which I am, haha) I sat there for a second in disbelief before setting the hook again. When I did set the hook, it didnt feel right and next thing i know the jig was flying back at me with two missing pinchers but no fish attached. I didnt bring any backup trailers because I honestly didnt think I would need them, so all i had was my other rod with a swimbait on it. I dont know how big that bass was, but it was big, and I could easily fit a softball in his mouth. I picked up my other rod with a new soft swimbait that i have been wanting to try, cast it out and start to reel it in. Nothing on the first cast, so I threw it out again. Half way back to me, I thought heck, try something new, so i decided to burn the bait like it was fleeing something and then paused to let it settle. Once I resumed after the pause, it was go-time. The fish went ballistic and took off. Stupidly, I quickly backed off the drag to let it run before I realized that i loosened it way too much to where there was almost no drag at all. Whats even worse, is that I recently put 30lb braid on it so I really didnt need to loosen the drag at all to beign with, lol. Anyways, after messing up the drag horribly, I couldnt even feel the fish on the line anymore and my string was just hanging limp. I didnt know what to do and I was so frazzled at this point that I couldnt think straight, so i started grabbing the line with my hands until i realized that all I had to do was retighten the drag, lol. I must have looked like a complete idiot standing there trying to do 3 things at once and not getting anything done. Surprisingly, the fish was still on after that little escapade of mine, and resumed a fresh fight as soon as it felt the tension between its lips. I finally landed him and he turned out to be what I think is close to my personal best. He wasnt as long, but he/she was FAT!!! I wasnt expecting to really catch anything so i didnt bring a camera or scale. I went to grab my phone out of my pocket and quickly realized that I left it in the truck as well. So i have no proof, no measurements of any kind, and nothing to backup my story, haha. Lesson Learned! That fish would have put me solidly in the tournament and I have nothing to show for it but memories. Those are whats important anyways, those never fade, they only get brighter.