So far I've never boated a hawg. Last Sep. I had the most outrageous day when I fought over and over and over nothing but what must have been HUGE fish. My first hook up of the night clues me in that I probably never even really got a hook set because I had a fight going on and when it got off I reeled in and discovered I had not removed the plastic hook protector on my Storm swimbait. The fish fought like crazy and never even had a hook in her. I was only using 8# test and a medium powered spincaster as I was certainly not expecting anything near this size of fish. I broke line trying to set hook on these fish several times. If the line didn't break, every time I had them within a few yards of my tube they would get off. I'm now convinced they never had a hook in them...that's why they never surfaced and tried to throw the bait. By the end of the night I had blisters on my hands and bruises on my belly from one fantastic fight after another. Went back two days later with an 8' backbouncer Loomis and got nada. So yeah, I think I know how you must feel.