Ever hooked a fish only to lose it and watch someone else catch it?
This happened to me on the weekend and wonder if it's common.
There were big queenfish everywhere, I hooked up almost immediately and as usual the queenie raced around being silly. A mate at the back of the boat sees all the action and lets rip with a pathetic cast right over the top of me, in fact not much past my rod tip. I'm tangled with an aerial popper at the front of the boat, the queenie's under the boat somewhere near the prop, my mate at the back is laughing.
Next thing I'm busted, no fish no popper no leader. Old mate at the back is now onto a good fish?
By the time I get to the back there's a popper off his rod tip, a metre of my braid, my trace, my lure,and a big queenie foul hooked.
Mate reckons I'm a useless fisherman and he's fantastic, can catch fish without his popper ever getting in the water.
The guy in the photo is not the culprit, the thief was too weak from laughing to hold up his (my) fish.