Hey wishin? Did the small eye you caught not trip the dipsy release? You should loosen the release screw a 1/16 of a turn at a time. Everyone hates losing fish at the boat. It's the worst feeling. They see the boat and start thrashing, usually just out of net range. My buddy laughed at me for my net size, but it works. What I use is a double extension, (10ft) big hoop net. Like Muskie net size. That way I can reach way out and the net size makes it easy to get the fish in on the first shot.