Congratulations on the cow, Larry. The reason for its deminished fighting
capabilities was probably the warm water in which you caught it. I've
noticed that most of the larger fish (34 - 36") which I've caught in areas
where the water temperature was fairly warm, did not seem to fight very hard.
They never even got into my backing. The fish I catch in relately cooler
waters seem to fight much harder. You really seem to notice the effect on the
Brewster Flats where the outgoing water is usually quite warm and the
incoming waters from Cape Cod Bay are much colder.
That probaby explains how McReynolds landed the 78# striper in NJ on
pip-squeak tackle.