I think I saw you out there. I was in a quinny freedom sport 500 fly fishing with my girlfriend. We got a salmon each. I wouldn't be surprised if what you lost was a salmon - the gf took a full 15 minutes to land hers compared to a usual less than 5 minutes and almost lost the rod in the process. I took a fair while on mine too. They are in very good condition, but we might just be out of practice - we were away last summer due to travel.