burg,
Are you sure that wasn't just a grey bass with whiskers?
All seriousness aside, I believe you. I've caught some spunky ones myself that broke water, but never quite got up.
My wife once caught a 6 pound blue, and we put him on a stringer. Well, there was a huge commotion at the stringer, and I checked to see if he was still tied on. Well, he was still on the stringer alright, but he was really torn up. Looks like a REALLY big cat nearly swallowed him. Now that fish would have been a fight!
