I thought I would wait to see how many others had lost rods to this sort of freight train attack before I put my 2 bob in.
Firstly the story, unbelievable, what perseverance, clever man, thinking on your feet under duress. Champion effort, as mentioned, a story to be regaled over and over again. Excellent reading.
Anyway, a few years back I was live baiting for Papuan Black Bass using telapia, in the upper Galley Reach in PNG using GB1706 with Abu 7000 loaded with 24kg. The rod was left in free spool with the ratchet engaged leaning against the gunwhale, the familiar zzzzzzzzzzz went off and I reached for the rod only to knock it over, unfortunately knocking it out of freespool, only to sit there in amazement at the speed that the outfit went over the side of the boat into the water - like a rocket. All I could do was to look over at my mate, grab another beer from the esky, and sit there in silence.
Definately a candidate for POM.
Cheers