This wasn’t about the one that got away but the ones that didn’t.
So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. (John 21:11)
Not “about 150” but “153.” Why that exact number? Fishermen always counted their catch because their next stop would be to sell them. John said 153 because that is how many they caught. And because he was there! When you read the Gospel of John you are reading an eyewitness account written by a close personal friend of Jesus. Friends know friends better than anyone else. When John wrote his account of Jesus, he tagged it with these words, referring to himself in the third person:
This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. (John 21:24)
In the light of that, reflect on this other statement by John:
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)