QUOTE=#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&;427833]I agree dave, but still there isnt much more than a couple weeks left tops, then, to me anyway...it just gets stupid to fish in ice cold conditions for yet one more 20lb fish that most likely isnt there anyway...I guess I catch plenty and there comes a time to hang it up for a season....I have been there and done that with the "suck it up" attitude...now I find there is no reason to, already have my share of nice fish...I dont need to be the last stick in the water..My lastgood night last year was November 12th with a 35lber, after that it was like someone flipped a switch but, that was enough for me...gonzo...schoolies was all that was left![/QUOTE]

I thought this deserved another thread.

I see this allot and it puzzles me! I can understand the person that can’t catch his first keeper staying with it until he or she is fed up. Then their is the person that does pretty well through the year, a few keepers here and their... Then we have the folks that kill them dead almost every time they go out. Nice fish twenties, thirties, and now and then a forty. For all the folks and the folks that nock them dead, what keeps you going out all the time? I know we all love to have exceptional day or night; however it sound like for some, it’s become Ho Hum!
What keeps you going out? Do you folks have any ambition to beat the size of the largest fish you have ever got? What is your inner real goal in this sport.
At one time my ambition was to take "one" fish over fifteen pounds.
WHAT KEEP YOU DOING THIS OTHER THAN THE SICKNESS?
Later, L

I think we all have the compulsion, its just when you get older or you have been at this a long time you just mature to a point where being the last guy on the water isnt nessasary...it isnt for me anymore. I love to fish maybe more than anyone but, I also fish almost 7 days a week from mid April until the end of October..I fish about 171 days a year or so ! I would say thats alot.

I also see no need anymore to subject myself to teen temps in mid november at night for yet one more fish..I used to do that...stem to stern until December 1st...I now just dont want to do that anymore.I certainly understand some doing it and do not knock it but...I want to fish somewhat comfortable now ....I have paid my dues...and I no longer consider 5 hours freezing my arse off and only one 25lb fish to show for it a good night by any means. But like I said, When I was in my 20s and early 30s I did it so its all perspective I Guess...I had a fantastic September and a steller October...For me its a matter of being more than satisfied.I have maybe 4 to 5 more night trips left in me and the conditions have to be absolutely fantastic for me to even think about going and at that I am not looking for teen or 20lb class fish..its cows or bust.After that its a couple trips to the Breachways for "old home week" and then I have to start thinking about family and holidays etc...

This discussion gets very old after awhile...the truth is the season ends when you want it to end..when you have had enough.I hate the "is it over" or "has it started " talk...just fish and start or quit when you want to...dont listen to the crap that there still are acres of fish up North and some anomoly is going to make those fish hug the coast and come to the cape and then rhode island etc....etc....etc.... thats the biggest line of bull I have ever heard...Like I said before those fish migrate under different conditions and different patterns...they are different strains cape fish and north shore fish are Chesapeke fish! There different in there patterns....Rhode Islands population along with CT Are hudson river fish and to some extent even Ct river fish...that place is becoming quite a breeding ground that people dont realaize...Right now those fish up north are for the most part school bass anyway...They head out past the nantucket rips and there gone...So this start and end stuff is crazy...its all talking head stuff and means nothing...Its over when its over...and thats when you have had enough!

I guesss you could say the season never ends...and fish for dinks all year long.

I love this time of year. My expectations are low and each trip becomes a gift to myself. Each fish takes on special value, almost like a friend. Alone in the clear crisp November darkness, watching that last good fish right itself and slide slowly out of my hands back into the night, I feel connected to something wonderful, and grateful to be alive.

the fall run, well it is a funny term.
fish move south they have to eat.
sometimes skipping whole coasts at a time
no bait no fish

the fall run is what you make it, first you have to find where the fish are and fish hard you may do really good, or you go skunked for weeks on end.
you can't catch what isn't there.

I hate the term "Fall Run"

lets call it what it is "migration" = the periodic passage of groups of animals (especially birds or fishes) from one region to another for feeding or breeding


Oh and by-the-way it's over :err:

I agree with George I love this time of the year. The way the sun lights the water and the crisp blue sky's. I spent the whole day Fri. on the water in Vineyard Sound and didn't see a fish or another boat and it was fantastic. I get kind of reborn after fishing all summer I get a second wind this time of the year like a whole new season is under way. I have already got my personal best and don't expect to better it, caught in the fall. I just like the quiet times on the water and the thought that you can get a large fish if you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Also the thought of no fishing for several months is motivation too.

I love this time of year. My expectations are low and each trip becomes a gift to myself. Each fish takes on special value, almost like a friend. Alone in the clear crisp November darkness, watching that last good fish right itself and slide slowly out of my hands back into the night, I feel connected to something wonderful, and grateful to be alive.

You make my point! nicely stated...Your outlook is a mature one and you enjoy fishing for the reasons you mention...Thats the best reason to keep going..But the "panic" of the tone in most people posts as to when its over is childish..Everyone fishes for different reasons..but at some point its just time to drive away and call it quits...I am in no way saying the season is over...there is certainly time left to hang a nice bass..what I am saying is ....who the %$%$%$%$ Cares...just fish for as long as you want to

....who the %$%$%$%$ Cares...just fish for as long as you want to

That about sums it up, can we stop talking about this now :huh:

My goal every season is this: To enjoy and appreciate every moment, day and night, out. Each and every one is a wonder if you're paying attention. And to be there when the last of the gannets chase the last school South, praying that I'll be here when they return. That's it. Everything else is a bonus. The end of the Season is a hugely melancholy time for me...

This is the type of thread that keeps me comming back to this site. Keep Fishing men and as Clammer use to say Enjoy what you have.

This discussion gets very old after awhile...the truth is the season ends when you want it to end..when you have had enough.I hate the "is it over" or "has it started " talk...just fish and start or quit when you want to...dont listen to the crap that there still are acres of fish up North and some anomoly is going to make those fish hug the coast and come to the cape and then rhode island etc....etc....etc.... thats the biggest line of bull I have ever heard...

Well said :claps:

In my opinion the fall run is simply overrated in terms of size. All my bigger fish have been cought from June-September. I do love the feeling of catching fish when the temp is dropping although.

I fish because I love to fish. It doesn't have to do with catching...it's the fishing. I keep going because fishing is part of who I am. If I stopped fishing I would die. I really believe that. Charlie Murat said he'd rather be dead than not fish and he died with a 25 on his line as the sun set on Nauset. Tha's the way to go when the time comes.
You keep going because there is always the challenge of the unknown.
Sure, there's always the shot at the biggest fish of your life and I am always prepared for the 50. NO, I don't have a 50! This is my 41st year of Striper fishing and no 50. 2, 49s...no 50. So that challenge is still on the board and, quite frankly, I don't care if I ever catch it.

I have had a great year. Got out of the surf in July due to health reasons and caught a ton of 20 and 30# bass in my boat for the first year. Had a lot of mid 20# fish in the surf up until then. So Sat night I was in Narragansett in a 40 mph wind with my surf partner... in the surf. I wasn't there because I needed 1 more fish. I wasn't there because I was looking for my 50. I was there because it's part of my very being to go out in late Oct, get on the "edge", be with friends and ....FISH:wid:

I love being out there, I just love it. I love the sound, the smell, the serenity of the ocean, and the pounding of the surf. I stay out there as long as I can, because the winter is long and cold:tooth:.
But once I put the rods up for the season , that's it. And that is when I see the seal heads bobbing in the water,:laugha:.
I see it as enjoyment, if one thinks they got it too bad, lol, find a twelve step meeting. lol again. It's what we do, that's the way I see it.

as others have said it is the love of the outdoors that keep me going. i grow up in the early 60's fishing with my father on a boat we fished year round when our boat was put up for the winter we continued to fish on party boats for cod and whiting. then spring for mackeral . if i still lived near the water i am sure i would continue to do the same even if the results were negative.now adays i ski when i hang up the fishing gear so i am still out in the weather year round

An Angler's Prayer

I pray that I may fish until my dying day,

and, when it comes to my last cast;

I then most humbly pray,

when in the Lord's great landing net

and peacefully asleep;

that in His mercy I be judged

big enough to keep.

Same thing that keeps us all goin', addiction. I just can not stop. Last year we hammered big fish until mid November. This year, who knows. Late friday afternoon was good for many fish in the 30# class. Granted those aren't big fish, but they were pullin' nice drag. The 50s pictured are from Nov. 1 last year. Can't stop now!

I think what keeps me comming back is you never know what the next cast will bring. No one on this site will ever be a pro-ball player or join the PGA. But, anyone on this site can or has caught a 50+ cow. And that's whats keeps me comming back each year. Like what Fishing Freaks Avator says..."you get what you deserve"

INTHERAPY, Congratulations, those are a nice set of twins!
WoW! A thread with no bashing. So many great things keep us coming back. Air, smell of the exposed sea weed on the rocks at low. The sun and moon rises and sets. Eerie nights with fire in the water. Northern lights. The anticipation, of the coming trip. What it will bring.
And that dam part that you never know what you may hook into!
Its addiction for me. I am living the dream and the quest that I have put upon my self. I love every minute of it. I live to do it, and I still find my self on some nights asking, what the hell am I doing out here. To get up the next morning, the first thing I think of is that dam fish. Every time I go out is like the first time I am going fishing! It feels that good. I must say I do not release all my fish; I take some for the table. I don’t commercial fish any more and if people do it I am ok with it. I do love releasing large fish to go back. I take the small ones home. I have said this before, I grab them by the lower Jaw, support their midsection, kiss them on the forehead, look them in there black eyes and say, you need to be more careful the next time, and let them go.
I love it!
Later, L

To me its not even neccesarily catching another fish, its more the fact that I will be able to rest assured through the loooong winter , that I tried my best, and didnt miss anything. The fall is simply magical, I dont want to miss one second of it. Once its gone you dont get it back.

[QUOTE=LINESIDES;429019]INTHERAPY, Congratulations, those are a nice set of twins!

Its addiction for me. I am living the dream and the quest that I have put upon my self. I love every minute of it. I live to do it, and I still find my self on some nights asking, what the hell am I doing out here. To get up the next morning, the first thing I think of is that dam fish. Every time I go out is like the first time I am going fishing! It feels that good.

LINES, those aren't my fish but those of a buddy I had shared some fishing numbers with. Congrats to them.
Every night before fishing is restless and every trip is "going to be the best trip ever." I wish I had as much passion for most other things in my life as I do for fishing.