A while back, I posted something about how getting skunked was as important to enjoying fishing as hitting it right.

This am, while waiting for the shower (which I do use....in the off season), I opened Reading The Water to page 174 where Francis Bernard talks about his 64# bass (which, to my delight, he reports catching right after Sauerkraut left). He mentions the time he puts into fishing, and how if he catches a fish for every five hours he puts in he is "lucky".

No big deal that, but he then goes on to realize how that is the very thing about striped bass that keeps him fishing. As he puts it.....

"I like the challenge of fishing so much that if I could catch fish every night, I wouldn't go fishing that much. If I know I'm going to catch two or three bass every night, I may not want to go. I'll skip a night. If I go two nights and don't get any fish, then I feel challenged. I say "I'll get you. I'll outsmart you. I'll find you." "

The challenge, not just the catching, is what keeps it fun. Something to think about as you plan for the season ahead.

hog wash! i have been fishing for a very very long time, although the challenge of catching is fun, catching fish every day is too, your focus of actually catching now switches to how big of a fish can i catch good fisherman keep themselves challanged, where is that illusive 50. so i would dis agree with that.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

It is fishing not catching......

IMO -

There are many "degrees" or "levels" to fishing...and I'm not talking about skill levels here...

I truly believe that everyone's perception of "fishing" is different. As much as it may appear to be similar (especially when discussed on an internet board), or someone who thinks that they want to fish like someone else, or for the same reason that they think someone else fishes for...they are still different. So much so...that to some, arguments, disagreements, or simple misunderstandings or misconceptions, will always occur.

Everyone fishes for a different reason. As similar as each person's reason may appear, it is still an intimate feeling which is often difficult to describe in words, at least for me it is. Some of us will never understand the other person's meaning of why they are so passionate about fishing.

I used to fish for quantity...then quality, then quantity of quality.....then I forgot why I fished at all. I believe that once you've completed that cycle and returned to your root of origin, that is when you truly enjoy fishing for your own personal reasons. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I've fulfilled each category while that was my target, I do not hold any world records, but mentally or psychologically, ...I think I'm in a happy place.

:confused:

a thread with a positive tone...I love it :uhuh:

Life's a journey...not a destination. Same goes for me with fishing. If I walk around telling myself that I'll be happy when I accomplish this or that then most likely I'll have a difficult time enjoying the moment that I am in.
Some of my favorite times fishing are when I am "hunting"....driving to spots full of anticipation, retrieving my offering waiting for the strike or talking to friends planning a trip......catching the fish is a bonus.

I think the challenge is always there, just sometimes there are more fish around. Sometimes your rewarded with fish and others just a night out. For me it is very rare that I don't feel like going out but when bigger fish are around it's more like I just can't wait to get out. Plus when there are lot of fish around it is a time when I can get my wife and daughter to come out. One thing I don't ever remember thinking is no need to go out tonight because I can always catch fish tomorrow. When fish are around :jump1:

....driving to spots full of anticipation, retrieving my offering waiting for the strike or talking to friends planning a trip......catching the fish is a bonus.

this can be a big part of it.
Heading offshore with a 4hr steam south is full of anticipation; rigging, checking knots, discussing the spread and the location of the warm water. watching the spread knowing the split second of pandemonium that can erupt from apparently dead water and the subsequent nonstop scream of the drag of a doubled up 50. or drifting in 400 fathoms on a pitch black night with dolphins doing acrobatics out of sight all night

Catching fish is just a (Fuel money) bonus...

That being said, I'm a bit jaded in the surf, and not due to over-accomplishment. I annoy easily with stupid people mishandling undersized fish, and have largely stopped fishing the april run of bass.

I stopped going to the shows for the reasons mentioned above; impersonal and crowded. I can see who I really want to talk to in person locally, and buy less and less gear every season....

If it were just about catching we would just put a net across the river.

It is much more than that. And though the winters are long I like them. This gives you time to build and prepare and dream of the season ahead.

My sub .300 average(and falling) keeps me coming back for more punishment, no doubt.

This past season in particular opened my eyes quite a bit with regard to simply enjoying it and leaving the scale/tape measure/contest thing in the rear view at certain times. When your only expectation is enjoyment(although catching raises this level) you are seldom disappointed.

and buy less and less gear every season....

This is simply due to the fact you're likely buying more formula and diapers.:laugha: Trust me, things will even out eventually.

That is basically how I go about my life, although it is not the most healthy way to approach things, especially for your luved ones. Once something gets easy or I feel like I know most of the answers I loose interests. I rarely get that totally satisfied, accomplished, feeling while fishing and I am usually glad and better off from a fishing perspective for it. I find the thing I like most about fishing and what has kept me interested for such a long time, after being out among nature, is the challenge, and I am challenged most times I fish. Being extremely stubborn helps too. The gentleman is spot on as far as I'm concerned.

Diapers yes. Just milk, no formula now.

Sounds like excuses from guys who can't catch to me.












Seeing as how I made a thousand mile trip and I'm not sure that we caught a fish last fall. I agree, it's not just the fish.

More to the comments Numbskull cited about being able to do it every night...living in Franklin I'm close to an hour from every place I fish. If I lived closer and could fish with a lesser time committment, I'd likely appreciate it much less.

In order to drive an hour plus each way you have to be pretty fired up about doing it, IMO, particularly if its the middle of the night and you lose sleep, family time, and some sanity tryng to make everything balance out.

The pond just up the street from me is of little interest simply because its so close and easy.

That is basically how I go about my life, although it is not the most healthy way to approach things, especially for your luved ones. Once something gets easy or I feel like I know most of the answers I loose interests. I rarely get that totally satisfied, accomplished, feeling while fishing and I am usually glad and better off from a fishing perspective for it. I find the thing I like most about fishing and what has kept me interested for such a long time, after being out among nature, is the challenge, and I am challenged most times I fish. Being extremely stubborn helps too..

X zackly. paul...only time i want it ez is when the girls r sleeping and i'm a selling...:jump1: it also helps 2b jaded in the head.:uhuh:....

There are many times during the course of a Canal season when I pass up the morning tides, even when I know they'll be tons of breaking fish.

I'd rather fish at night. Plain and simple. I like the (relative) solitude. I like the quiet. I like the fact that few people are going to crowd me, or cast over my head. I like hearing the water gurgling, hearing the nocturnal animals around the Canal, the fog, the sound of a fish rolling at the feet of a guy across the way. I like the challenge of catching fish on the bottom, or the unseen swirl and sudden take if I'm throwing a plug.

After catching tens of thousands of fish, I prefer to fish the way I like.

I like the whole experience. Catching a lot of fish often is fun but working hard to catch one or two and sometimes even none, all when foggy and still and silent to the point of surreal, listening to plops and slurps is almost as good as it gets :love: . Standing on a rock, leaning into the wind and foam for a slow pick is just as exhilarating as challenging.

I can remember nights of getting tons of fish but I also remember nights long, very long of boredom changed with viscous hammer of a first light crush.

Above all, I 'spose it is what you choose to make out of it.

I'm not really sure if it's the fish that put me there. I believe that it's the whole experience, sights , sounds and smells as MikeP stated. The Canal is a completely different experience than the back beaches. I love them both at night.

i guess if you want to challange your self fishing,fish with no hooks on your plugs and see if you can land some fish.i am lucky enough to be able to fish every night from mid may till mid oct for the last few seasons and do so whether i am catching or not.i enjoy being outside and walkingthe beachs late at night. i also love to be out on the kayak during the day on days i don't work.my winters are spent skiing everyday that i can whether skiing is good or not.to be honest i could go all season without catching a fish as long as i had a few hits once and a while.to me fishing is all about the hit,not the landing.

if I were catching one fish per 5 hours, I wouldnt be fishing any more

just me

unless we are talking about 30# + fish, that is another situation I think

Everyone fishes for different reasons....when I was younger,alot younger... striped bass fishing was all I thought about.. night and day.. I fished no matter what the weather, what ever the tide...I traveled up and down the coast, following the migrations...after many years of this, I began to realize, like my chosen profession ( mechanic) that driving yourself day after day, becomes alot less fun, yes, I learned a tremendous amount , I once went 28 nights straight, fishing every night with out a fish, at that point, my young bride confided in a friend of mine that I surely had a girl friend, NO ONE goes fishing 28 days in a row and cathces nothing ( I held down a full time job in my zombie mode) , yet persists in going the next night...... long story short, the 29th night I hooked and landed several large fish , including a 38lb specimine that i tossed into bed with her.. as I barked out here's my #%#$%^* girlfriend!...( BTW.. she left me after 7 years of torture)

Now I take a whole new perspective, I fish for the love of fishing...I fish when I want, not when the tide is ideal or the weather perfect... I fish alone most nights, beholding to no one, prefering the sounds of the night, rumble of the waves on the beach and the brillance of the stars....if I connect all's right with the world .. I'll leave schools sized fish and teen agers to find something better.. those youthfull lessons have taught me where to look... I fish light line... but prefer to use what ever bait or lure give me the best shot at a large fish... I release all my fish these days, some get photographed most dont... each season brings a youthfull feel to it, I get excited for the first "cow trip" as I did about 45 years ago, not knowing exactly what the season will bring.. and when the season ends.. as I wash and stow the grear, i thank our creator for the opertunity to go to the brine and return safely after each trip...for me.. that is what striper fishing is all about... catching fish is a bonus.

tight line
Roc

Well said!
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

A while back, I posted something about how getting skunked was as important to enjoying fishing as hitting it right.

This am, while waiting for the shower (which I do use....in the off season), I opened Reading The Water to page 174 where Francis Bernard talks about his 64# bass (which, to my delight, he reports catching right after Sauerkraut left). He mentions the time he puts into fishing, and how if he catches a fish for every five hours he puts in he is "lucky".

No big deal that, but he then goes on to realize how that is the very thing about striped bass that keeps him fishing. As he puts it.....

"I like the challenge of fishing so much that if I could catch fish every night, I wouldn't go fishing that much. If I know I'm going to catch two or three bass every night, I may not want to go. I'll skip a night. If I go two nights and don't get any fish, then I feel challenged. I say "I'll get you. I'll outsmart you. I'll find you." "

The challenge, not just the catching, is what keeps it fun. Something to think about as you plan for the season ahead.


Some mornings/evening it is perfectly acceptable to catch nothing but great me time, and sometimes it is not. However, catching many fish in one day can get mundane regardless of size or quantity.

Catching doesn't hurt, but just being there with friends is what its about. The planning and anticipation is enough to make me like a little kid at christmas. Watching the sunrise, hearing the water come alive knowing whats coming and hoping to bring one in.