quality fish hitting a riggie is tough to beat IMHO. especially the first one of the night, or the first one in a while, when you're not anticipating it.

The smashing of a big pencil and catching when nobody else is. That's a good feeling.

For me it’s just being out there. I like the simplicity of it if that’s the right word… Focusing all of my thoughts and senses on just one thing while everything else just melts away for a few hours. It doesn’t really matter whether I get a new PB or skunked, I am always in a better state of mind after a night on the rocks.

Getting an explosive surface strike while fishing in a kayak.
You don't know what you have, or whether or not you'll be going for a ride!

I agree that the take on a swimmer is tough to beat. I love how the take and initial run is all one process. Just slowly reeling that metal lip and out of nowhere ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, and your rod is doubled over. And your fishing partner in the backround "fish on!", but you can barely hear him because you so focused on the task at hand.

honorable mention:
1. just being out there. Solitude, taste of salt water, taking waves in the chest, pulling bass on to the rocks. the whole experience for me is addicting.
2. Watching a big healthy bass swim back into the night, and my legs still shaking afterwards.

There is a moment in fishing that does not always happen. This moment only occurs when a fish is at least decent. Somewhere between the take and the fight there is a moment when the angler comes to realize the predator on the other end is a worthy opponent and landing this fish at this moment is far from guaranteed. This is the moment when fishing an 8 foot rod a 12 lb Albie makes it's first run. The same moment can occur right after a live pogie has been taken wit no warning and in one hit way out at the end of 450 feet of wire line. This is the moment when the smile is put on hold and replaced with concentration. The momet when average hope is replaced by is it my turn hope. We all know the moment and that moment is what I cherish.

I like the moment just before the hit... more than once,
I've known the hit was comng a split second before it happens. Maybe it's feeling the line go slack for a nano-second... maybe it's voo-doo, regardless, it's just too freaking cool.

for me it is when my hand actually touches a 30+# fish and I lift it out of the water... I am usually shaking a bit from excitement and the battle.....:uhuh:...

and the anger from Joe givin' you crap!!!:rotf2::rotf2::rotf2:

:rotf2:
I don't think any of us will forget that fishing moment/lesson....:smash:

I wouldn't call it the "most satisfaction" but oddly enough I think about the ones that got away....those special ones that you never forget. It doesn't kill me to think of them it kind of gives me greater admiration and makes me want to get out there even more.

The anticipation.... the hightend sense you get when you feel that every cast is just where you want it... and you just KNOW your bait or plug is going to be blasted....

I fish for the zzzzzzzzzt zzzzzzztt zzzzzztztzzzzzzzzzzzzzt, splash splash zzztzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt gotta love it when you get one on that really gives those drag washers a work out :drool:

A Penn 130 dumping with a freight train on the other end.

I get out on the water before first light all the time, my family thinks i'm nuts! One time I got my daughter out with me and she said "dad, now I know why you get out here so early, it's beautiful and peaceful to see mother nature waking up" That day she caught blues, we saw a sea turtle and a sun fish, good stuff!---LOUIE

I think it's the moment/instant of a strike -- whether it's a big bass on a pencil popper or an eel; bulging behind a live pogie swimming in an eight trying to evade it's inevitable doom; a bluefish (yes it's exciting to have a bluefish crash a plug); a bass hitting a jig and your rod doubles over; a tarpon turning on the fly - the site of a big maw, the flash of the silver and the fly line coming tight and practically ripping the line through your fingers; a bonefish or permit rocketing over to your fly and shredding off the flat with the fly in its mouth ... these are the things that give the most satisfaction ...

... although the sun rising on a flat day with fish breaking surface in feeding mode - be they stripers, blues, albies, tuna, tarpon, permit, bonefish, redfish or whatever is equally satisfying ...

... as is working your skiff under hours of mangrove branches in the Everglades to come into a section of a creek or a bay that doesn't get much pressure from humans and finding it full of tarpon, snook, reds and seatrout also gives me a lot of satisfaction ...

... or, finding a new spot or figuring out a piece of the puzzle along the striper coast you believe has been overlooked or unknown that produces for me ...that is satisfying too ...

... uhmm ... Larry, there's too much to contain in a little post like this.

The best part(s):

Anticipation.

Nights’ so black I retrieve the swivel into my tip top.

The sound of cobble in a receding wave.

The taste of salt spray.

The smell of a confused sea.

Discussing strategies with myself.

Fire.

Lying on a flat rock at night and looking at the heavens.

Cold air flowing from a hollow in the bluffs.

Combine all of the above with “The take”.

And the opportunity to do it again.

DZ

The only thing I enjoy about fishing is that it's an art and it takes an effort, a dedication, and a patience to hone myself into catching fishes, embracing the nature and its' surrounding, look for prime holes, and putting time into it. That's why I love fishing. It takes skills to fish well.

dont forget the feeling when you pick up the check

Same for me. Nothing like seeing a pencil popper get knocked 3 feet out of the water and trying to be patient knowing that there's a big fish waiting to inhale it once it settles back into the water.

But, I also just love fishing even if I'm not catching. Boat or shore doesn't matter. Any time I'm out there on or in the water, I'm enjoying myself.