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.