The Most Satisfaction???
 

What aspect of fishing most stirs your soul? What is the one feeling, moment or act that just drives to to need more???! Is it just being out there?? Is it the hit on a topwater plug??! Is it the feeling of a slowly moving eel being taken by a fish??!! I am looking for the single favorite feeling that you love the most about fishing!!!:uhuh:

very tough question kimosabe...right now i have to say the strike on a slow swimming plug in the middle of a dark night- that is subject to change :humpty: :call:

The Take!!
 

There are a few feelings that I truly love such as the topwater smash on a pencil popper, but I think number 1 for me happens most in the fall season! Its fishing metal lipped swimmers at night, slowly and methodically working a favorite expanse of water and as I feel the gentle "thrum" of the swimmer at the rod tip and the sudden violent strike as a nice striper takes the plug, I set the hooks and the fish thrashes to the surface then dives below taking line and pulling drag!! The take on a swimmer is definitely the biggest thrill for me!!!:drool:

Ahhhhh.......Don......great minds fish alike!:uhuh:

drifting a bucktail up current and waiting for it to swing arround waiting for that nick you feel and setting the hook on a bass.even the days you don't get a hit just being out there by your self or some great fishing friends there's nothing like it.

Its the sound: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ! Any type of fishing will do as long as you can hear the scream of the reel.

The powerful headshake of a big striper... you know what you have with that headshake

That, and the first few seconds after you set the hook, when the fish tells you what kind of shoulders it has. :humpty:

ve
 

for me it's a toss up ......seeing the trash can just before the top water hit.... as the anticipation builds...

but what keeps me coming back is the moment just after setting the hook and you feel the weight as if you just hooked a stump

and at that precise moment your thinking

i hooked a Big one...

I agree with you guys. The strike (and the time just before and after it), regardless of what I'm using to catch them, is the number one reason I fish. There's a thousand other reasons, but that one tops the list.

tough one. the only thing that i don't like about fishing is "not fishing". love the smash on a pencil, then the dive after...love the stillness of a late night retrieve interrupted....love the smack on an eel....love walkin' out, geared up for battle...but probably the biggest thrill starts that moment, on soft plastic, wood, eel, doesn't matter, where the pole just bends and its game on. its an even bigger thrill when i first see that striper in the water in front of me. bigger is better, but they are a beautiful, awe inspiring fish, no matter what size.

So you caught large last night, heh?

has to be pluggin on top. to see the hit still excites me after 50 yrs. of doing this.

I think its the drift of an eel, freespooling an abu, thumb just brushing the line, the tap, pretty sure its a fish, another tap, you know its a fish, 5-7 seconds engage, the hookset, the drag screaming, the moment she stops and holds her ground, you feel the power, the shoulders... Those 5-7 seconds before i engage are the best 5-7 seconds of a night. The anticipation of what is about to happen.

Topwater, just a the first light washes across the surface and the
hit looks like someone dropped a fifty pound boulder into the water.

The moment you realize..."Oh man!This one's big!".

A great example...5yrs back fishing with a 8' light action rod in the dead of night I hooked into a fish on a blurple bomber.When the drag started going and wouldn't stop I uttered that phrase.

24lb bass.By no means a monster but on that rod........

da da - da na na - da na na na......da da - da na na - da na na na....:smash:

This should go ever big with this crowd :grins:
For me,
$$$

I know that for stifftip it's the feeling of a rod between his legs.:jump1:

For me the two exciting things is the feel of an eel being picked up and the feel of the tail thumping the line. The other one is when a nice fish takes you into the rocks and you feel the line rubbing against the rocks as you struggle to get it out.

From a sheer satisfaction and enjoyment stand point you just can't beat being out in the rocks on a dark night with a sky full of stars.

Hearing the pounding surf at night before you see it knowing you're gonna be in it

Cooking/eating truly fresh fish that you caught hours before...the crazy jumping antics of big bluefish come a close second :-)

meeting people like you Larry ,,,cia ..

Line peeling that needs to be reversed :hee:

You LOVE to fish Jeff. The passion. Nice!!! You fish hard my friend and you will be rewarded. Maybe Montauk??..You can tell that fishing makes you happy. Me Too:) I love that Passion. BIGFISH has it. I guess we all have it to some extent. Tight lines.... :)

Same here...in fact, reminds me a lot of my days as a bachelor...:hee:

Come to think of it, those 5 to 7 seconds afterwards were nothing to sneeze at, either...:laughs:

Seriously, for me it really is the first bump while eeling...dropping the rod tip...the countdown and an agonizing wait...and BAM!

And then realizing the fish hasn't moved and your rod is doubling until she realizes what happened and takes off on the first run....:)

not being at work

The anticipation of the strike.

Very COOOL question, Big Larrrrrr :-D
 

here i go again,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,coloring outside the lines~~~~

i'd have to honestly say that, for me, it hasn't happened YET!

i'll try to explain. yes! i've landed several 30#'s, two that were just "shy" of 40# and with every single one of them(the surface smashes and the swimmer slams and the eeeeeeeel takes that were AMAZING ~as well as something i place an extremely high "stirs my surfcaster's soul" value upon) what keeps me awake at night and inspires me to Fish Hard and Live Long is my next personal best, THE 80#'er/new IGFA WR that lurks just beneath my offering, and more than ALL of these are the 5 monstahs that "got away" or the landing of my FIRST fish of a lifetime!!!

having been bested and taught by those supercows has fueled a burning hunger DEEP within me striperin' spirit as each one's battle and lessons are etched upon my cerebral indelibly. whether it be day dreams, nightmares, or conscious strategic endeavors to take my pursuits to the next level~~~it is the Journey to Fiddymanjarro(and beyond) that stokes my fires within~~~.

let it not be misunderstood, i love the LAAAHGE take just as much as the next man and i also love playing a beetch from the rocks; however, when i do finally unbutton a worthy Cow, then i believe that THAT will be the moment that grants me the MOST satisfaction as you inquire about and it will be the desire to repeat that feat over-and-over-and-over again that will continue to provide the most joy/no joy for what remains of me Striperin' Daze.

getting a pb :uhuh: