Favorite Part of the Catch!

Hello all,

Under the biggest fish for a 4wt, two very good points were brought up that got me thinking. What's your favorite part of the catch. What's the part you feel is most exciting, which part keeps you coming back to the sport. As with most fun subjects like this, there is no right or wrong answer. I value everyone's perspective, and I hope everyone who wants to, joins in.

For me, it's the micro seconds before the take, and the micro seconds after the take when the fish feels the pressure from the hook and decides to fight the unnatural feeling with everything it has. It's that surreal connection to the fish I like most. The harder it becomes to attain that feeling, the more I like it. I'll spend an hour fishing to a fish that refuses my fly in search of that first connection. That connection that is validation for the hard work I've put in.



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Jude
Small flies work best. Elephants eat peanuts.
www.customflys.com

The take.

Allan

the catch??

I just like being on the water...
but the take
the fight
the sight
the release...

tough chose!!

Jude,

The thing that keeps me coming back actually isn't the fishing. It's being out there on the river.

I'll often spend the whole day on the bank while the family fishes. I won't even string up a rod.

It's coffee with the wardens while we watch junior going after a lunker on an upstream dry.

It's pointing some newcomers to a nice lie where a dozen salmon are lazing in the current.

It's that 20 ounce T-Bone on an open grill over a birch wood fire just after sunset.

It's sitting by the river listening for rises.

If you mean, what keeps me FISHING, well, ... my favourite part is laying out an upstream dry on a long leader (big bushy Bomber or Brown Bird). Letting it drift down gently in a medium flow. ... Splashy take, lift the rod slightly, wait, wait, wait ... Set the hook. In that last second, the fly will either come flying back towards me (missed), or, Shloop, the line lifts out of the water and the weight of the fish settles into the rod.

Hanging on like this for 45 minutes gets a bit tedious http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif
http://www3.sympatico.ca/chris_chin/2002/image001.jpg

my 0.02$

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Christopher Chin
Jonquiere Quebec


[This message has been edited by fcch (edited 18 February 2005).]

[This message has been edited by fcch (edited 18 February 2005).]

Watching my 12 year old throw a prettier loop than I have been able to attain in 30 some years. kev

I love the take. But I love that feeling when I leave work in the afternoon knowing that I'm on my way to the creek.

And I absolutely love in my lakeside campsite on an Adirondack lake after fishing all day and seeing a big one jump right in front of me. If it had a thumb and a nose, it would be using them. Cracks me up every time.


Diane

The anticipation.

The grab!

The first run of some saltwater fish

The feast - I love fresh fish. Fresh sashimi or braised ahi with avocado slices and a cold beer. Yum. Or maybe some crappie fillets and a bowl of steaming chili on a crisp spring evening.

Fellowship ... and solitude.

And sometimes just sitting on a rock by the river, rod in hand, never even bothering to make a cast, and just watching trout be trout, bugs hatch, birds swoop by, an otter flit about on the periphery of my vision. Fishing opened up an entire world of exploration that I hadn't noticed before.


And JC, I would never lie afterwords. I may mis-remember things. I am convinced fishing causes memory problems. My wife didn't have any until she married me and took up flyfishing http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif




[This message has been edited by tailingloop (edited 18 February 2005).]

Diane,

Happen to us ALL the time. Seems that we can be on a pool for an hour, ... nothing. Just when we spool up to have a coffee, they start rising all around.

So, the trout REALLY do see us and know what we are trying to do http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif

Quote:

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I love that feeling when I leave work in the afternoon knowing that I'm on my way to the creek

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Ain't that right. I think I can spot the ff's on the road here friday afternoons, ... their the ones smiling from ear to ear 'cause they know their getting out on the water that evening.

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Christopher Chin
Jonquiere Quebec


[This message has been edited by fcch (edited 18 February 2005).]

[This message has been edited by fcch (edited 18 February 2005).]

The take.

The Adrenaline rush from when I first see the fish eyeing the fly until I feel the first throb of a fish on, or the slack of a missed take/refusal.

Don

its virtually impossible to seperate the moments, but ill try...

seeing the big brown in the shallow pool looking up, eyeballing my fly.

watching the take...waiting for the right moment to lift my rod tip.

feeling the pressure, hoping the tippet holds, and playing the fish.

waking up in the morning and tying "just a few more", knowing ill be on the water in an hour or two.

teaching someone new, and watching them land their first take.

so many wonderful aspects of this sport, i think it must be the combination and anticipation that keeps me coming back...

Tyflier,

Quote:

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teaching someone new, and watching them land their first take

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Oh ya, that is something, ... or help an "old timer" catch again. ...

A few years ago I arrived mid morning on the #8 on my homewaters to go after some juvenile sea run brooks. As I pulled in a couple of older gentle men were coming off the beach.

I asked them if the morning was good to them. They replied that they had fished there years ago, but haven't gotten one in a couple season recently.

I explained that the since a flood in '96, the pool had changed and that the trout held on the other side. I offered to ferry them across in a canoe I stashed near by.

One of the fellows took the offer and crossed over with me. I changed his fly and lengthened his leader ... On his very first cast he connected to a nice 12 inch brook. He had a smile brighter than a 5 yr old on Christmas day. In 20 minutes he got 2 more and called it a day.

I've run into the two off and on ever since and they still talk about that first day we met on the river.

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Christopher Chin
Jonquiere Quebec


[This message has been edited by fcch (edited 18 February 2005).]

[This message has been edited by fcch (edited 18 February 2005).]

What brings me back? Well, for me it is the anticipation the day before as I get all my gear together. No, it is the anxious drive to the river as I jam to my favorite mix CD at full blast. No, it is the excitement of seeing the stoneflies buzzing as I string up the rods. Then again, it must be the first cast, hoping it sets the tone for the day with an aggressive fish breaking the sruface for my Mikulak Sedge. But i have to say it really is the first rise of the day, usually pulling on the fly too soon cause I am just to darn excited to be fishing instead of working. Honestly, it is when my wife gets her first fish of the day swinging a soft hackle as I hold the boat in the current keeping her in the sweet spot. But there is a chance it is when we are driving home talking about all the great things we experienced that day.

Now I need to stop the tall tales and tell the honest truth, it is each and everything I mentioned above. Tying flies the night before while my wife stubbornly asks "dont you have enough?", loading the truck and boat, rigging the rods as the wife shuttles the rig, the fishing, the rowing, watching our dogs run around a gravel bar island only to take a swim to me while waste deep casting to a rising fish, the lying later about the 30+ fish over 20" and how the dogs helped scare the fish up to eat. The catch is just icing on the cake to.

Have fun, Jeff

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Tis my time on the water, in the mountains, and in my driftboat where I can see things as they really are.

Waking up knowing I'm going fishing, followed by the take,

[This message has been edited by Ray (edited 18 February 2005).]

The anticipation & the take!
I MUST admit that I love watching kids fish anymore as much as catching.
Mike

That brief glance at the fish's colors and then the feeling that accompanies the release. Of course the battle is a lot of fun too.

Pike -- that rushing submarine, nasty strike.
Bass -- the explosion on a topwater.
Smallies -- corraling a swimming swallow.
Carp -- the long bull-like runs.
Crappie -- the slab-shake.
Bluegill -- circling doggedness.
Walleye -- the splashy fight in rivers (which you don't see much of in deepwater lake fishing.
Trout -- turning the page.
JGW

Jude,
For me the anticipation is unbearable. If I was a dog, I'd be jumping up and down barking. On the trip to the river I'd probably be wearing a really stupid looking grin. I'd most likely be thinking of what I possibly forgot to bring along, while waiting eagerly to see my next wading moose. The St Joe in Idaho is such a river. Looking for rises on the way in would make staying on my side of the center line a real chore. Standing knee deep in cold water, casting to the head of a pool and waiting for the take would find me holding my breath. But when all is said and done, I especially like lowering my hand into the river and releasing a Westslope Native Cutthroat into the flow, and watching him disappear into the color of water. Via Condios Me Amigos. They are a beautiful creature, especially when you turn them loose.


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A free gift waits for those who ask.
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Lotech Joe

The take