What species do you miss catching and why? And what don't you miss catching?

[Susky River Rat]

I miss fishing for musky. 
 

Not that I ever really fish for them but catfish. If I never caught another one in my life I’d be ok with it. 

[casts_by_fly]

So many things I miss catching since I moved to NJ.  Back near Pittsburgh I loved catching carp in the small streams growing up.  Every year the the big rivers would flood and all manner of fish would go WAY up the creeks.  Carp and drum were prolific in every hole once the water came down a bit.  I'd sneak through with a light spinning rod and some small worms and wash them through in the current.  Youd catch all manner of things but carp and drum were so much fun on light tackle.  You might catch a 12" carp or a 12# carp when it slid out of a root ball and sucked in your weightless worm.

 

On the other side of the pond I miss grayling.  I'd never heard of them before going there but they are the perfect flyrod fish.  They don't mind when you're around them (they don't spook nearly as bad as trout), even in the clearest water.  They readily eat if you can present it well, and if you can't they still don't spook so you get another shot.  And they are beautiful.  The first time fishing for them my wife's boss had invited us to fish for grayling on fall afternoon not long after we moved there.  He and 2 buddies had reserved a stretch of water (on the River Test no less!).  We showed up with Rachel in her pink wellington boots and a charcuterie pack/mini champagne bottles in the back of my filson fishing vest.  You see, she was a very casual angler then.  I had taken her fly fishing on our first date and I had built her a flyrod of her own.  The mowed banks of the test which required no wading were just her speed.  Having never seen a greyling before we all set off from the parking area and went our separate ways.  I spent most of the morning guiding for Rachel since I could see them and the sand patches they were hanging on.  I could watch her fly drift past either long or short and give her just enough instruction to adjust.  When she couldn't quite get it right she'd give me the rod and say "you do it!" and usually on the first cast a greyling would come to hand.  At lunch time we convened back at the cars with the usual "how'd you do".  The boss has 6, the other guys had 6 more combined.  Standing there in her pink wellies sipping some champagne, the casual angler had 24 at that point and I had another 12.  She didn't fish much the afternoon, just sat on the benches in the sunshine mostly.  I finished the day with 36 landed with the biggest around 2 lb and nearly 20" (which is HUGE for an english grayling).  She still talks about the day that she caught more than her boss and all of his friends combined.  Grayling are great fun.

[Swamp Girl]

Great story about Rachel and her pink wellington boots.

[WRB]

Fresh water; Musky, no longer going to Canada.

Salt water; Marlin and big Tuna, too old to catch fish that out weigh me!

Tom

[Bankbeater]

I miss catching nice panfish.  Bluegill, redear, and crappie.  They're fun to catch and they taste good too. 

If I'm fishing a lake stocked with muskie and I don't catch one, I'm not going to be sad about it.

[N Florida Mike]

I miss saltwater fishing for several fish in particular. Redfish, flounder,sheepheads, to name a few. My schedule hasn’t been good to let me get back to these fish. + I don’t have a boat for that at present…

 

[greentrout]

Specs and Redfish. Too old to wade fish. Don't trust my balance.

 

Good Fishing 

[gimruis]

9 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

I miss saltwater fishing for several fish in particular

I’ve only been saltwater fishing twice. Once in Tampa back in 2015 for redfish, snook, and sea trout. The second time was in 2018 in Key West for tarpon, jacks, and snapper. Both were with guides and it was awesome. I hope to go again someday. The power those fish have is unrivaled.

[Will Ketchum]

Fishing with jigs in the river almost always included hooking up with some rock bass. Then there was worm fishing for suckers on a sunny bank in the spring. Muskies were introduced and rock bass and suckers I rarely see anymore. Flathead catfish are making their way here in the river too, and the outcome may not be good.

[scaleface]

Carp . I love those goofy critters. When My dad got so old he couldnt get around too good, I bought a camper and set it on a shallow bay , protected year round by a levee. It was full of carp . Dad and I sat there many afternoons, playing harmonica, listening to baseball and catching carp . When he got so bad he couldnt do it anymore, I quit going.  I bought  floating fish pellets and kids were always stopping by to  feed the carp. Dad got a kick out of that.

[king fisher]

    I miss fishing for smallmouth bass in Eastern WA.  It has been 35 years since I lived there, but I will always consider the lakes and creeks I grew up fishing, as my home waters.  

      I also miss fishing a variety of species in AK where I lived most of my adult life.  It isn't the species of fish as much as the whole adventure of living and fishing in the AK Bush.  Landing my plane on a gravel bar, getting out and catching a silver salmon for dinner, or going on 5 day float trips and the only other fisherman I see have four legs, and big teeth.

     I miss fishing a pond or creek with a bobber and night crawler for anything that will bite, because that is the only time I have ever fished, when the Bait Monkey was not bothering me.

[Swamp Girl]

38 minutes ago, king fisher said:

    I miss fishing for smallmouth bass in Eastern WA.  It has been 35 years since I lived there, but I will always consider the lakes and creeks I grew up fishing, as my home waters.  

      I also miss fishing a variety of species in AK where I lived most of my adult life.  It isn't the species of fish as much as the whole adventure of living and fishing in the AK Bush.  Landing my plane on a gravel bar, getting out and catching a silver salmon for dinner, or going on 5 day float trips and the only other fisherman I see have four legs, and big teeth.

     I miss fishing a pond or creek with a bobber and night crawler for anything that will bite, because that is the only time I have ever fished, when the Bait Monkey was not bothering me.

 

What an angler's life you've led. It's worthy of a book.

[TnRiver46]

On 3/2/2024 at 8:58 PM, king fisher said:

    I miss fishing for smallmouth bass in Eastern WA.  It has been 35 years since I lived there, but I will always consider the lakes and creeks I grew up fishing, as my home waters.  

      I also miss fishing a variety of species in AK where I lived most of my adult life.  It isn't the species of fish as much as the whole adventure of living and fishing in the AK Bush.  Landing my plane on a gravel bar, getting out and catching a silver salmon for dinner, or going on 5 day float trips and the only other fisherman I see have four legs, and big teeth.

     I miss fishing a pond or creek with a bobber and night crawler for anything that will bite, because that is the only time I have ever fished, when the Bait Monkey was not bothering me.

I bet you saw some fishermen with bald white heads, two legs, black jackets, and no teeth up there in AK too 

[Swamp Girl]

Last summer, I saw more eagles and ospreys catching bass than humans. One time, an osprey caught a bass so big that it struggled to regain altitude and another time, I parked under a dead tree to watch an eagle eat its bass there.