4 hours ago, Fishing_Rod said:

Greetings All,

This thread has so many personally relatable aspects. Great stuff everyone! I'll have a go an toss in $0.02 worth. I'm all into going fishing when I can.  Yes, my life is busy with all sorts of family and professional responsibilities. Combine that with an area that requires some travel to get to a fishing spot and you have an opportunistic recreational angler. Sure I prefer catching rather than casting. It is the catching that is memorable and evokes youthful memories of family catching sunfish, bass, crappie, and catfish. Those memories are the foundation for today's memories.

 

I have to state that I am all in on the fishing thing. I appreciate the entire angling adventure. Yup, I even enjoy just thinking about it too! Probably because that work thing still gets in the way of recreating. Being a recreational angler I've got simple objectives. Mainly to enjoy my self, minimize cost and complexity (that affects available time to go fishing). Keeping things reasonably simple improves the catching and enjoyment. Too much gear or too much fancy stuff just requires additional effort and fussing that I can do without. This does not mean I don't investigate different techniques or gear, I simply do it in a relaxed way never wandering too far from simplistic success.

 

I use mainly UL gear and I have investigated BFS and bait casting reels as of late. I'm taking my time in learning a few thing. BassResource has been great as I can read and view information shared by others, very nice. I've had some good success catching a few larger than typical fish on the BFS gear. These successes have demonstrated to me that I can use it reasonable well. I may use it occasionally but it does require a dedicated effort, so I'm not sure I need to work that hard to achieve desired results.

 

Back to the original question(s). Yes, I fully enjoy each and every aspect of my angling adventures. I love that feeling on the UL rig that tells me something is interested in playing! I love the sound of the drag clicking or screaming as line peels off the whispy UL rod. I love the sound of fully tensioned mono in the light breeze changing frequency as the tension on the line changes and vibrates. A soundtrack that represents the drama of the moment.

 

I am totally gratified when I'm able to make that precision cast and put the bait right where I want it be. I also totally enjoy the look of the line flowing in an arc with that minimal effort high accuracy cast. I love seeing the line move or increase in tension as something at the other end is "interested".

 

Quirky or not, I make it a point to thank each fish for the opportunity to play. Truly grateful to be able to do that too! Even when returning from the angling adventures, the drive home lets me think about what I did, how I did, and what I'm going to try to do next time. Usually it also involves what I need to fix or modify for the next adventure.

 

It is All GOOD! Wishing each of you well, and Cheers!

I too thank bass I catch.

The splash on a topwater bite. Nothing comes close. 

My favorite part is looking forward to going fishing.  There's nothing more exciting than waiting impatiently. 

I also like that feeling when the lure just stops, as if it just got snagged on something underwater, a stop so sudden, a stop so violent, that all world seems to implode into finding out just what it is--just how BIG she is, and if she can even be caught!