Mine is fighting

definitely the fight.

+3: fighting (and I'd add landing and admiring:o)

i like em all, cant have one without the other

Setting that hook sends me over the edge every time.

Of course, the fight is fun, but watching your line move or feeling the tap-tap-tap or a heavy line and setting that hook is the best.

My blood pressure goes up; my muscles tighten; myeyes double in size; I say a one or two nasty words; the rod is over my head; the line is tight; I can't pull hard enough; I can't reel fast enough to get all slack out of the line and start the fight.

What a thrill.

The 'finding' is not that relevant for me, because my home lake is small.

The 'fighting' is not that big a deal becuase unless it's a really biggun, I honestly don't care if I land it or not.

But the 'hooking'  oh, how to describe the moment of anticipation, the doubt no matter how slight,, then the swing..... did I sink the steel?

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Nothing like the hooking.  I love slamming back the rod and feeling that I have something on the other end.

Drillin' them on braid and a heavy rod.

Most definitely the hookset for me. Feeling the bite, seeing the line jump or move off.....good stuff! Plus, right at hookset time, you dont yet know if its a dink or a hawg.

The landing.

Tough question.

For me I sport fish (C&R) for the thrill of the fight. Naturally, 1st you have to find 'em. The hook set is just the opening round of the battle to come.

for me nothin beats slammin the hook home on a nice fat bass!!!!

The thrill of the hunt, the cunningness of getting them to bite, & the Mano-a-mano of the fight; I love it all!

Finding them.

There other 2 don't exist if you don't find 'em

The whole fun /science/challenge is in locating the targeted species of fish. Making them bite is easy with all the techniques/baits availeble today. Setting the hook is no big deal. Reeling them in might present some challenges.

The fun is in the hunt, not in pulling the triger !!!

My $.02

Most definitely the hookset for me. Feeling the bite, seeing the line jump or move off.....good stuff! Plus, right at hookset time, you dont yet know if its a dink or a hawg.

Couldn't have said it better myself.  X2  8-)

I ve always enjoyed the HOOKERS

I ve always enjoyed the HOOKERS

Ahhhh....the joys of fishing as told by MOOK #1  

To me they are all equal. Once I'm in my boat, it's all one. As Cajun said,"you can't have one without the other".

Falcon

Definitely THE HUNT

By a long shot, the "Quest".

Unless it's a beer-keg, the fight over time (several decades) becomes a tad anticlimactic.

I release most bass in my mind, before they reach my boat,

I'm already asking myself what I learned from this fish.

Roger

I don't know where this fits, but my favorite part is when the fish grabs the bait and you get that rush of adrenaline right before you set the hook. It's probably just another dink, but it could be the fish of a lifetime, at that moment you just don't know.

To me it's the "hunt". I love catching too, but if all you did all day long was catch, you'd get bored after awhile. As in hunting, it's the prelude up to the kill that's the real kick.

Definitely the hookset, espcially when it follows a top water strike.

Definetly the hook set for me. I love setting the HOOK!!!!! I really slam it too.