What Gives You the BIGGEST RUSH!!!

[drifter]

What Gives you the Biggest Rush? From Fishing that is?

For me, its drift fishing, from bank or drift boat. That exact moment when your line stops drifting, (could be a rock - could be a fish), you lift the rod, feel a slight pull and immediately set the hook. Most of the time its a rock, but when you feel the movement of a fish, that is the BEST moment in fishing. WHAT A RUSH. That 2-3 seconds is what I lay awake thinking about at night.

For me, its better than a bobber going down or a rod bending in the rod holder. Better even than actually landing the fish. But, that me. What gives you the biggest rush.
Good fishing, Drifter.

[chuck 'n' duck]

Bobber down, or a plug rod getting absolutely crushed. Nothing gets my adrenaline pumping like those two.

CnD

Edit: after reading Ryan's reply, there is one more thing......seeing a steelhead take a waking dry fly. Now that gets the blood pumping.

[ 01-14-2002: Message edited by: chuck 'n' duck ]</p>

[Ryan Pultz]

When fly fishing with a Dry fly and the trout flies up on the fly and your heart skips a beat and you set the hook. Or also when topwater fishing for bass and the fish just slams the buzzbait what a rush.

[Tagster]

For me, the biggest rush is the anticipation of what might occur. I love sitting in my boat at the launch in Hammond, preparing for the buoy 10 slaughter.

There is nothing like it! I lay awake at night wondering if this is going to be the day I catch that 50# at the Ghost Hole.

Am I going to catch that elusive 10 footer at Bonneville?

The rush is the anticipation, the waiting, the getting ready the night before, checking gear, etc.

Of course, the feeling of FISH-ON ain't bad either!!

Tag

[Fish Hunter]

drifter, those are my sentiments exactly!

[Alligator]

Drifter, I'm with you, drift fishing gives me the thrill that keeps me coming back for more.

Cold crisp morning you've drifted down to the first hole in the dark and park and wait for sunrise. Put a small piece of fresh cured steelhead eggs on your hook and cast 30 degrees up river, point the rod tip at your drifting line feeling the river bottom. Bump Bump and then at 0 to -30 degrees the line stops, you lift the rod tip slightly and somewhere between a complete release from a rock and the gradual bending of the rod tip is that chunk chunk you set the hook and the adrenaline is pumping, "Fish On"! That’s the best.


Les.

[Artwo]

Since I do most of my fishing for spring chinooks using diver and bait; there is a split second when your rod is bent from the pressure on the diver and you see that little suddle relax then it buries......you can't quite get the words "ish on"out of your mouth before it buries.

Second place would have to be (as drifter said), that suddle take while drift fishing then those first couple head shakes at the time you set the hook.

It's kind of funny, I get this almost uforric (sp) feeling before the bite starts it's almost like a moment of antisipation. When I get this feeling it is usually followed by the above rush of fish-on more times than not. So, I've learned over the years that when ever I feel this feeling coming on I get very intense and all my attention is centered on my rods in the boat or feeling for the slightest take on the drift. Anybody else get this, or am I the freak....(jk)

JK

[TH]

Hearing the soft whispers of the 4 stroke purring in the fog on a cool Sept. morning… watching the rod tips pulse with every quick spin of a properly cut bait….. and then the rod surges down, hi-vis green line peeling off of the pretty gold Calcutta 400, line alarm sounding , rod still pinned to the gunnel, and a big king splash 40 yards behind the boat, people scrambling to reel in the other rods…… my kids yelling, "it's a monster dad..." nothing like that for me.

[ 01-14-2002: Message edited by: TH ]</p>

[William]

I second that Drifter.

[Wannabe]

The biggest rush was probably seeing my kids catch their first fish and then when they asked you to take them again and again. The next would be putting a net to a large kicker fish in a tourney and giving your partner high fives.

[WheresMyBobber]

For me it has to be the feeling of a chinook picking up your bait while backbouncing.

Bounce, bounce, bounce...wait a sec, is that a fish? Yes!...be patient, let him take it...let him swallow it...don't set the hook yet...not yet...ok, NOW!! Fish on!

[BigSpinner]

Casting a spinner on a dime across the river, have it drifting just right then it stops you pull back your rod is in a U shape, line is shooting off the reel at light speed as that huge silver steelhead is going downstream at 100mph right for a big log, or water fall. You need to stop him but you cant. That is what gets me going.

Jeremy,

[finclipped]

For me its the chinook strike on a trolled cut plug herring. The rod bounces once, "don't touch it" ,,,, it comes up and your heart stops for a split second (I lost it :depressed: ) Then another pulse down this time it bounces hard and stays down. ...Do everything you can to get it out of the rod holder.... "FISH ON!" :tongue:

[Tilla]

Just reading this stuff makes my heart skip. Any rod going down, no matter who's, even another boats. Best one this year was watching Fishalot's bobber going down with a jig, 15 minutes after it had happened to me, we were both jig virgins. I musta jumped and screamed like a cheerleader in a rainsuit on the bank! :shocked:

[Damien]

The biggest rush for me is plugging through a good looking area and knowing that any time a fish could hammer it. Theres nothing like sitting there and all of the sudden the rod is bent and dancing.

[Eric]

Getting to the river in the morning with premium eggs, knowing the fish are in.....and being the only one there. This can be winter or summer. I've had times, both driftboat and bank fishing where this scenario has played out and I KNEW I would catch fish. what's even better is when it happens during the peak of the season, when you expect people to be there but they aren't.

Nothing better!

[MasterCaster]

As for me it has got to be spinner fishing from the bank for fall chinook! Cast after cast nothing then all of the sudden the spinner just stops, instantly set the hook and feel the lazy head shake of the 40# chrome bright salmon on the end of the line just before he takes off in whatever direction he wants for as far as he can before I can turn his head and get him headed back at me. The biggest rush has got to be feelin that massive head shake right after the hook set!
:smile: :grin: :smile: Jon

[rob allen]

In April the water is still cool but has shed the friged temps of December- March. Large aggressive sexually immature steelhead enter the Washougal, East Fork and Kalama. The much heralded (locally) springers. The water is in the high 40's and the sink tip lines have been put away for the season and the cottonwoods and alders are gaining color with every day and the sweet spring smell of willow blumes is heavy in the air. The muddler skitters and dives through a choppy riffle as your day dream and enjoy the relaxed feel of spring.
Only the scream of your reel waked you from the day dream and before you have a chance to even react 30 yards of line has gone off your reel. and a chrome steelhead comes out of the water then again and yes again before another 50 yards of line is gone. You sprint downstream but the fish is leaving the pool faster than you can run. Suddenly the fish breakes water again it's tail clearing the surface but 3 feet or more then your line is slack. You reel as fast as you can hoping that the fish is just swimmin upstream still hooked. You reel all the way in to find the fish is gone and your heavy wire hook is straight.
You think to yourself " that fish just kicked my butt" There is nothing I mean nothing in all of salmonidome that compares with a early native summer steelhead (springer) Nothing even comes close!
Anyone who has experienced one of these will agree. Unfortunatly I imagine very few people on this board have as these fish are for all intents and purposes extinct.

[Beek]

Good Topic. For me its watching the Sturge rod go tap...tap..tap, not knowing the size of the fish that's picking away at my Lamprey. The fish could be 12 inches or 1200 pounds. Gets the pulse going pretty good.

Second best would be first cast first light into my honey hole knowing theres an good chance of hooking up. Your dead tired on the way to the river but once you get to the bank you get a huge adrenalin(sp?) rush, and that first cast is the best.

[invader]

well since i fish mostly for sturgies!!, its when i first see a bite and reel in some slack to see if he is hooked , and the he takes off like a submarine!! and i have to run to the bow and release the anchor!!......john

[Bubzilla]

The moment I realize I have a BIG fish. It's like a very exciting event just got kicked into overdrive! My heart almost stops, and I get this really nervous feeling 'cause I don't want to lose it! Start talking to myself: "Don't lose it. Too much pressure. RELAX!" Start talking to the fish: "Don't go over there. Stay away from that brush! NO, NO, NO stay in the hole!!!" Too funny, really. I think I lose my mind for those precious few minutes--what a way to go crazy, though!

[RichH]

The Bite. Any bite, whatever style I happen to be fishing at the time. I prefer to back bounce for chinooks and drift fish for steelhead but any technique that gets me bit is where its at for me.

I love to see the rod buck when I'm pulling plugs or dragging herring. I'm tickled pink to see the bobber go down when fishing a jig(or worm). I love the slack line sensation when trolling a spinner and a chrome chinook grabs the spinner and swims forward with it. I love playing tug of war with an angry chinook thats grabbed a kwikfish. I love that much anticipated heavy sensation on the end of the swing when I'm chucking a spoon. ITS ALL GOOD!!!!! :grin:

[birdhunter]

W/ sturgeon or halibut, it's watching the rod acting kind of funny. You get up, reel in the slack, rear back and set the hook HARD. Solid. Doesn't even budge. "Dang, snagged!" Then the snag begins to move......

[Snapset]

I agree that the best part of steelheading is the first 5 seconds of Fish-On.

A close second is Kokanee trolling, the rods gently pulsing in their holders, the hard pull down, and the affirmation: "I still know how to do this!"

The big bobber slipping under brackish tidewater, tightening up to something solid and alive, slamming the rod back, head shakes and cold sweats..... I am grateful.

[BuKuBass]

Top-water fishing for smallmouth at night during a full moon on the John Day. Absolute quiet except for the soft "bloop" of a popper. Then ten feet off to the side of the lure you discern an approaching wake; don't strike at the sound, wait 'til you feel the fish, Now! zzt-zzzzzzzz!

Think I'll have a smoke; was it good for you too?

[wiser]

I'll agree with the feeling of the subtle take from a steelhead but especially.... You cast out, detect that subtle take and let him take it just a split second longer before setting the hook. Nothing... Reel in and your bait is about sucked off the hook. Heart racing, you rebait. Hands trembling with anticipation you just can't get it rebaited fast enough. You cast to the same spot. Now your every nerve is on edge. Your offering approaches the same spot as last cast and you feel that gentle take. Heart, mind and everything else rushes as ythe hook is set and the fish is on.
It doesn't happen often but if the feeling could be bottled I'd buy it all.

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[Joe]

133# Blue Marlin stripping about 600 feet of line in a matter of seconds!!! :grin:

[nooknabber]

i'm with finclipped,

trolling herring and seeing rod double and
momentary drag zip!!!

second :
big redside taking dry fly

[Perfect Drift]

Spring break father/daughter trout fishing. Dad, I can't even eat my lunch, those fish just keep biting my hook. One after another, the giggles and smiles of a 10 yr old girl.
We do it every year, spring break. Breakfast at Elmers, stop and buy some worms, then to the lake and a morning of sharing that last a life time.

[Perfect Drift]

Spring break father/daughter trout fishing. Dad, I can't even eat my lunch, those fish just keep biting my hook. One after another, the giggles and smiles of a 10 yr old girl.
We do it every year, spring break. Breakfast at Elmers, stop and buy some worms, then to the lake and a morning of sharing that last a life time.

[stlhdr1]

For me its fishing my way down to tidewater about 2 hours before low tide for summer runs during the peak of the season. The best part is you can typically see in all the runs as you fish your way down river. Spotting fish and watching them take the bait. Also love it when you don't run into any fish and you come to the last hole in tidewater wondering where they are and all of a sudden they start moving up through the 2-3" riffle throwing water everywhere and heading up to the hole they just moved into and making that first cast... It's an unreal feeling.
Rob Allen-
I too understand those "springers" on the lower EF in late march and early april, they are truly the hardest fighting fish pound for pound. Now days your not supposed to fish until April 15th so you don't get to get down and fish those very, very few fish left as they move in from tidewater....
Keith :grin:

[dogfishboy]

You get to a drift, look the water over, and plan two or three runs with your gear. You cast and are about to the end of your drift as your mind wanders to the next cast... then BAM! you react and the fish rolls and shakes a couple times... then NOTHING! You swear and pause to reflect on what just happened. You feel the adrenaline surge through your body and you find yourself shaking as you gather yourself - still swearing - in hopes of finishing the task on the next cast.

This leaves me with the BIGGEST RUSH. The fish that could have been. All of the excitement and the disappointment. Seems like when I hook and land a fish that some of the “rush” wears off or is replaced with concentration during the fighting and landing process.

OK, think I got a “rush” just writing this...way cool. :grin:

Good thread guys...thanks Wes.

David

[Rauly]

It's got to be a Back Bouncing Bite!
Chomp...Chomp..Chomp.Choooomp...heavey weight and set hook and hold on.

[DF]

As I look at my fishing rods on the wall I wounder, what the heck am I doing behind this computer!
Heck with school im outa here!
FISH OOOOOOOONNNNN :shocked: :grin: :grin:

[fishesfrom tupperware]

Sitting on the ocean at eye level (I fish from a sit-on-top kayak) with the shore barely bobbing in and out of sight, feeling that second bump, then the scream of the drag. Tightening the drag just a bit and off I go on the Nantucket sleigh ride. Working a Thresher that weighs more than my boat and most of me until he's beat and all but floating next to the boat (or cutting the line when you can't see the shore anymore and I got to make it in before next week). Now that's a rush!
I have not gotten out to this year yet, but yall's fresh water Thresher (Sturgeon) looks like its a plenty formidable opponent and the idea that the shore won't ever disappear (although the spot that I put in will) is really appealing. And here I was dumb enough to think that freshwater guys only caught bait. Wrong! Now if I can just talk my wife into a letting me get that sweet Gore-Tex dry suit.

[pdxkevin]

I have to agree with Wannabe on this one. There is no bigger thrill fishing than watching a one of my little neices fighting a panfish. :tongue: As far as, for a fish on my line… it would have to be landing a nice large mouth when you are rigged for sunnies. :grin:

________________________

When was the last time you asked someone to step outside? :whazzup:
http://www.stepoutside.org/html/welcome.html

[NAUTI-NOTIONS]

pitch dark, kinda foggy, absolute quite, when all hell breaks loose and the night is periced by the screeeeemmmmmmming of the reel. ya buddy.... everything else is a high second....

[hawgcatcher]

I gotta go with bukubass, the attack on a surface plug at dusk. When the water is quiet and no ripples. A cast toward some grass at the edge of the shoreline. The ripples die down. The plug lays there. No movement. A light twitch. Kerpoww and the plug flies into the air. No fish, just water flying everywhere. Your heart beats so fast that you think you had a heart attack. It is a big rush.

Steelhead and Salmon have gotten my adrenaline going but for that rush, Bass have it all over them. If there were bass the size of salmon and steelhead, we would be in the cardiac wards.

:shocked: