When did you stop caring about catching big fish?

[tomgamber]

View attachment 1641227300

You'll have to explain the cartoon.

 

[sarce]

You'll have to explain the cartoon.

Bit of a stretch I guess. If the anxiety of fighting big fish is that bad, one solution is never try to hook big fish. Some might say this is how gemmie anglers are born. I'm joking, but as they say, if you have to explain the joke it wasn't a good one 😳 I enjoy all varieties of trout fishing as long as I'm chasing wild fish.

 

[wbranch]

While I still love to fish I lost interest fishing locally about five years ago. Now I pretty much only fish the WB and main stem and a few Montana rivers.

 

[JimKennedy]

If I eat red beans and rice will I catch big booty fish?

Yes

 

[tomgamber]

Bit of a stretch I guess. If the anxiety of fighting big fish is that bad, one solution is never try to hook big fish. Some might say this is how gemmie anglers are born. I'm joking, but as they say, if you have to explain the joke it wasn't a good one 😳 I enjoy all varieties of trout fishing as long as I'm chasing wild fish.

Yeah, I think you misunderstood. The time between the hooking and landing is way more exhilarating than just hold up a big fish. It lasts longer too. I've caught big fish that just pulled and pulled but came pretty much straight in. Then there is the one that jumps and goes between the rocks or under the log or comes straight at you or peels your line off the reel or makes you walk or wade unexpectedly...that's the roller coaster ride. That's the crazy fun part. Size is relative at that point.

 

[Brown71]

I love and respect catching trout of all sizes, but I for sure am a big trout chaser. During spring/summer, I fish for any trout, small or big. But come fall/winter, i almost exclusively fish for/target large tout.

One thing I always keep in my mind though, size is relative. I fish some small limestoners where a top end fish is 19"-20", and rarely bigger, so if you get a 18"+ you got a biggun. I fish other larger rivers and tribs to larger rivers where fish 25"-30" arent out of the question, so the standards of a "big fish" go up there. I generally spin fish, and I rarely target stocked trout anywhere.

ALL fishing is great though, and I still love catching bluegills with my son up to 8 ft sharks in the ocean and everything in between.

 

[DanLu]

I'm a pretty average fly fisherman, but at this point I'm just happy with the take, and even a brief fight, because I'm satisfied if I fooled the trout and was able to get them on, especially when dry fly fishing. Yes, when I can tell it was a larger fish, my heart gets pumped and I might curse a bit, but was still worth it.

 

[troutbert]

If you're tired of catching big fish, you're tired of life!!

(Not really, I just thought I'd write something dramatic.)

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I love and respect catching trout of all sizes, but I for sure am a big trout chaser. During spring/summer, I fish for any trout, small or big. But come fall/winter, i almost exclusively fish for/target large tout.

One thing I always keep in my mind though, size is relative. I fish some small limestoners where a top end fish is 19"-20", and rarely bigger, so if you get a 18"+ you got a biggun. I fish other larger rivers and tribs to larger rivers where fish 25"-30" arent out of the question, so the standards of a "big fish" go up there. I generally spin fish, and I rarely target stocked trout anywhere.

ALL fishing is great though, and I still love catching bluegills with my son up to 8 ft sharks in the ocean and everything in between.

Bluegill are severely underrated. On light tackle an 8-10 fish can be super fun. When I go for bluegills I tell my fishing friends I am going for freshwater permit. I tell them this to make fishing for bluegill sound better.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

If you're tired of catching big fish, you're tired of life!!

(Not really, I just thought I'd write something dramatic.)

Maybe I am tired of life and wanting to try a new hobby. Perhaps cars, sporting clays, or bowling. My friends are gear heads and are pushing me to buy a manual sports car. I tell them I am saving for it, but foolishly disclose my recent fly gear purchases, telling them each purchase will be my last. They just roll their eyes.

 

[wbranch]

Maybe I am tired of life and wanting to try a new hobby. Perhaps cars, sporting clays, or bowling. My friends are gear heads and are pushing me to buy a manual sports car. I tell them I am saving for it, but foolishly disclose my recent fly gear purchases, telling them each purchase will be my last. They just roll their eyes.

Great idea! Besides fly fishing I have always loved fast cars.

 

[dryflyguy]

Wbranch - fast cars and fast women?

 

[wbranch]

Wbranch - fast cars and fast women?

Hmm, in my youth....absolutely!

 

[ryansheehan]

I no longer care enough to stuff one full of lead for the weigh in........

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Great idea! Besides fly fishing I have always loved fast cars.

Ha, a 350Z. I've always had a thing for those. My friend has a lowered one in a nice wine red color (GM color). He recently had a fight with road sign so his is still in the shop getting body panels replaced and painted to match the rest of the car. They're nice cars and fairly affordable (current Z's are getting marked up 300% MSRP!). I always thought the 350 looked better than the 370. The 350 has a fairly decent power-to-weight ratio. The car was from an era where sportscars weren't weighed down by safety equipment.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

Bluegill are severely underrated. On light tackle an 8-10 fish can be super fun. When I go for bluegills I tell my fishing friends I am going for freshwater permit. I tell them this to make fishing for bluegill sound better.

Not to mention, generous limits (if there is a limit) allows one to trade an afternoon of filleting for a butt-load of panfish nuggets.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Not to mention, generous limits (if there is a limit) allows one to trade an afternoon of filleting for a butt-load of panfish nuggets.

Fish nuggets are preferred to whatever McDonald's mystery meat is (it's nice to know where my meat is coming from). I recently had an outing like that where 20-30 10 inch crappie were harvested at the request of a friend who wanted the crappie population thinned out. My friend's dad cleaned them. It took longer to clean the fish than to catch them. The dad got to keep the meat as he cleaned them. He must have took home around 8 pounds of meat. The pond owner was pleased but I don't think we made much of a dent in the pond's current crappie population.

 

[5Weight]

Quantity is one thing but the ability to hook up to a big fish is every fisher mans dream . I would rather fish three days and catch one fish over 30" than catch a bunch under 6". That's my personal preference everyone is different.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

Quantity is one thing but the ability to hook up to a big fish is every fisher mans dream . I would rather fish three days and catch one fish over 30" than catch a bunch under 6". That's my personal preference everyone is different.

Many (many) years ago, my dad caught the biggest trout ("over 2 feet") of his life at the Paradise - first one of the day. At the time he could only keep one, and have to stop fishing. He let it go and couldn't prove that it ever happened.

 

[Chaz]

I’d say about 4-5 years ago.

Probably pursuing natives in PA and elsewhere has greatly contributed to this mindset.

Thought I’ve been able to immerse myself in the whole experience- the travels, the rigging, the beauty of the surroundings, the catching but to me now it’s even more so of the all encompassing aspects.

Caught my share of large fish and would prefer to catch large fish but don’t get all fussy about it.

Don’t really streamer fish much anymore. My circulation has really gone south and once my hands get wet at 50 degrees or less my hands are frozen- so steelhead fishing has much less appeal and I only go maybe once or twice a year.

I always cast to where the big fish should be, but I don’t obsess over them. Sometimes I big fish are in the shallowest lies. So I take what I get, strategy being more important to the specific stream I’m fishing.