I just like catching fish..

[billmac]

Although I will target specific species, I just like to catch fish.  If all I can find is a big school of horned dace or 4 inch bluegill, I'll put on a tiny hook and have some fun.  I don't think there's a fish that I wouldn't try to catch, except perhaps eels.

 

Anyone else?

[Team9nine]

Same. Have my preferences, but when faced with a potential fish catching option, I’ll take catching something over nothing most days. Drove over a tiny creek the other day I fished as a kid for creek chubs and thought I really need to try that again some 35 years later to see if they’re still in there - lol

[Todd2]

I mostly Bass fish, but in cold water, I go to the Crappie. A lot of action and good eating. 

[Black Hawk Basser]

I don't discriminate.  I often try to have one rod rigged with a bait that will work for a number of species.

 

Traditional bass fishing is impossible for 3 months here, so I ice fish for whatever will bite.

[NYWayfarer]

I catch what the water will give me. I love catching new species.

 

I don't micro-fish though. I have no desire to catch a guppy unless it is big enough to take a size 6 Aberdeen hook.

[greentrout]

some of my most memorable moments fishing ... fishing national forests with light and ultralight spinning gear with 4 and 6 # line for spots, lmb, bluegills and red bellies in creeks and small impoundments ...

 

rebel classic critters, beetle spins, cajun spins and betts flies with rainbow torpedo floats ... used ...

 

in the spring big smile on my face when crappie fishing ...

 

good fishing ...

 

 

 

[soflabasser]

9 hours ago, billmac said:

Although I will target specific species, I just like to catch fish.  If all I can find is a big school of horned dace or 4 inch bluegill, I'll put on a tiny hook and have some fun.  I don't think there's a fish that I wouldn't try to catch, except perhaps eels.

 

Anyone else?

I enjoy multi species fishing more than just bass fishing. I do microfishing, biggame fishing, freedive spearfishing, and many other forms of fishing.

4 hours ago, greentrout said:

 

 

 

Those redbreast sunfish are very fun to catch on light tackle.

[haggard]

In my third season now I target bass, but still enjoy catching any species and often carry along a L/F spinning setup for panfish. If I have a zero fish day, I can usually count on throwing the L/F and getting a dink in the cove on the way back to the launch, which beats getting skunked.

 

[MN Fisher]

Bass is mainly what I'm after - but if it's getting to the end of the trip and I'm being skunked...out come the UL with a worm and bobber. At least that way I can say I caught something.

[Bluebasser86]

I'm an opportunist for sure. I've sight fished all kinds of sunfish, gar, drum, carp, even catfish while fishing for bass. I usually have a rod on the deck ready for surfacing white bass and wipers in case they come up within casting distance. I go fishing to catch fish. Catching the target species is nice, but variety is the spice of life. 

[JustJames]

I like to fish any kind of fish, but I don’t like bait and wait type or touching worm. Just recent year I started fishing for crappies and I’m kind of sucked into it.

 

[mrpao]

I probably bass fish 80% of the time but I am game for pretty much anything that will bite. I just enjoy fishing. I'll fish from at small creek to deep sea fishing.

And not just fish. Crabbing, netting, frogging, etc. Its all fun to me.

[SeaCrow]

I'm a fishman for whatever's biting.

[poorhomie]

Love catching just about any species. I’ll often catch pickerel while bass fishing because they have similar feeding habits but it doesn’t bother me at all. I actually think they’re one of the hardest fighting fish where I live!

[Spankey]

I enjoy bass and trout fishing for the most part. I have grandson that I love to take fishing. Fishing I mean on the lake with my bass fishing stuff, panfish stuff and a variety of live baits. I don’t get any fishing in when I’m with them. I keep them rigged up, switched up. They like to catch whatever swims. They count them and make it a contest. 

[Darren.]

I'll take any fish over a skunk!

 

Haven't done it in a while, but I really enjoy using a long pole

(no reel, fixed length line) and catch all sorts of fish. It is a lot

of fun, used to do it all the time when my sons were wee lads.

We caught everything from white perch, catfish, sunfish, yellow

perch, crappie, bass, pickerel, eels...and turtles.

 

One of these day's I'll break 'em out again and just have fun.

[Spankey]

1 hour ago, Darren. said:

I'll take any fish over a skunk!

 

Haven't done it in a while, but I really enjoy using a long pole

(no reel, fixed length line) and catch all sorts of fish. It is a lot

of fun, used to do it all the time when my sons were wee lads.

We caught everything from white perch, catfish, sunfish, yellow

perch, crappie, bass, pickerel, eels...and turtles.

 

One of these day's I'll break 'em out again and just have fun.

That sounds great. I have an old cane pole setup from a passed relative and a few old pics to go along with it.  Have it as a wall hanger. Personally I’ve never tried one. 

 

The kids have a bit of a thing going on to catch all the members of the Pennsylvania Panfish Family. They have put a pretty big dent in the list. Got some good pics of them doing it. I need to work on getting them Rock Bass and Longeared Sunfish. 

[Darren.]

30 minutes ago, Spankey said:

That sounds great. I have an old cane pole setup from a passed relative and a few old pics to go along with it.  Have it as a wall hanger. Personally I’ve never tried one. 

 

The kids have a bit of a thing going on to catch all the members of the Pennsylvania Panfish Family. They have put a pretty big dent in the list. Got some good pics of them doing it. I need to work on getting them Rock Bass and Longeared Sunfish. 

The kids would really enjoy it, I bet  

 

An elderly Korean gentleman got me into fishing long poles in the

early 00s. He was always sitting at the end of the dock with about

three to five long poles out, thin Asian-style floats with bottom rig

hooks. He'd just sit there until a float started moving off...one day

gave me one of his floats and got me started his way.

 

Found allfishingbuy.com and sent pix of the floats, and they were

able to order some.

 

http://www.allfishingbuy.com/Pole-Floats.htm

[soflabasser]

Earlier this month I did a +800 mile long road trip to catch new species of fish to add to my fish lifelist. The trip was a success and I was able to catch several new species. I plan on doing more road trips in the future since I enjoy multi species fishing.

[Terrance Waters]

On 8/12/2019 at 7:09 PM, poorhomie said:

Love catching just about any species. I’ll often catch pickerel while bass fishing because they have similar feeding habits but it doesn’t bother me at all. I actually think they’re one of the hardest fighting fish where I live!

I fish the Okefenokee Swamp and it's loaded with large Chain Pickerel.  This is by far my favorite fish to catch.

[Ratherbfishing]

If I find other fish which are biting I'll sometimes switch over.  But it depends upon how well the bass are biting and sometimes I just want to "grind it out" to see if I can, eventually, catch some bass.  If the weather is bad and I'm having a terrible time with the bass, it doesn't take much to sway me.  About the only species I won't ever target is Carp.  It's my personal bias but I hate carp.

[billmac]

10 minutes ago, Ratherbfishing said:

About the only species I won't ever target is Carp

It's eels with me.

[schplurg]

I went to a pond I frequent to go bass fishing. When I got there I saw at least half a dozen bluegill apparently establishing beds. There were others too trying to take the beds from the others. They were 2 to 8 feet off the bank just sitting there.

 

I'd never bed fished for bass but the gills seemed to behave in the same manner as a bass should. Pulled out 8 and 1 accidental bass.

 

It was hard getting them to bite, they'd slam it or move my bait out of the bed. It took some patience and I really had to tick some of them off, and boy were they ticked!

 

All gills went right back to their beds on release. Was unexpected and fun.

[RB 77]

There was a time and a place a while back I would say yes, however not so much now. I have a handful of fish I specifically target and if I cant get on em, oh well. I don't switch tactics or target other fish. Skunks don't bother me as much as they used to. I always strive to catch fish, but of the target species isn't biting, I don't stress about it. I don't even consider by-catch as a skunk buster. For instance, if I'm Bass fishing and accidentally hook a catfish, that doesn't count as its not my targeted species. Same as if I was Yellowfin Tuna fishing and hook a Skipjack Tuna. No dice and it doesn't bother me. If I'm after a particular fish, that is my only goal.

[jaimeastin]

On 7/26/2019 at 4:21 AM, billmac said:

Although I will target specific species, I just like to catch fish.  If all I can find is a big school of horned dace or 4 inch bluegill, I'll put on a tiny hook and have some fun.  I don't think there's a fish that I wouldn't try to catch, except perhaps eels.

 

Anyone else?

Same here.  I love to fish for bass, but bluegill are my favorite fish.  Currently, I am just having too much fun catching crappie.  When the summer comes, I will be all over the gar and bowfin.  

 

I will change up species or go multi-species some days.  Most of the time I go out, I am going for a specific fish and bring that equipment... But I always bring something that will change the game.  I will also eat each of the species I catch, but majority of the I catch are back swimming in the water.  I don't have to and usually do not fish all day.  I go for an hour or a few hours.  I just have to fish... Yeah, I have drug the boat for a couple hours just to fish one hour, lol.