Why Do You Bass Fish?

[Shoop05]

Hey guys,

 

Just wondering, why did you all choose bass fishing? There's a ton of stuff out there to do, and I am interested in hearing why you do this and how you got hooked!

[Trailer]

I love the outdoors and bass fishing seems to be the most accessible. In my state there are no season dates so you can fish all year round. Most waters are public. No matter what your skill level, there is equipment suited for you. Bass are prevalent in almost every body of water in my state no matter how big or small. I like the way bass fight. Usually a few good trips will get you hooked.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Because shooting at them is dangerous.

[Quitlimpin]

It's that feeling when the hook is set and the rod loads up. Not much in this world feels better than that. I just can't get enough of it.

[motodmast]

i like it becasue you have to work to get what you want, its not like any other fishing, to find & catch bass you gotta locat them by using a topo map, depth finder etc.. then pick the right bait, then work that bait, then theres the awesome fight they put up. nothing else like it to me!

[SissySticks]

I actually don't think bass are great fighters, pound for pound. Smallmouths are decent fighters. Big spots are decent fighters. I think largemouths, pound-for-pound, aren't.  I like bass fishing because I like being outside, it relaxes me, its quiet (unless I have a loquatious fishing buddy), and there's an element of challenge to it but it isn't competitive and therefore allows me to still be a likeable human (I am intensely competitive by nature, and competition brings out all my worst qualities). I also learned to do it at a young age and it has always been a part of my life, so part of it is just that I was brought up doing it. I also like the gear, gear is fun to collect and this gear at least gets use. I like the joy of the accomplishment of catching one, and I ESPECIALLY like the joy of watching someone else who hasn't done it catch one. Lots of things I guess.

[mjseverson24]

I love to problem solve, I am a third year electrical engineering/ Nuclear engineering student, also I am an US Navy veteran and was a Naval Electrician, so problem solving is like an addiction to me. bass fishing is no different the problem is I dont have a limit, the solution is what I do to get it. it is addicting.

 

Mitch

[Trailer]

It's that feeling when the hook is set and the rod loads up. Not much in this world feels better than that. I just can't get enough of it.

I can think of two things that feel better. One is sneezing...

[flyfisher]

To me bass fishing is about location.  I like outdoors activities and depending on my locale i pick up a certain sport.  Growing up i bass fished because it was close by and i coudl fish the delaware river within about 15 minutes.  When i moved to VA for college i was close to the mountains so i picked up fly fishing for trout in the mountain streams, rock climbing, mountain biking and hiking.  I usually focus on one or two things exclusively but since moving to Richmond i went back to bass fishing and picked up a kayak as there are probably 30 lakes i can hit within an hour drive and the James river and it's various tributaries are no more than 15 minutes away.

 

I do love fishing for bass more as a puzzle than anything but i would go back to fishing for native brookies in the mountains in a second if it was closer.  There is nothing better than hiking into a mountain stream early in the morning and catching brookie after brookie on dry flies and not seeing another person all day long.

[Traveler2586]

Where else can you dump all your available cash and not be expected to have anything to show for it.  It ranks right up there with golf and weather forecasting.

[lmbfisherman]

It's that feeling when the hook is set and the rod loads up. Not much in this world feels better than that. I just can't get enough of it.

YES!  I feel like a kid every time.

[Hyrule Bass]

for me, its not even just about fishing for bass. i like to catch any species, i still have a blast catching bluegills. and i love catfishing. i guess its just fishing itself. i love the peacefulness i get while fishing. my mind clears and i dont have a worry in the world, its like a temporary escape. i call fishing my therapy. it just recharges my batteries to spend a weekend at the lake. lemme stand around awhile just talking and whatnot and my back starts hurting, lemme stand around a body of water while fishing and i never notice any back pain. theres just something about fishing itself, doesnt matter what im fishing for...

[Nitrofreak]

No sport to me is more challenging than bass fishing, one good thing about it is that you can do this year round in most states, it's a huge learning curve once you get off the banks and actually start to put some work in it.

 

Books upon books have been written about bass fishing, how, when, what, why, where are all covered in these paperbacks and CD's but the one thing it does not cover is the individual, no other sport allows a person to be more flexible and in control of his or her own little pocket of happiness, from the cheapest to the most expensive stuff you can buy, it always ends up with a smile when you land that first bass or the bass of a lifetime, or see your children enjoying the same thing you do.

 

Bass fishing is not only a sport, but a brain stimulant, it wakes you up inside somehow and makes you feel alive, it's a feeling I think we all feel but there is not a word to put to it that really describes it.

 

The one constant in bass fishing is change, it's rarely if ever the same, every new spot holds a different challenge, every new day delivers another chance to learn, there is not one single thing I can really pinpoint that said this is what I love to do, it's down right depressing and harsh sometimes, and others it's the best thing that ever happened, kinda remindes me of marriage actually, but man, standing on the front of that boat or sitting on a shoreline by yourself or with a friend, watching the sun come up or set, when you make that first cast and hear the wind rip by the rod as the line strips off the reel and that bait finally hits the water, it's then that everything else dissappears, no mortgage, no car payment due, no fighting the crowds at the grocery store, just the gental slapping of water against the hull of your little floating island, hoping for a chance to set the hook on the corner of your house just once and land the fish of your dreams. 

[jhoffman]

Same reason I bow hunt and hunt turkeys. Its like a giant chess game. You make a move, they make a move. Just when you think you have seen it all something changes.

 

The desire for me is in the details. Its the reason I chose my profession in computers as well. I like to figure out problems. Im very much the type of person that I need to know every detail about what I am into.

 

Take hunting for example. I had to find the best stand(lone wolf) with the best seat(hunt comfort) with the best transport system(eberlestock x2) and then take it another notch and figure out how to make it not make a sound. I did this because I dont hunt deer like most people. I go out, I find where they bed and I intrude while most sit back and wait.

 

It takes mistakes along the way to be great at anything but there does come a point when you are OCD as much as I am about the outdoors that you think whats next.

 

Ive already killed whitetails with a bow for years.

I already mastered fly fishing and fly tying.

Ive trained a gun dog that at 12 months would make other peoples dogs look like they have no training.

 

The thing about bass fishing is theres ALWAYS something new, always new water, always new baits, always new weather. Its never the same.

[jhoffman]

To me bass fishing is about location.  I like outdoors activities and depending on my locale i pick up a certain sport.  Growing up i bass fished because it was close by and i coudl fish the delaware river within about 15 minutes.  When i moved to VA for college i was close to the mountains so i picked up fly fishing for trout in the mountain streams, rock climbing, mountain biking and hiking.  I usually focus on one or two things exclusively but since moving to Richmond i went back to bass fishing and picked up a kayak as there are probably 30 lakes i can hit within an hour drive and the James river and it's various tributaries are no more than 15 minutes away.

 

I do love fishing for bass more as a puzzle than anything but i would go back to fishing for native brookies in the mountains in a second if it was closer.  There is nothing better than hiking into a mountain stream early in the morning and catching brookie after brookie on dry flies and not seeing another person all day long.

 

 

Funny I live on the best stocked stream in the state and the second best stream for c&r is less than 5mins away, my parents live on it. Youre welcome to come fly fish it any time you want and Ill show you around. Those trout just dont do it for me anymore.

[derekxec]

i do it cause all my snook spots are dead right now (no rain to open the spillways) and im lazy to take out the boat right now but its not bad they just dont fight as good

 

also FYI large mouth bass arent really bass they are a type of sunfish not in the bass family

[Sodus Bay Scooter]

“Fishing is the only sport where everytime you catch a fish, it feels like the very first one you ever caught.” Rick Clunn

 

This.

[Hooked_On_Bass]

It's my passion and has been since I was quite young. Very few things compare, for me.

[draggin]

it keeps me out of trouble and doesn't cost as much as racing

[JellyMan]

Five reasons.

 

1. I love being in and around water.

2. Bass smell good.

3. Bass look cool.

4. Bass are hard to catch.

5. When I am fishing, I am not working.

[Dyerbassman]

I love the outdoors and suck at golf.

[slonezp]

It sure beats sticking toothpicks under my fingernails.

[flyfisher]

Funny I live on the best stocked stream in the state and the second best stream for c&r is less than 5mins away, my parents live on it. Youre welcome to come fly fish it any time you want and Ill show you around. Those trout just dont do it for me anymore.

Stockers aren't that fun to me either and honestly the only trout on the east coast I like to target are browns and mostly brookies. I have fished up in pa a few times and the best part is the history of spring creek fishing as we know it originated there.

If I had a choice I would fish out west as those trout are a completely different animal. All the cuthroats, goldens and the bull trout are all native to the area and much more difficult to fish for than the trout out east.

I just may take you up on the offer though if I can get away from the smallies when I visit pa.

[Hi Salenity]

Saltwater fish are a lot harder to catch!

Especially in Kansas

[GeorgiaBassBros]

I was born into it, ive been fishing since before i can remember and its just grown into an obsession.