"Rich mans sport"

[Lucas Julian]

I buy way more stuff than I need but still it is cheaper than some other hobbies.

 

[soflabasser]

Bass fishing is a very cheap Sport once you realize what are the best lures that work in the area you fish.

[bowhunter63]

Look for sales,I hate to say it but Wal-mart this time of year has there better stuff half price to make way for the new years inventory.

[Paul Roberts]

Interesting topic. I just returned from 2 years living in SE Asia, a place where one can watch "globalization" occurring at rapid pace: hunter-gatherers meeting the globally wealthy, and everybody in between; the vast majority on the outside of that wealth. A place where a Lamborghini could drive past tribal people at roadside hoping to sell snails, tethered lizards, and various forest goods. There are an awful lot of materially and culturally poor people there, having lost control of their lands and culture, the new generations trying to break into the "1st world".

Then I walk into the picture with high tech fishing tackle, ready to catch-and-release -just for...fun. Holding a rig that could feed a family for 6 months just didn't feel right. And I all but packed my stuff away until I could return home. We are darn lucky that every day of our lives isn't consumed with the very basics of survival, or surrounded by it. Sportsfishing looks like an elite, even ridiculous, endeavor in that context.

[roadwarrior]

16 minutes ago, Paul Roberts said:

Sportsfishing looks like an elite, even ridiculous, endeavor in that context.

Yes, in that context a lot of things would be included, especially professional sports. Can you imagine trying to explain why a guy would be paid $20MM to "play" for a few hours and only work six months a year?

 

 

[Catt]

Got a buddy who is heavily into offshore fishing!

My boat is a 16' Alweld, his is a 60' Bertram!

My reels cost a couple hundred each, his cost a couple thousand each!

Want talk rich man's sport!

 

[tander]

5 hours ago, Sam said:

And Tander, what about the cost of those cow bells that you ring after every birdie? When you wear them out you need to get more and more and more and more, etc.

I got a good supply of cow bells, if I ring one after all my birdies, I will never wear them all out, HAIL STATE !!!!

[mrmacwvu1]

I have told this story before but for those who do not remember it.

My cousin and I used to fish together about 25 years ago all the time. While I never stopped he went to dental school and just lost any free time that he had. After about ten years in practice he had amassed quiet a networth. Built his mansion and such. One day he comes to me and tells me that he wants to get back into bass fishing and to get his son started and asked me to make a list of what I use and what I think is good.

Needless to say I never stopped "collecting tackle" I say this because oddly enough I probably only use 20 percent of the stuff I buy. Especially jerkbaits, They are just so pretty.

So I make him this list with wonderful Glomis rods shimanno reels, LC megabass and senkos in every color that I have. Not including all of the bandit, rapala norman and cheaper lures.

I am talking thousands of dollars worth of stuff. He had me go clear down to the terminal tackle stuff. Anyway I put this in an excel spreadsheet and sent it to him.

About a month goes by and he calls me and asked me to come to his house about two hours away. I say sure. When I get there he asks me if I could help him organize his new fishing stuff. I said sure. That dummy took that list walked in BPS and told them that he wanted double of everything on that list. The stuff that I collected over the years was bought in one day. He said you should have seen the look on the guys face when he handed him the list.

Then he bought a 30k boat.. So he had about 45k in everything.

He took his son fishing twice and he hated it. The son loved it. So he built a lake on his property and stocked it. He sold his boat, now all of that beautiful tackle only sees a 5 acre lake.

My little cousin is now getting a little older so hopefully I can start taking him on overnight trips so he can see more lakes.

Same cousin did this with me with golf. Took him for a fitting, latest greatest clubs, bag balls.

He has hit one bucket of balls that I know of in three years.

Normally I would be ticked about the waste of money however he gives back so much to the community and the youth in the area. I guess he is allowed to blow money of foolish things every now and then.

[brown12687]

My buddy got me into fishing a couple years ago and he told me: be careful fishing gets expensive.  One of my other hobbies is guns.  Shooting, reloading, collecting; I love them.  Compared to guns fishing isn't really all that expensive.  It seems like fishing really starts to get expensive when you get a boat and electronics and such.  If you're just bank fishing its a pretty affordable hobby.  For the price of a box of ammo you can get a couple bags of plastics and some hooks and fish all day.  50 rounds of ammo wont last nearly as long. 

[Fishinthefish]

I own a thousand dollar and change rod and reel setup, I own 300 dollar rod and reel setups. And have spent 30 dollars or more on a single hard bait. It can very easily become a rich mans sport, but so can't almost anything else. I could be just as happy with a few bags of soft plastics, a few bottles of jj magic and some terminal tackle on 130 dollar gander mountian elite series rod, with a BPS pro qualifier reel as I am an nrx and shimano core, and a boat load of tackle.

[thomas15]

In terms of numbers of Bass caught, I reeled in more of them when I fished the bank with a $40.00 rod/reel combo and a total of about $150.00 worth of tackle than I do now with many thousands of dollars invested in a boat and thousands more in tackle.

Looking on the bright side, since fishing from a boat I haven't lost a single lure.

[thomas15]

3 hours ago, brown12687 said:

My buddy got me into fishing a couple years ago and he told me: be careful fishing gets expensive.  One of my other hobbies is guns.  Shooting, reloading, collecting; I love them.  Compared to guns fishing isn't really all that expensive.  It seems like fishing really starts to get expensive when you get a boat and electronics and such.  If you're just bank fishing its a pretty affordable hobby.  For the price of a box of ammo you can get a couple bags of plastics and some hooks and fish all day.  50 rounds of ammo wont last nearly as long. 

I shoot IDPA, USPSA  and some steel. In IDPA, ICORE and USPSA  I use production semi-auto rigs with a few upgrades and/or Revolver and have Two G17s, a S&W 686 and a 929 plus all the associated gear and a well appointed handloading bench with three presses and plenty of supplies. But no question about it I have more dollars spent on my very modest 16' tin and the 12 or so rods/reels and assorted tackle.

My marksmanship skills are in the same league as my angling skills, ie: I suck but I managed to win about $350.00 worth of shooting/reloading gear last year in a league I shoot in. And I came in 14th place in my division.