Who fishes from a boat vs. fishes from shore? - How does it affect what tackle you use?

[fishindad]

I fish 99% from boat but do have waders, pack and gear for fishing from shore. There's a great small river/stream that runs through town with excellent smallie fishing. Problem is from Memorial Day until October it's typically filled with college students floating/tubing. Lots of eye candy but makes the river un-fishable even on most weekdays during Summer. I do enjoy both equally though - I love the simplicity and minimalism of fishing on foot compared to all the tackle I cram into my boat lockers.

[Steveo-1969]

I don't own a boat or a kayak/canoe. I wade fish year round in a river when the water level is low enough to safely wade, otherwise I fish from the shore. Occasionally I'm a guest one someone's boat.

 

When wading I carry one rod and all my tackle fits in a small over-the-shoulder bag (half the size of a bread loaf). When shore fishing (or a boat guest) I carry one spinning and one casting rod with the same small tackle bag.

[dmor71]

I don't change my tackle much between shore and boat/kayak. If grass becomes an issue and you have to fish through it then go with some weedless stuff. I did a lot of bank fishing back in the day and one thing I did change up was putting my tackle in a backpack. This made it easy to move around a lot and work a lot more of the bank.  If you are fishing in the river, then a waist pack is best. I lover wading in rivers for smallmouth. I still do that up where I'm at in Iowa/Illinois.

[Brett's_daddy]

I do about a 60/40 split (when my boat is running that is) between boat and shore/bank. I think the boat just gives you so many more options of where, when and what to fish vs. the bank. When bank fishing you're really at the mercy of the surrounding terrain, I mean you can only go where there's an opening around the shoreline and sometimes you have to hike a good ways to find it...a boat eliminates most of this hassle. I'm one of the foolish ones that brings everything but the kitchen sink, even if i only end up fishing with 1/8 to 1/4 of what i bring I'm always telling myself if you don't bring everything there's bound to be a time when you wished you had a certain lure etc. so I do it sherpa style for the bank fishing with a tackle box AND a tackle backpack and about 4 rods and reels (this usually entails a couple of trips to my fishing spot from the car. Ironically I carry the same amount for when I'm in the boat but it's A LOT easier...lol.

[RB 77]

I do it all. Boat, shore, kayak, float tube, etc. If I'm shore fishing, I pack very light. Two rods only. On the boat, I usually have at least a 1/2 dozen laid out on the deck if not more.

[3crows]

I am vexed. I am a kayaker but prefer to stand when fishing. But a kayak that is stable enough to stand will not paddle well and a kayak that paddles well will not allow standing.

 

I carry three rods, one with a worm of some sort, usually a Zoom or Senko (Falcon WW and Curado 70XG), another with a spinner bait/chatter bait or similar (a Curado 200I on Falcon Herm) and lately my new spinning outfit with a Ned Rig (Stradic Ci4+ on Falcon JC). I try to pre-rig everything and carry a couple of spares and maybe a different color or two. Anything more becomes a wrassling match and a wrassling match in my kayak could become a swimming lesson. 

 

[WRB]

I fish from my own boat 90% of the time, from someone else's boat 9% and maybe from shore 1%, it's too difficult to shore fishing anymore.

When was shore fishing it was usually at night and used 1 rod/reel carrying a few lures, mostly T-rigged big worms. Every 6 months I take everything out of my boat just to remember what I have stored in it, way too much tackle.

This past week I cleaned up my garage stored tackle looking for a box of 6 vintage Ambassaduer 2500C and 4500C reels and didn't find them! I consolidated my lures and through away 6 tackle boxes, hundreds of old jigs and worm and still have several more tackle boxes plus cabinates full of tackle I have saved over the 50 years. 

Tom

[Jerryj33]

Recently had to sell my little Jon boat because I was moving cross the country, so I'm shore bound for a little while. I carry 2 rods, and a backpack with a 3600 tray of various lures and terminal tackle, and several bags of plastics. Of course I keep tons more tackle in the truck and very often find myself jogging back to the parking lot to grab something that I didn't think to bring in the first place. All of my deep cranks, heavy stuff and most expensive tackle is now just gathering dust. Couldn't bear the thought of snagging a vision 110 in the middle of a pond. 

[Boomstick]

I fish from shore like 90% of the time. The rest of the time, I rent a boat or canoe.

 

As for tackle, I will usually carry a mid size tackle bag unless its a long walk to the fishing spot. I have two casting rods and two spinning rods, and what I bring depends on where I'm fishing and what I'm fishing on any given day.

[ohboyitsrobby]

I fish mainly from my boat mainly. But throw in some river fishing from shore and canoe. When I'm in the boat i carry 15-16 combos and all my tackle minus a box of jigs and a big bag of plastics. No need to carry  literally everything. On the bank a couple poles and a small box. Canoe I carry a couple combos and a 3600 box with a couple bags of plastics. Guaranteed to have the bigger rebel craw and some watermelon red brush hogs and a pop r on those trips. I absolutely love fishing floats it's what I grew up doing. Some of my best memories ever come from these

[clh121787]

Fishing from shore I carry 1 or 2 rods max. And fish 3 baits.Max . Texas rig some plastic either weighted or weightless, chatterbait, or a top water, usually frog or yellow magic.   

[NiX]

Kayak - 4 rods (3 BC and one spinning), a net, a few plano boxes with a little bit of everything. Topwater/jerkbait/spinnerbait/lip and lipless cranks/jigs/plastics

Shore - 2 Rods(one spinning and one BC) and a backpack with 2 plano boxes filled with stuff I would use for the day. When I fish the shore I usually throw jigs/plastics

[YaknBassn]

I do 99% of my fishing from a kayak.  I used to bring bare bones, but I've slowly worked my way up to bringing everything. 

 

I usually bring a total of 6-7 rods, 4 being on deck, ready to use, and the others stowed below deck. 

 

I have a crate with three 3500 boxes with jigs, topwater, and cranks.  I also have a double sided 3600 satchel with terminal tackle and other items.  I also bring a tacklebag with an assortment of soft plastics. 

 

I do like to try and anticipate, but I like being able to adapt to the conditions. 

[gim]

I fish from a boat 100% of the time.  I can't remember the last time I fished from shore.  Maybe 15 years ago?

 

I fish from my own boat about 75% of the time.  The other 25% I'm in a friend's boat, a canoe in a river, or my Father's boat.

 

I'm lucky enough to have access to a boat all the time and its something I won't take for granted.

[Koz]

I'm simply fascinated by the amount of people here that carry 5-10+ rods. I understand having 2 or 3 rods with some combination of baitcast, spincast, and a rod with heavy braid. But I don't see how there is a huge statistical advantage by precisely matching every rod type, lure type, reel type, and line type.

 

I'm not trying to be disrespectful, I'm just wondering if it makes a large, statistical difference in fish strikes and landing fish for the average, non-pro fisherman.

 

I bank fish 99% of the time with one rod and reel combo. I used to bring a second spinner combo but it was more of a pain than a convenience. Next year I might add a baitcaster and see if that makes a difference of any kind.

 

I have a Spiderwire shoulder tackle bag with three large boxes for lures and one small one for terminal tackle. The extra space in the body of the bag allows me to carry a large Ziploc bag that hold a number of soft plastic bags.

 

When I bank fish I usually bring my bike so I can quickly move to new locations or to new lagoons.

[J Francho]

On 9/20/2017 at 10:04 PM, 3crows said:

I am vexed. I am a kayaker but prefer to stand when fishing. But a kayak that is stable enough to stand will not paddle well and a kayak that paddles well will not allow standing.

Totally false.  Get in some better boats.  My Commander 140 tracks extremely well, is fast, and I can easily stand and fish.  There are several others out there as well.

 

[Raul]

I got a boat ( well, if you can call a 12 ft aluminum Jonboat a boat that's what I got ) but I fish a lot more from shore, from the boat I carry 5 rods and like 500 lbs of stuff, from the shore I carry 1 rod and a small backpack with a handful of lures.

[Pro Logcatcher]

I don't own a boat and it will be awhile before I do. What I would recommend for shore fishing is to get a backpack and two or three of those lure cases. Put hard baits along with worm hooks, shakey heads, etc. in there. You can put bags of plastics in the front pocket. Now add a rod and reel, and I'm ready for a couple hours at the pond.

[LxVE Bassin]

I'm 95% from the shore. I have a friend that has boat so I go out with him on the water when I can. I didn't change anything the few times I get on the boat. I use all of the same stuff but my go to lures are 1/2 ounce chatterbaits, weighthese senkos, and 1/4 ounce t rigged craw baits. On the boat I'm mainly fishing shallow water no more than 10 feet.

[Fried Lemons]

I fish exclusively from shore. All of my lures I organize into various Plano boxes and choose based on where I plan to fish and what species I'm targeting. I can fit up to three Plano 3600 boxes and all of my tools in my backpack although it's usually just one or two. 

 

I prefer to carry just one rod whenever possible or at most two, also based on where I'm fishing and what I'm fishing for. The type of bank fishing I do is sometimes very rough with off trail hiking and climbing huge rocks. It's much more enjoyable if I don't have multiple rods to tangle in trees and bump against rocks.

 

I do want to buy a kayak eventually.

[Further North]

Boat & wading. 

 

My boat has been called a floating tackle shop and I'm a multi-species fisherman...so the answer to what tackle I bring is, "All of it."

 

 When I wade I'm usually chucking flies, I bring what's appropriate to what I'm chasing: I have a trout slingpack, a bass slingpack and a pike/musky slingpack.

[Michaelangelo]

Of course it does. Fish a deep diver from the shore of a weedy pond and see how that goes.