Boated vs non boated

[Ziggy Bones]

Personally I think buying a boat made me a better angler, the reasoning being two-fold: not only did I have more opportunities to get to more fish, but in buying a boat I had more (better?) reason to get better. I guess I'm really agreeing with @reason up top, it didn't make me a technically better fisherman in and of itself, but gave me more reason to make myself a better angler. Maybe the question isn't in skill level attained, it's in motivation gained. I will say one thing however - before my boat I had a few rods and one bag with a couple boxes and caught plenty of fish, whereas now I have quadruple that amount (so much so the old lady is considering having me build a shed strictly for fishing gear) and my hookup ratio isn't that much higher. Boat fishing will definitely make you and your wallet enemies.

[Brew City Bass]

Depends on the angler. 

For me, I started out bank fishing for years and got pretty good at that. But I knew there were way more fish I couldn't even reach. I decided to buy a boat. It wasn't any "easier" fishing on a boat, but I worked my butt off to learn new skills and techniques and now I catch way more fish than I ever did on the shore. In the spring, bass are plenty on the shore at my lakes. Come summer, they almost all move deep. No reaching them from shore. 

Like all things, you have to put the work in to reap the reward though. 

[soflabasser]

Any decent basser has the ability to catch quality bass on a consistent basis either on a boat or land. Having a boat is no guarantee of success and I know several boaters with PB's under 10 and non boaters with PB's over 10.

[Bankbeater]

I think it depends on how you use the boat.

[Angry John]

No the boat does not make you better.  It does provide you the opportunity to learn more which in the end can result in a better angler.  Your skill is learned and refined by experience on the water.  The same can be said about a boat with all the best sonar.  Does it make you better, why only if you know how to use it and then using it to catch more fish.

[Wurming67]

Buying a boat made me a better fishermen the comfort of owning a boat allows me to fish alot longer and more,explore and acess areas I wasn't able to by land,and carry more equipment to explore other techniques.

[Koz]

Fishing from a boat is a HUGE advantage considering you can cover a lot more water and can use electronics to locate fish whereas from the bank you may find a spot that looks like it should be holding fish only to find out 45 minutes later the fish are somewhere else. Plus, with electronics you get to see the structure that can't be seen from the bank.

 

I think that those that learn to equate what they see with their electronics with what they see with the above water surroundings probably develop a slight advantage over time. But don't count out bank fisherman (like me) when it comes to breaking down a body of water. It's just depressing when I know where the bass should be but I can't quite get there.

[LionHeart]

I've been using a boat for the past two seasons.  You know what I learned?  To fully take advantage, you need some sort of electronics.  Reading topo maps and speculating what it looks like below water based on what it looks like above water can only take you so far in my experience.

 

Is a boat more fun? I say so whole heartedly.  I've had a chance to see and fish so many parts of the lake that I never would have been able to from shore.  I'm talking about an old... real old Jon boat and 15 up motor, so nothing fancy.

 

Do I catch more fish from a boat than shore? Kinda a toss up.

 

I just sold the Jon, and bought one of those 2 man plastic pontoon boats.  Had it out a few times and have been having a total blast.  No need for a trailer, or a ramp for that matter.  I can launch it almost anywhere.

[FishDewd]

More opportunities, yes! The places I like to fish have drop offs close to shore. It'd be beneficial to throw towards the shore and pull it away from, rather than throw along from the bank and risk a hang-up!

[813basstard]

19 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

I think it depends on how you use the boat.

Yes this^. Haven’t been fishing from a boat that long but boat position now comes to my mind more than I ever thought. It may sound like fiction, but the bite does turn on and off more than I thought due to angles.