Anyone look at you with a weird look like something is wrong when you say you bass fish?

[12poundbass]

1 hour ago, Pickle_Power said:

A lot of guys here in the Midwest target mainly walleye and panfish.  I think most walleye guys see them as a nuisance.  Frankly, if you only would target walleye around here, you'd still catch more bass than walleye, so I understand the annoyance.

 

I chase all species available, but due to the sheer numbers of bass in this area, it just makes sense to fish for them frequently.  I rarely fish for a meal, so that's not a factor for me.

I grew up walleye fishing. I wasn’t a big fan of it because all we did was troll, boring. My stepdad is the walleye angler and he always asks why I waste my time on bass. 

[fishwizzard]

I live in a striped bass obsessed area and it blows people’s minds when they find out I don’t ever really fish for them and when I do I mostly target schoolies on UL and rarely target keepers. 

 

I love it though, trophy season starts April 20th and I will have most every freshwater spot all to mysef for a week or two. 

[FryDog62]

3 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

I grew up walleye fishing. I wasn’t a big fan of it because all we did was troll, boring. My stepdad is the walleye angler and he always asks why I waste my time on bass. 

Exact same thing with my father-in-law.  Love the guy but I have spent hundreds if not thousands of hours drowning minnows with him in pursuit of walleyes.  Booooooring...

 

A couple years ago when he was visiting and we watched the end of a TV bass fishing show he said “hey that looks fun, let’s try that sometime.”

 

Next time he visited and I took him out “bass” fishing.  After about 20 minutes we had both caught a Smallmouth and I think he felt he fulfilled his commitment and said “Well, you suppose the walleyes are biting too..?”

 

Off we went - -

[scaleface]

No , but I do get those looks when I say I like to  carp fish . I have friends  who are into crappie and when they show  me pictures I like to reply how "cute" they are . LOL

[12poundbass]

12 minutes ago, scaleface said:

No , but I do get those looks when I say I like to  carp fish . I have friends  who are into crappie and when they show  me pictures I like to reply how "cute" they are . LOL

You carp fish? ?

[Glaucus]

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

I like to  carp fish

But why

 

[Ksam1234]

6 hours ago, scaleface said:

No , but I do get those looks when I say I like to  carp fish . I have friends  who are into crappie and when they show  me pictures I like to reply how "cute" they are . LOL

Carp fishing is fun to! Grab some dough balls and hang on

[CrankFate]

14 hours ago, Manly Studson said:

I work in academia and no one is a fisherman. For me it is like living a double life. In some ways it adds variety to life, though coworkers look at me like I’m a country bumpkin, when they discover that I bass fish. Few believe that it’s what I do in my spare time.

 

1 hour ago, Ksam1234 said:

Carp fishing is fun to! Grab some dough balls and hang on

I agree. Any carp over 2-3lbs is fun to catch.

[Mbirdsley]

I grew up trolling for salmon and trout on lake Michigan.  that is the only trolling I do.  trolling is boring but, to get to feel the surge and reel killing pull of a 30 lbs king it is worth it to troll.  Walleye I see as purely a food source. walleye don't really fight unless the are huge so there only purpose for me is to be eaten.  I like eating fish however, the wife does not.  So there is really no point in me keeping a bunch of fish for the freezer.  If I keep a couple of fish a year I am happy.

 

I love to fish and  This is where bass fishing comes in.  At this point in my life and my work schedule ( work all the time) bass fishing fits.  Large mouth are abundant in the lakes and smallies are in the rivers.  They are not a delicate fish so 98% of the time if you know what your doing they can be released unharmed.I have always since a kid been intrigued with bass lures and bass fishing in general.  I come from a very out doors family and yet most of them don't get bass fishing.  They don't understand fishing just to throw them back.  Most people anymore don't understand anything hunting or fishing related any more.  last week my wife said " people who fish all the time are weird"

[SC53]

Some people I talk to about bass fishing cannot fathom the idea that we release them.  Had a neighbor over for dinner awhile back for fish dinner, crappie I think, and was explaining catch & release to her.  She argued that it was better to keep and kill the fish then to “hurt” it and let it go.  You can’t make this stuff up!

My brother is another one, can’t understand why you would go and catch a fish just to let it go.  But then again he plays golf so there’s that ?

 

I’m also in a fishing club here in central Florida that encompasses both salt and freshwater species.  A recent survey was conducted that asked what was the hardest 8 lb. fish to catch.  

Choices were: bass, redfish, dolphin(mahi-mahi), tripletail or red snapper.

Tripletail won.  Now our area is renowned for the amount and size of tripletail we catch, most world records came from here, and it’s nothing to get one 8 lbs.  All of the other saltwater fish on the list are also very easy to catch as well.  But I’ll bet less than 10 members of the 250 in the club have ever caught a bass over 5 lbs.

 

[Mr. Aquarium]

people are shocked when they are fishing senkos and I come walking up with an 8 inch swimbait. 

[schplurg]

I think some of these people just don't know how, or have never really tried or experienced fishing for bass.

 

When I started fishing recently I fished for Stripers because the river is close to me. I saw bass fishing videos and tried to catch some. My Dad lives on a decent bass lake and I'd tried bass fishing from the dock several times without getting a bite.

 

And THEN...I got a topwater strike and landed it. That's all it took! Now I "get it".

 

I know a guy that just fishes to eat. He eats too many fish from this river, as in there are mercury warnings. It gets boring bank fishing and just soaking bait, unless you're soaking up beers too! I'll soak one rod and throw lures with another. A two pound striper feels like an 8 pound LBM  They are fun as hell.

 

I wanna experience catching all the species I can.

[islandbass]

On 4/5/2019 at 8:56 PM, 813basstard said:

‘Why do you need 9 rods?’

 

“why do you need 93 pairs of shoes..and candles that you don’t burn?”

 

Ill be, be at the ramp..

...and on the couch when come home later that night, lol. 

True on the candles!!

[WVU-SCPA]

Honestly I was one of them less then 5 years ago,  but I had grown up fly fishing for trout and bass was always an afterthought.  A boat was never in the family so bigger water was always avoided.  The bass fishing world was unknown community and I would have been puzzled if someone told me they had 5+ rods to fish for bass. 

 

The side I didn't understand at the time was the complexity.  My experience bass fishing up to that point as based on farm ponds which basically meant take one rod, one lure, and catch bunches of fish.

 

The natural fly fishing presentation still gets me.  I always thought a spinnerbait was the a gimmick,  I would laugh when I saw someone using them.   Nothing about it appeared natural and I didn't understand the concept.  Now I can happily say that in the last 2 weeks spinnerbaits have produced more fish then any other lure.

 

I'm WVU-SCPA, and I now have a spinnerbait problem. 

[bagofdonuts]

around here they look at you funny if you don't bass fish.

[gilkeybr]

I'll fish for anything that puts up a good fight.  Drum are a common by-catch on lake st clair when targeting bass.  Some friends will roll their eyes when they see that its a drum on the end of their line.  Did you get excited when you felt the hit?  Yes.  Did it strip some line off your spool?  Yes.  Sounds like you had a good time then!

 

I don't get much enjoyment out of pan fishing.  But, when the ice sets in you take what you can get!

[The Maestro]

The hardest thing to explain is that it can be (and usually is) physically and mentally exhausting. The majority of non-anglers picture fishing to be sitting in a lawn chair with a beer in one hand and a fishing "pole" in the other so they look at you like you have 2 heads when you say you're tired from fishing.  There's really no point in trying to explain the difference between what fishing is in their mind and what a full day on the water of bass fishing really entails.

[RichF]

The worst reaction for me is when people think tournament bass fishing is low impact, super easy, and requires zero skill! 

[The Maestro]

10 minutes ago, RichF said:

The worst reaction for me is when people think tournament bass fishing is low impact, super easy, and requires zero skill! 

It's all luck.

 

*not srs*

[Mr. Aquarium]

10 hours ago, schplurg said:

I think some of these people just don't know how, or have never really tried or experienced fishing for bass.

 

When I started fishing recently I fished for Stripers because the river is close to me. I saw bass fishing videos and tried to catch some. My Dad lives on a decent bass lake and I'd tried bass fishing from the dock several times without getting a bite.

 

And THEN...I got a topwater strike and landed it. That's all it took! Now I "get it".

 

I know a guy that just fishes to eat. He eats too many fish from this river, as in there are mercury warnings. It gets boring bank fishing and just soaking bait, unless you're soaking up beers too! I'll soak one rod and throw lures with another. A two pound striper feels like an 8 pound LBM  They are fun as hell.

 

I wanna experience catching all the species I can.

I LLLLLOOOOVVVVEEEE STRIPERS!!!!!! I live in MA, get them off my backyard all summer long.  Fishing 10lbs braid with topwaters is so fun. Casting along the saltmarshes at high tide. Watching a school of stripers follow and smash your plug. It gets aggravating though but gets your blood pumping, watching a striper hit your plug or swirl behind it 3 or 4 times.

[the reel ess]

No, but people will sometimes ask me a question about fishing. When I answer and start to expound on the subject, they get a glassed over look in their eyes. Then I just say "Get some Trick Worms". Can't miss.

 

My buddy's pond is hopelessly stunted. When I fish there I put every bass I catch in his basket for him to eat. He complains that I don't try for bream. He'd rather eat them. I tell him they're his responsibility.

[Fishingintheweeds]

On 4/5/2019 at 3:27 PM, NYWayfarer said:

That look is definitely from the folks that like to eat their catch. I get it a lot in these parts with the follow up question "Do you eat them?"

 

When I answer, no, they usually ask why not?

 

Pick any of the following canned answers I give:

I wouldn't eat anything out of these waters, unless I want to glow in the dark.

I get my fish where God intended me to, the supermarket.

I just fish for sport and Bass are great sport fish.

I am not into the taste of Bass, if I am going to catch something to eat it would be Perch, Trout or Crappie.

I prefer the taste of saltwater catches like fluke or blackfish better.

I like your answers. You show them that you like to partake in low-brow activities but you're also a classy guy with refined tastes ?

[Troy85]

On 4/5/2019 at 11:16 AM, N Florida Mike said:

Yeah, but I dont get it from freshwater fisherman. Around here, you get that kind of attitude  from the saltwater anglers. My son is even like that. They dont understand why you would rather bass fish with all the saltwater fishing opportunities here.

I love saltwater fishing too, but If I had to choose one it would be bass fishing.

Being from Southeast LA, I get the exact same response for the saltwater guys.  I grew up saltwater fishing, but now I prefer bass fishing.  I usually go saltwater fishing probably 5-6 weekends out of the year, all the others are devoted to bass.

[TOXIC]

I have been blessed to work grand openings and special events for Bass Pro and Cabela's all over the country.  Depending on the location of the stores there is always a different type of fishing that is the most popular.  Stop and think about it....."Fishing" is such a broad term.  There are so many different types of fishing that it boggles the mind and when you are sent into a location to promote, you better be versed in as many different fishing techniques and styles as possible including the more specialized ones for the location you are going to.  My wife always is amazed at how when we meet new people in social settings that if there is a fisherman in the group, they will talk to me for hours.  I just tell her its a common bond and as a rule all fishermen are part of a big social club. 

 

Never look down on any other style of fishing.  It's a passion we all have in our own way and none is better than the other.  

[Big Mike in Fl]

On 4/5/2019 at 5:13 PM, Mike L said:

 

Yep

Must be a state side thing!

?

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

Apparently a state thing, and a mike thing. I have the same problem.