Do you know anyone who quit fishing?

[CrankFate]

9 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

@CrankFate I politely disagree my friend. Certain circumstances can dictate things in life. ?

Maybe. I didn’t do much fishing for a good 4-5 years because of work and school and then again when my kids were born, but most people never completely quit forever. There are some guys that get into a hobby go crazy and become enthusiasts for a few years, then quit, sell all their stuff and take up a new hobby every 2-3 years. Those guys aren’t really fishermen. If you find yourself busy and far from water or not leaving your wife home with the kids all day every weekend, it’s not really quitting.

[TOXIC]

My mentor and the one who introduced me to fishing, my Grandfather passed away waaaaay too early (he was 51 and I was a teen) and I couldn't handle the memories every time I picked up a rod.  I quit fishing for a number of years and concentrated on my career.  When I moved to Virginia 25 years ago, I had 2 neighbors that got me back on the water and I had an epiphany wade fishing the Shenandoah River where I felt his presence right there with me and I got the passion back 10 fold.  So much so, I ended up guiding for a number of years.   

 

I do know of some hard core anglers both recreational and competitive that just "burned out" after many years of fishing.  Sometimes it just happens.  Some ease back into it and some never get the drive again.  

[NittyGrittyBoy]

@Glaucusive watched kickin their Bass some, his personality is kinda uh.. loud. Reminds me of flair. 

 

He does fish the Savannah river a good bit, along with alot of private ponds.

[Jigfishn10]

13 hours ago, MartinTheFisherman said:

I don't know why anybody would ever quit fishing, it is literally the best thing to do. They might just quit cause they don't catch anything or they don't like being outside. I don't really know anyone that has quit fishing, but I once went to a yard sale with a guy in his mid 70's which was selling his stuff because he was now too old to fish. 

I'm close to it. Don't have any time anymore. My son's baseball season is getting longer, this year his season will go into August. When it's done I have maybe 6-8 weekends at my home in Maine to relax a bit and then projects start up at one of the houses. Last year I didn't even get a fishing license.

 

Darn close to just getting rid of all my gear and calling it quits.

[ZbestBassman]

14 hours ago, slonezp said:

I've known some people who get married and have a litter of kids and fishing takes a back seat to family.

Well I already let my Fiancee know from day one I would be fishing often for rest of my life and if she didn't like it we shouldn't get married. She is a really good girl tho I've have buddy's that aren't as lucky

[diversity210]

My brother quit fishing.  He was raised fishing and loved it until he finished medical school and became to big for his britches and thought some how fishing was low brow after that, or maybe it could be because he moved to dry Arizona.  Either way he no longer fishes.  When he comes to visit.  I try and get him out on the boat and it never happens.  Its to bad because fishing is so relaxing, fun, who doesn't enjoy eating fresh caught fish.  I sleep so well after a day of fishing.  It doesn't wear me out, but it relaxes me so much that I sleep like a baby afterwards. 

[redmeansdistortion]

I took about a decade long hiatus from fishing.  Not because I lost the passion but because I had all of my gear stolen.  A friend of mine had a boat he kept docked at a marina on Lake St Clair and somebody stole his boat.  With that, I lost every rod and reel I owned up to that time (4 combos) as well as all of my tackle, much of it irreplaceable as it was antique stuff given to me by my grandfather.  On his end, he had thousands in musky, walleye, and bass gear.  He and I fished very often so I figured I'd just leave my gear on his boat and never had an issue for years until that one day.  I didn't pick up fishing again until about 7 years ago when he and I took up steelhead fishing and went out and bought everything we needed together.  During these last 7 years, I accumulated more rods, reels, and lures than I did my entire life beforehand.  Now I just take what I need when I go out fishing.  

[FishinBuck07]

Not anymore!?

[N Florida Mike]

I’ve known a few. One of my old friends was one of the best I ever fished with. He was “ the man “ on one of our local creeks and the river. He went off into the turkey hunting twilight zone, never to be seen again.

 

Another one used to fish tournaments for years, and had a membership at a privately run series of lakes. He just up and quit, sold his bass boat and took up golf. He called a couple weeks ago and we went fishing for the first time in 5 years. Looks like he’s starting to come around.

[ww2farmer]

No, but I have threatened the birds, the trees, a frog, docks, and other random things that I'm going to quit, sink the boat and set my clothes on fire after a long day of bad fishing.

[NYWayfarer]

5 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

@Glaucusive watched kickin their Bass some, his personality is kinda uh.. loud. Reminds me of flair. 

 

He does fish the Savannah river a good bit, along with alot of private ponds.

That loud part comes from his Dad.

 

If you ever seen his folks on his vids he has a New York Dad and a Georgia Mom.

[the reel ess]

I knew a guy who was fanatical about fishing. In fact, he taught me everything I knew about largemouth at that point. Then he discovered golf. It was on then! He sold his boat and his house at the lake and as far as I know he never fished again. He became a golf fanatic. That's why I stay away from golf.

[The Maestro]

19 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

I knew a guy who was fanatical about fishing. In fact, he taught me everything I knew about largemouth at that point. Then he discovered golf. It was on then! He sold his boat and his house at the lake and as far as I know he never fished again. He became a golf fanatic. That's why I stay away from golf.

How anyone can find golf to be more fun than fishing is beyond me. Can you get an adrenaline rush from golf? My ex-brother in-law was big into golf until I introduced him to fishing. He slowly quit golfing altogether.

[the reel ess]

3 minutes ago, The Maestro said:

How anyone can find golf to be more fun than fishing is beyond me. Can you get an adrenaline rush from golf? My ex-brother in-law was big into golf until I introduced him to fishing. He slowly quit golfing altogether.

Some people can. I'd just feel guilty for wasting a good day or I'd want to fish the water on the course.

[Loomis13]

13 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

Some people can. I'd just feel guilty for wasting a good day or I'd want to fish the water on the course.

This is my battle, I have spent a lot of beautiful days on the golf course. I don't regret a second of it. However, I know that now I try and balance the two more than I used too. It's just a lot simpler to throw the clubs in the trunk than it is to get the boat in and out of our garage.

 

Also, to the guy about adrenaline and golf. Absolutely. If you enjoy it that is. Seeing a ball rolling towards the cup from ~150 yards and dropping is a phenomenal feeling. Similar to setting the hook fishing. Except setting the hook on a fish happens a little more than hitting it really close in golf!

[the reel ess]

5 minutes ago, Loomis13 said:

This is my battle, I have spent a lot of beautiful days on the golf course. I don't regret a second of it. However, I know that now I try and balance the two more than I used too. It's just a lot simpler to throw the clubs in the trunk than it is to get the boat in and out of our garage.

 

Also, to the guy about adrenaline and golf. Absolutely. If you enjoy it that is. Seeing a ball rolling towards the cup from ~150 yards and dropping is a phenomenal feeling. Similar to setting the hook fishing. Except setting the hook on a fish happens a little more than hitting it really close in golf!

That's the main reason I got into kayak fishing. And I have no fewer than 5 places within 10 miles that I can fish. I can get loaded up and to the nearest spot in 10 minutes.

[The Maestro]

23 minutes ago, Loomis13 said:

This is my battle, I have spent a lot of beautiful days on the golf course. I don't regret a second of it. However, I know that now I try and balance the two more than I used too. It's just a lot simpler to throw the clubs in the trunk than it is to get the boat in and out of our garage.

 

Also, to the guy about adrenaline and golf. Absolutely. If you enjoy it that is. Seeing a ball rolling towards the cup from ~150 yards and dropping is a phenomenal feeling. Similar to setting the hook fishing. Except setting the hook on a fish happens a little more than hitting it really close in golf!

I've tried golf enough times to know that I'll never like it. Fishing on the other hand....that very first time sitting in a tin can aluminum boat and seeing my friends bobber get pulled under at his cottage when I was 8 or 9 years old.  I knew right then and there that fishing was for me.

[redmexican5081]

Flat out quitting fishing would be a hard thing to do for anyone who had anything more than a fleeting interest.  Taking a break is more likely what happens.  I would consider it truly quitting when you have the ability to drive by any body of water and not check to see if there is a boat out there fishing or wonder what kind of fish might be in it.  Even the guys who have to give it up for home/health/other reasons, I'd bet they still wonder and if they do, they haven't quit.

[Tennessee Boy]

I’ve known a couple of guys that quit who fished at an intense level,  in big tournaments,  with high end boats.  They burned out and don’t enjoy it at a slower level.  Another guy with a similar story that gave up bass fishing but still enjoys catfish and crappie fishing.

[soflabasser]

14 hours ago, CrankFate said:

There are some guys that get into a hobby go crazy and become enthusiasts for a few years, then quit, sell all their stuff and take up a new hobby every 2-3 years. Those guys aren’t really fishermen. If you find yourself busy and far from water or not leaving your wife home with the kids all day every weekend, it’s not really quitting.

I have known many people that fit the description you said, they are not true fishermen and just people following whatever current fad hobby they have at that time in their life. Those same people seem to put too much emphasis on what gear they own, too much emphasis on fishing tournaments, and not enough emphasis on the actual catching bass and relaxing in the outdoors part which is by far more important. I have had many moments in my life when I was extremely busy and still found time to fish, even if it means fishing for only 30-60 minutes at a time every once in a while. 

On 5/28/2019 at 7:54 PM, NittyGrittyBoy said:

It was definitely a huge learning curve going from lakes to rivers.

 

When he sold his boat, it went with all his tackle from 40yrs of fishing. I was bummed but I didn't know where to fish either till some friends showed me where to go, then I showed him.

I found it easy to learn how to fish rivers but it might be since I have lots of experience fishing South Florida canal systems, spillways, and inlets which is more difficult to fish than rivers.

45 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I’ve known a couple of guys that quit who fished at an intense level,  in big tournaments,  with high end boats.  They burned out and don’t enjoy it at a slower level.  Another guy with a similar story that gave up bass fishing but still enjoys catfish and crappie fishing.

Some people seem to enjoy competing against others more than actually catching fish so it is no surprise those type of people burnout at a quicker rate than someone who just fishes for fun.

[WRB]

I know several who quit bass fishing sold their boats and all the tackle, they just got fed up with tournaments, traffic and bass fishing in general. 2 did it to save their marriages.

Another went back to golfing. One of the best bass anglers I knew was national skeet champion and a excellent tournament angler change to fly fishing trout streams.

I guit tournament bass fishing and only fish a few charity night events with my son.

My sons health is dire with stage 4 renal cancel so all my efforts are trying to save him.

I may quit and sell everything depending on how the future plays out.

Tom

[scaleface]

Girls , work and partying couldnt keep   me away from fishing . I always managed to juggle it and if the party was by a body of water , I left the party and went fishing .  

 

 

I had a party van , with rod racks .

 

 

[Armtx77]

I have known a couple. Both due to serious illnesses of loved ones.

One even emptied out about 60 firearms and probably 70k worth of boat/gear. To this day, he had not hunted or fished, despite our best efforts 

 

Sadly, the money could not buy the life, just some time. 

[Hook2Jaw]

Momma ain't raise no quitter.

[Bankbeater]

After I got out of college I was working 2 jobs and I had a fiancé. My fishing went from 1 or 2 times a week to 1 or 2 times a year. Then kids and a new job. 15 years later I finally got to a point where I could start fishing again not only for fun, but for relaxation.