Do you get frustrated with catching dinks?

[TriStateBassin106]

Personally I love catching bass of all sizes, but I've noticed lately that a few non tournament anglers on here and other places get extremely frustrated when catching fish that don't make it past 1 to 2lbs. 

 

Why is this? Fishing is supposed to be a relaxing occasion, if you're not in a tournament there's no need to get upset about smaller bass IMO. 

 

 

Personally I think some anglers should be more thankful that the fish bite at all. 

 

To the anglers who do get upset about catching dinks why do you get mad about it? 

 

Tight lines.

[Hammer 4]

Fishing is Fun, no matter what size they are. Sure everyone would like to catch a big bass, but it's all part of the game.

[scaleface]

Not me ,the more    the merrier . I did get frustrated yesterday when I hooked ten dinks using  a small swim bait mounted on a jig head and nine of them coughed it up   at the boat . LOL    What the heck.?

[ike8120]

Right now I would be very happy catching any dinks

[WRB]

If catching juvenile bass excites you have big population of shoreline cover bass to catch during the summer months. I prefer catching adult size bass and aviod the smaller bass locations.

Tom

 

[TriStateBassin106]

20 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Not me ,the more    the merrier . I did get frustrated yesterday when I hooked ten dinks using  a small swim bait mounted on a jig head and nine of them coughed it up   at the boat . LOL    What the heck.?

Hahahaha I understand this feeling very well, it tends to happen a lot for stick worms on texas rigs. 

[senile1]

At my latitude if you catch a significant amount of 2 to  4 lb fish you are doing ok and you get a pretty good tug on your line.  I can live with that and be happy until I nail an occasional 5 - 7 lb'er.  If I catch a bunch of 9 to 14 inchers I am happy but far from satisfied though and I will be changing locations, or if all else fails, I won't fish that particular body of water.

[MN Fisher]

I'm only frustrated when catching nothing. Last two trips were semi-frustrating...one decent bass in 3&1/2 hours last trip, one dink bass and snake northern in 3 hours the previous trip. Otherwise nothing - not even a sunnie...that gets frustrating.

[JediAmoeba]

I am sick of it. 

 

We have an 9 acre pond, that everyone in the community I reside in calls a lake.  I live a few hundred yards from it so I fish it frequently.  In eastern pa the amount of public water is diminished and the quality of fishing is terrible due to certain people keeping everything they catch.  Literally everything.

 

This year I made a guarantee with some people in our community that I would catch 500 bass out of this pond.  Well, it's been a grind.  I currently sit at 418 bass caught...the biggest one was 3.2 pounds and counting that one I have only caught 2 over 2 pounds.  I catch a lot of pickerel but again, they are small, mostly in the 12 inch range. And I like to power fish but this pond sees a lot of pressure - in the summer it isn't uncommon to see 25 lines in the water all day with people live-baiting.  Top water is a no-go and forget most moving baits, the fish just don't hit them.  It's a wonder any fish survive at all...  Last tuesday when I took the kids down to swim there were 4 kayaks fishing and 12 people on the banks.

 

So yeah, I am sick of dinks right now.  After I get to 500 this year I may not fish it for a while.

 

[TriStateBassin106]

5 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

I am sick of it. 

 

We have an 9 acre pond, that everyone in the community I reside in calls a lake.  I live a few hundred yards from it so I fish it frequently.  In eastern pa the amount of public water is diminished and the quality of fishing is terrible due to certain people keeping everything they catch.  Literally everything.

 

This year I made a guarantee with some people in our community that I would catch 500 bass out of this pond.  Well, it's been a grind.  I currently sit at 418 bass caught...the biggest one was 3.2 pounds and counting that one I have only caught 2 over 2 pounds.  I catch a lot of pickerel but again, they are small, mostly in the 12 inch range. And I like to power fish but this pond sees a lot of pressure - in the summer it isn't uncommon to see 25 lines in the water all day with people live-baiting.  Top water is a no-go and forget most moving baits, the fish just don't hit them.  It's a wonder any fish survive at all...  Last tuesday when I took the kids down to swim there were 4 kayaks fishing and 12 people on the banks.

 

So yeah, I am sick of dinks right now.  After I get to 500 this year I may not fish it for a while.

 

Eastern PA is a sleeper bass area, which county does this pond reside in? I would move spots and if you see people catching and keeping the legal limit please report them to the local authorities. It'll do the waterbody a favor. 

[JediAmoeba]

9 minutes ago, pondhopperNJ said:

Eastern PA is a sleeper bass area, which county does this pond reside in? I would move spots and if you see people catching and keeping the legal limit please report them to the local authorities. It'll do the waterbody a favor. 

The situation for the fish & boat commission is not in a good place in Pa.  Each person has a huge territory covering multiple counties and many bodies of water.  They focus their energy into their stocking programs and conservation rather than enforcing policy.  I have been in contact with many authorities on the matter and have the "local" fish commissioners number due to some infractions I witnessed. 

 

At Beltzville reservoir this spawning season a guy had a stringer of 15+ large bass he was snagging off beds(bass were not in season).  He had one that was probably over 8 pounds - I have never seen one that big.  I called the office and they told me they had no one within 100 miles.  I called the park office and they told me that isn't their problem.  This was 12 noon on a Monday.  I emailed the commission and got call backs from Harrisburg and they explained their funding issue and lack of officers.  It doesn't help in Pa that we have separate commissions for Fishing and Hunting.

 

Anyway, about half the people I run into fishing don't even bother to purchase fishing licenses so we don't even have a lot of money going into the pot to help these efforts.

[greentrout]

this morning the bass were busting the shad ... good sign the state's efforts to renovate the lake are working ... good to see that happening again ... however ... the fishing was really tough ... glad to catch two 14 inch bass ..... and watching the wolfpack bass annihilate the shad was fun ...

 

good fishing ...

[Scott F]

For me, fishing isn’t about the size of the fish. It’s about being outside, enjoying the company I’m with and having something tugging on my line. I never get frustrated if a fish tosses my lure back at me, or I lose a big one boat side. All the fish go back in the water so at the end of the day, I’ll never be unhappy if I spent the day fishing.

[gim]

Dinks do sometimes get old but it’s certainly a lot better than catching nothing. If I wanted to catch nothing (other than a cold or a buzz), I’d go ice fishing instead.

[TriStateBassin106]

1 minute ago, JediAmoeba said:

The situation for the fish & boat commission is not in a good place in Pa.  Each person has a huge territory covering multiple counties and many bodies of water.  They focus their energy into their stocking programs and conservation rather than enforcing policy.  I have been in contact with many authorities on the matter and have the "local" fish commissioners number due to some infractions I witnessed. 

 

At Beltzville reservoir this spawning season a guy had a stringer of 15+ large bass he was snagging off beds.  He had one that was probably over 8 pounds - I have never seen one that big.  I called the office and they told me they had no one within 100 miles.  I called the park office and they told me that isn't their problem.  This was 12 noon on a Monday.  I emailed the commission and got call backs from Harrisburg and they explained their funding issue and lack of officers.  It doesn't help in Pa that we have separate commissions for Fishing and Hunting.

 

Anyway, about half the people I run into fishing don't even bother to purchase fishing licenses so we don't even have a lot of money going into the pot to help these efforts.

Real shame, over here in NJ we have many NJDEP wardens that stop by our local ponds, people are constantly getting fined and arrested for having too much.

[Sam]

Everyone counts.

 

With my wife's medical condition I have not fished other than one time from my boat this year. Caught a 4-inch dink for my troubles.

 

In the meantime, I fished three ponds and have nailed 45 dinks and one two-pounder from the bank with limited time.

 

Can't wait to go our into the wild and catch something over 2 pounds. Even a catfish will do! 

[FishinBuck07]

Fishing for me is like therapy, when I go fishing I forget about everything else that is going on in my life!  That peace of mind is worth it alone, but no I enjoy catching them all.  It is more about the outdoors and making memories with friends and family when I go fishing!  Catching fish of any size is just a plus for me!

[lo n slo]

1 hour ago, Scott F said:

For me, fishing isn’t about the size of the fish. It’s about being outside, enjoying the company I’m with and having something tugging on my line. I never get frustrated if a fish tosses my lure back at me, or I lose a big one boat side. All the fish go back in the water so at the end of the day, I’ll never be unhappy if I spent the day fishing.

well said

[NYWayfarer]

2 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

I'm only frustrated when catching nothing. 

Amen.

 

I am a quantity over quality kind of guy. 

 

 

[JoeInCT]

I’m a therapist and fishing is also my therapy for all the reasons Fishinbuck mentioned above. What better way to enjoy nature than with the excitement of fishing: I catch a lot of chicks when I fish for smallies locally and I love every one I catch.

[TriStateBassin106]

41 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

Amen.

 

I am a quantity over quality kind of guy. 

 

 

This is 1000.000% truth, i'd rather catch 15 smaller bass within 4 hours than 2 bigger ones. Catching bass in numbers means you're doing something right. 

[The Maestro]

I don't really get frustrated with anything when I'm fishing anymore. Really windy days can be a pain but if I feel myself actually starting to get angry or frustrated that's the point when I know my fishing day is over and I'll make a bee line to the docks and not even think twice.

 

I think it's part of the evolution you go through as an angler over time. I've had way too many days where it feels like I can't buy a bite and then catch a giant after hours of skunkage.

[Fried Lemons]

If you're catching a lot of dinks and getting frustrated you should probably change locations and/or presentation. You might luck into bigger fish but the tactics that catch small bass are not ideal for catching big bass.

[drew4779]

I wouldn't say "frustrated" is the right wording for me, because I definitely view fishing as therapeutic.  My wife will even tell me to go fishing when she starts to notice stress getting to me.  But when I hit the the water, my approach is to catch one out of the gate, then i fish for that one big bite.  I've caught thousands dinks.  I'm always looking for a new PB.  There are ponds and lakes that I've abandoned because catching fifty 9" bass a day just doesn't do it for me anymore.  The exception to that is if I'm taking my kids or someone who doesn't fish a lot with me.  Then it's all about quantity.  But any day spent fishing is a good day.

[Ppennin986]

To me even if it’s dinks or even skunked. any time on the water is golden because of the lack of time I get, I treasure that time.