What Have We Become ?

[GaryH]

9 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Life is too short.

 

15 Things Money Can’t Buy
Time.

Happiness.

Inner Peace.

Integrity.

Love.

Character.

Manners.

Health.

Respect.

Morals.

Trust.

Patience.

Class.

Common sense.

Dignity.

 

A-Jay

 

 

 

You forgot one A-Jay

"Poverty"

Just Kidding

[the reel ess]

And yet, the thread that's always recurring on this board is "What's A Good, Cheap, Fill-In-The-Blank That Works?" That's how Shakespeare stays in business. We're fanatics, but a lot of people just dabble. A friend of mine told me he was going to the beach and wanted some cheap combos for his daughters. He has money but didn't want to throw it away on what he considered disposable combos. I told him to go to Walmart at the beach and get two stout Shakespeare combos and be sure to wash them down with freshwater after use.

[TnRiver46]

6 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

I don't know about some of you guys, but growing up in the 50's and 60's, and even into the 70's, things were pretty much priced so you didn't have to go into deep debt to buy a nice car, in fact a nice car would cost about 1/3 of your yearly salary. Gas when I began driving was .18 cents per gal, as a young 16 year old working in a gas station, I could afford to fill up once or twice a week.

 

Put this into prospective re: the cost of items, and gas today. People are spending sometimes 1 to 1 1/2 their yearly salary on a car, hence why they have 6 year financing..

 

So, it's hard for older folks like me to justify the cost of some of today's items. Everyone deserves to make a decnt living, but in some cases what I would term ripping people off is hard for me to swallow.  

Someone is actually paying attention!

[the reel ess]

8 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

I don't know about some of you guys, but growing up in the 50's and 60's, and even into the 70's, things were pretty much priced so you didn't have to go into deep debt to buy a nice car, in fact a nice car would cost about 1/3 of your yearly salary. Gas when I began driving was .18 cents per gal, as a young 16 year old working in a gas station, I could afford to fill up once or twice a week.

 

Put this into prospective re: the cost of items, and gas today. People are spending sometimes 1 to 1 1/2 their yearly salary on a car, hence why they have 6 year financing..

 

So, it's hard for older folks like me to justify the cost of some of today's items. Everyone deserves to make a decnt living, but in some cases what I would term ripping people off is hard for me to swallow.  

You can finance a boat for 20 years. How many times would you pay for that $50K boat over 20 years. 5 years later it's worth 2/3 what you paid but you have no equity in it.

[FishinBuck07]

10 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Life is too short.

 

15 Things Money Can’t Buy
Time.

Happiness.

Inner Peace.

Integrity.

Love.

Character.

Manners.

Health.

Respect.

Morals.

Trust.

Patience.

Class.

Common sense.

Dignity.

 

A-Jay

 

 

 

I beg to differ on a couple of these!  My boat is happiness and inner peace all rolled into one!  haha  ?  I look at it this way life is short and you can't take the money with you so might as well spend it on things you enjoy!

[BassNJake]

11 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Life is too short.

 

15 Things Money Can’t Buy
Time.

Happiness.

Inner Peace.

Integrity.

Love.

Character.

Manners.

Health.

Respect.

Morals.

Trust.

Patience.

Class.

Common sense.

Dignity.

 

A-Jay

 

 

 

I've seen this list before and can agree with some of the things but individual circumstances differ.

 

I know A-Jay is retired, having the money to do so creates extra time that can be spent with your loved ones.

My grandfather died working in the mines 10 years after he should have retired to pay for my cancer stricken grandmother. He just wanted her to be better, she just wanted to spend time with him, they both lost.

 

I'm a huge fight fan an just watched a piece of the life story of UFC fighter Francis Ngannou.

In this part of his story you hear about how he made it from Africa to Paris.

When he got to Paris, he didn't like the negativity in the homeless shelter so he went to sleep in a parking garage.

He said that was the happiest he had ever been in his life.

Kinda puts things in perspective when the best part of his life was being homeless and sleeping in a parking garage.

 

*** curse word warning***

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy5zrFtvK_o

 

[Mobasser]

In many ways, this rant reminds me of things I heard growing up, from my folks and grandparents. " Money doesn't grow on trees", those are expensive" etc. They came up in the depression years, and hard work. was all they really knew. It's the same these days. Top quality things cost a lot of money, they always have.

[Chonch12]

On 7/20/2020 at 10:57 AM, RAMBLER said:

There are a lot of people in this country who are making a ton of money pushing buttons and typing codes and don't really work hard for their money.  So, the retailers are charging what they can get for a product, not what the product is worth.

Sorry man but this is a really bad take. Just because a job isnt physical labor does not mean people do not work hard for their money. I bust I my a$$ learning and developing skills just like anyone else...  because of you dont you become very easily replaceable and finding a new job is near impossible. These jobs can also create a ton of stress like any physically demanding job

 

Retailers are charging what people will pay, just like anything else in life. Also why I try buy everything 2nd hand or through small business (help support them). 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Chonch12
Words are hard lol amd some context

[greentrout]

42 minutes ago, Chonch12 said:

Sorry man but this is a really bad take. Just because a job isnt physical labor does not mean people do not work hard for their money. I bust I disagree learning and developing skills just like anyone else... 

 

Retailers are charging what people will pay, just like anything else in life. Also why I try buy everything 2nd hand or through small business (help support them). 

True ... and the laws of supply and demand have never been refuted ...

 

Today 50 dollars baitcasters perform much much better than they did 10 years ago.  The man on a budget can purchase a fishing reel for a reasonable amount of money and enjoy himself.

 

And fish with it a long time ..

 

good fishing ...

[Logan S]

A top line new bassboat has always been roughly similar in price as a new Corvette.  Quick Google search on current Vette prices shows that to be between $60k and $80k depending on model...What do ya know, about the same price as a new 20 or 21 foot Skeeter, Ranger, Phoenix, Basscat, Triton, etc...And actually most of the bassboats are probably coming in on the low end of that range (or maybe even under).  

 

As bass fisherman we are also a bit nutty with the amount and types of gear we use when compared to other fisherman or any other hobby/sport out there....So I wouldn't argue about bass fishing being expensive because we make it that way.  It's self inflicted though, any bass angler could absolutely be budget minded and still have quality gear and be very successful if they wanted to - Most of us just don't seem to want to ?.

[JustJames]

Just buy or use whatever make you happy, doesn’t matter cheap or expensive,  as long as that doesn’t effect you or your family financial, period. Don’t worry about other‘s budget, be happy of what you have or can afford.

My wife and I agreed to buy her LV purse every year or other year as long as our budget is maintain, “no credit card debt”. We only have mortgage payment oh and that expensive HOA. I think she has more purses than my reels. Is it too much, yes for some but as long as make my wife happy, I see why not? She can sell those when needed and not loosing much. On the other hand, one time she bought me a nice expensive automatic watch, we had a big fight. I don’t need those and as clumsy and outdoor type as I am, I happy with 3 of my Seiko Watches.

I don’t look down ppl that use budget stuff and I’m happy (or sometime envy) those that use expensive stuffs, as long as they use it for what they love.

I quite sure one thing, those ppl in Asian, they buy expensive stuffs, sometime too expensive, but they use those for what the love and to full potential, but here quite a lot buy expensive reel just to be a shelf queen. IMHO.

[evo2s197]

19 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Life is too short.

 

15 Things Money Can’t Buy
Time.

Happiness.

Inner Peace.

Integrity.

Love.

Character.

Manners.

Health.

Respect.

Morals.

Trust.

Patience.

Class.

Common sense.

Dignity.

 

A-Jay

 

 

 

Money can most certainly buy happiness if you spend and manage it the right way.

 

When you recognize the difference between need and greed then it's all smooth sailing.

 

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, evo2s197 said:

Money can most certainly buy happiness if you spend and manage it the right way.

 

When you recognize the difference between need and greed then it's all smooth sailing.

 

Good luck with that.

Especially the smooth sailing part.

A-Jay

 

[DogBone_384]

Here’s how I see it:

 

1 United States Dollar equals

1.35 Canadian Dollar or 0.87 Euro...

[Heron]

Dare I say.....it’s just a Bass.  While I enjoy the activity of fishing for it.  The Bass is certainly not a fish that warrants spending the amount of money that could take yourself and family on an international vacation.

 

 

The bass fishing industry seems Intent on convincing people that they have to gear up like tournament pro angler, just to catch fish.

 

this will help drive the prices up as well

[Mobasser]

What Have We Become? Easy. For many of us, we've become guys who love to catch bass, no matter what the cost.

[TnRiver46]

31 minutes ago, Heron said:

Dare I say.....it’s just a Bass.  While I enjoy the activity of fishing for it.  The Bass is certainly not a fish that warrants spending the amount of money that could take yourself and family on an international vacation.

 

 

The bass fishing industry seems Intent on convincing people that they have to gear up like tournament pro angler, just to catch fish.

 

this will help drive the prices up as well

I would rather eat my work shoes than go on an international vacation. And I work outdoors and step in a lot of things......

[MN Fisher]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I would rather eat my work shoes than go on an international vacation. And I work outdoors and step in a lot of things......

I've been on one international vacation - my honeymoon 30 years ago. Week long Carnival cruise down the Pacific coast of Mexico...one day stops in Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I've been on one international vacation - my honeymoon 30 years ago. Week long Carnival cruise down the Pacific coast of Mexico...one day stops in Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.

I think a fella named @king fisher could put you on a fish at that last destination you listed 

[MN Fisher]

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

I think a fella named @king fisher could put you on a fish at that last destination you listed 

My current home and financial situation precludes any vacations currently...or in the foreseeable future.

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

My current home and financial situation precludes any vacations currently...or in the foreseeable future.

Well me and you will just have to look at the pic of that 10.2 lb bass again and live vicariously haha

[NavyVet1204]

On 7/20/2020 at 7:08 AM, TnRiver46 said:

$35 for 100 yards of line? Somebody done lost they mind 

I know right! I am a poster child for Seaguar fluorocarbon as it it my go to line for my setups and I think their Red Label FC is perfect for the price of $14.99. I wouldn’t pay a dime more for it though because that is my cut off on any line with the exception of braid which I rarely use much.

[Cgolf]

On 7/20/2020 at 9:57 AM, RAMBLER said:

There are a lot of people in this country who are making a ton of money pushing buttons and typing codes and don't really work hard for their money.  So, the retailers are charging what they can get for a product, not what the product is worth.

This post just ticks me off. I have lived both sides of this. I started working summers delivering beer for my dad’s business when I was in the 10-11 range till my early 20s. Before you say owners son had it easy, no I busted my a$$ to prove I belonged and now in my mid 40s probably paying for it. Also worked fast food in high school and factory work 2nd and 3rd shift for a year or so during college. That work while physically challenging was easy to go home after. I will give props to my dad and grandpa, they thought me what an honest days work was!

 

Fast forward to now where I test the code you are talking about, and I work harder now than back then, and there is 50 times more stress. It is just a different kind of work. This work also travels so extra work time at home too. The only difference I see is one job I came home from physically exhausted and the other I come home from mentally exhausted.  
 

 

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I would rather eat my work shoes than go on an international vacation. And I work outdoors and step in a lot of things......

We love cruising and I figure we will do it while young. I am hoping to retire on a lake, so then my cruising will be slightly different, it will involve a fishing pole and hopefully a slightly larger Alumacraft than the one we currently own. 
 

As far as my fishing gear goes it has taken me twenty years, but I am comfortable with all the gear I have. If get extra cash may upgrade a few things, but that is a luxury at this point. Still probably lower quality than many, but perfect for what I need. 

[JediAmoeba]

3 hours ago, NavyVet1204 said:

I know right! I am a poster child for Seaguar fluorocarbon as it it my go to line for my setups and I think their Red Label FC is perfect for the price of $14.99. I wouldn’t pay a dime more for it though because that is my cut off on any line with the exception of braid which I rarely use much.

I scoff when people recommend Tatsu Fluorocarbon and then immediately exclaim you will need to buy 15 dollar line conditioner for it...if I am spending more than 40 dollars on a 150 yd spool of fishing line it had better be perfect out of the box.

[Bluebasser86]

13 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

I scoff when people recommend Tatsu Fluorocarbon and then immediately exclaim you will need to buy 15 dollar line conditioner for it...if I am spending more than 40 dollars on a 150 yd spool of fishing line it had better be perfect out of the box.

Whoever says you need line conditioner for Tatsu is out of their mind. Of course, I don't use that mess on any line, but Tatsu is so limp even in the heaviest sizes. It's a 200 yard spool too, bigger than most expensive fluorocarbons. I usually spool up 3-4 times off each spool so it cuts the price down to to less than $15 a fill up so it doesn't hurt so bad.