Friendly fishing bets. ?

[Darth-Baiter]

My brother and I growing up would always say , “ first fish, most fish, biggest fish”. 
 

it was a triple category bet.  Loser usually had to pay for the DQ blizzard or something.  (Best out of three)
 

Now my friends and I keep silent.  Not even a friendly wager for bragging rights.  We talk trash tho. 
 

you?

 

Another group has an annual bet.  Most keeper Fish at the end of the year.  Photo record tracking. I’m told them no thanks. I’m not counting numbers for a year. they have a buy in, winner takes all. 

[ajschn06]

We call them fish wars in my boat.  It basically consists of casting to the same spot at the same time and seeing if one of you catches a fish.  See your partner land a lure in a good spot, call it out and try to land your cast as close to his as possible and the battle is on.  A decade later, it usually comes up 2 or 3 times per day and I think a fish has been caught twice but boy it's exhilerating when it happens....

[J._Bricker]

Every time my Dad and I went out fishing it was dollar for the first fish and a dollar for the biggest. So thanks for the topic, as he died of leukemia about 10yrs ago and it brings back memories. As an example, when I was taking things out of the old boat I ran across a plastic tub that served as the bank, it contained a 3 inch stack of dollar bills…

[papajoe222]

A buddy and I had a running bet. The first to catch a fish, any species, had to buy breakfast he next day. 
i would start the day throwing yhe biggest, gaudy bait I had until he eventually caught something. LOL. it wasn’t until I caught a big pike one outing that he caught on. All bets were off after that, but when fishing was slow he’d always ask: why don’t you break out that bait you caight that big pike on in 86. 

[jbsoonerfan]

My buddy and I used to have a bet that whoever caught the first one got to drink beer that day and the other had to drive home. Whoever lost was always ready to leave early. 

[spokey9]

My buddy and I used to have a bet for every trip out...but we kind of got too old for for it ?

 

The bet was last one to catch a fish got smacked in the "jimmy"...didn't matter what kind of fish as long as it was alive...there's some serious motivation to get that first fish on the board ???

[Bluebasser86]

Not in my boat. I've taken people who want to make it a competition and that's not fun to me. If I wanted to fish a tournament, I'd fish a tournament. When I'm out for fun I don't want to have to keep track of numbers and size if I don't want to and I really don't need someone heckling me about catching a fish from the back while I'm trying to relax. 

[Darth-Baiter]

^^hence the focus on “friendly”. I’d loose a Dairy Queen Oreo blizzard.

6 hours ago, J._Bricker said:

Every time my Dad and I went out fishing it was dollar for the first fish and a dollar for the biggest. So thanks for the topic, as he died of leukemia about 10yrs ago and it brings back memories. As an example, when I was taking things out of the old boat I ran across a plastic tub that served as the bank, it contained a 3 inch stack of dollar bills…

Love love this story.  

6 hours ago, J._Bricker said:

Every time my Dad and I went out fishing it was dollar for the first fish and a dollar for the biggest. So thanks for the topic, as he died of leukemia about 10yrs ago and it brings back memories. As an example, when I was taking things out of the old boat I ran across a plastic tub that served as the bank, it contained a 3 inch stack of dollar bills…

Love love this story.  

[K1500]

Sounds like a good way to turn fun into frustration for me. That being said, I don’t find casinos fun either and I don’t fish tournaments.  

[Catt]

Y'all may not admit it but life is a competition!

 

We compete against the bass, the lake, & the conditions everytime out.

 

Everyone I fish with knows its first bass, most bass, & biggest bass.

 

I have a silver belt buckle with a gold bass on it that goes to the biggest personal best. My nephew held it for years with an 11.3# caught on Grand Lake Oklahoma. It's back in my possession with a 12.5# Toledo Bend Hawg.

 

[Functional]

My father and I used to take a trip every may with my sisters husband and his father to a cabin on Black lake for northerns and bass. We ended up ordering 2 trophies, 1 for the most fish and 1 for the biggest bass. Was a good time talking crap the weeks leading up to it,  during and then the bragging rights all year. Was always the worst when one "house" won both trophies ?. 

 

We've all since moved to NC and looking to find a lake to do the same. 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Y'all may not admit it but life is a competition!

 

We compete against the bass, the lake, & the conditions everytime out.

 

Everyone I fish with knows its first bass, most bass, & biggest bass.

 

I have a silver belt buckle with a gold bass on it that goes to the biggest personal best. My nephew held it for years with an 11.3# caught on Grand Lake Oklahoma. It's back in my possession with a 12.5# Toledo Bend Hawg.

 

Goodness gracious, that bass is long as a rake handle 

We also did the “first fish most fish biggest fish” thing, loser buys milkshake. Small world! Haha

[BassNJake]

16 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

My brother and I growing up would always say , “ first fish, most fish, biggest fish”. 
 

it was a triple category bet.  Loser usually had to pay for the DQ blizzard or something.  (Best out of three)
 

 

 

4 hours ago, Catt said:

Everyone I fish with knows its first bass, most bass, & biggest bass.

 

 

This is how it was in our boat growing up.

$1 for each

More times than not we would just roll it over to the next trip

Definitely brings back memories of fishing with my dad!!

 

[gim]

17 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

Loser usually had to pay for the DQ blizzard or something.

I do this with my Father, brother, and the 2 friends I regularly fish with almost every time.  Ours is the "biggest earns a free DQ" afterwards.  Occasionally we are fishing where there is no DQ nearby or on the way home so then we just do 5 bucks instead.

 

My family has always been very competitive with each other so this is natural.  We do a march madness bracket, big buck contest, and NFL Eliminator challenge every year too.

 

At first when I got married, my wife wondered how my family and I could enjoy it when we take everything so serious with all these competitions involved.  She understands now that its not ultra-competitive with life or death on the line, its just a cup of ice cream or 5 bucks.  No one is forced to participate either; its completely voluntary.

 

I will admit that I usually beat my Father when we bass fish, but I haven't won a march madness bracket in over a decade.

[Catt]

I have fished lots of what is now called jackpot tournaments. Hack now they got jackpot tournaments trails.

 

We would have 10-15 boats with two men per boat. $5 big bass & $20 big stringer per person.

[gim]

At my work office, we have an annual fishing contest called the Jaws Derby.  We pay 3 bucks when its starts every year and certain species of freshwater fish can be entered based on the North American In-Fisherman Master Angler rules.

 

I have won it several times.  When you win, you get your name on a plaque plate and can hang it in your office or cubicle for a year.  Its a very unique plaque as it has a small fossilized mouth of a shark at the top of it.

[TOXIC]

All of mine are to make it more fun.  When I was working, there were a bunch of us that worked for different government agencies that would have a tournament that we called the “Use or Lose” tournament referring to annual leave that we would not be able to carry over to the next year.  When I lived in Florida, I fished a small trail where a bunch of us had a running bet that if any of us won, we would have to buy late lunch at Golden Corral.  Due to the heat in Florida summers, our tournaments started at first light and ended at 2pm.  On our annual trip to Michigan and lake St Clair we have a daily competition.  There’s 7 of us and we usually take a case of homemade moonshine for the week.  We pass around a jar per day amongst the group and whoever caught the biggest fish of the day has to eat the fruit in the bottom of the jar.??

[roadwarrior]

14 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Not in my boat. I've taken people who want to make it a competition and that's not fun to me. If I wanted to fish a tournament, I'd fish a tournament. When I'm out for fun I don't want to have to keep track of numbers and size if I don't want to and I really don't need someone heckling me about catching a fish from the back while I'm trying to relax. 

 

Nope, not me either. All my fishing is as a "team". I get just as excited when my

partner catches a great fish. My best year ever was putting twelve guys on their

Personal Best.

 

[schplurg]

One of the most fun times I've had fishing was me and a buddy surf fishing for perch, and we made it a contest after he caught the first two.

 

We were running around the beach acting crazy, talking a little fun-smack, and he beat me 13-12. It was my first time surf fishing and he said he'd never even come close to catching that many before or since. I even added a scoreboard to the video.

 

No prize or anything, winning was enough and it was just for fun.

[cheezyridr]

me and several buddies used to fish a legendary spot we called "the hole".

in the early days we would  bet lunch or a couple beers on first/biggest/most.

it didn't last long because i almost always won.  i don't say that to brag, i'm no bassmaster.

i usually won because 

1) i wasn't afraid to cast an expensive lure into the nastiest looking snag in sight

2) would always be willing to wade through waist deep mud to get to the area everyone could see, but no one else would fish

3) i spent so much time fishing, my casting accuracy was insanely good.

after the first year, instead of friendly bets,  my buddies would just ask "is it going to be big fish, or lots of fish today?  i wish i really was as good as they all thought that i was. 

 

not that i made any attempts to shatter their illusion...

[Bird]

Will never forget this. 

Had a cousin who I fished with often and every trip was a tournament in his mind.

While the boat was sitting in the water at the ramp and while I'm waiting for him to park the truck I decided to sling a spinnerbait and landed the big fish of the day before we even launched. 

 

He said it doesn't count because we weren't in the boat yet......but that's after he went all day without topping it. Lol