Tired of it

[Koz]

When I lived in SC I would usually go fishing 4-5 times a week except when I was coaching baseball. Even then I would head out 2-3 times a week. It didn't matter if it was 50 degrees or 98 degrees, I was out there. With literally hundreds of lagoons to bank fish from, you could usually find a lagoon where they were biting.

 

Fast forward to this past year when I moved to GA and things changed quite a bit. I'm fishing on a big lake, and I bought a pedal kayak. I love heading out on that kayak, but the striper and largemouth bass fishing was lousy this year because GA Power screwed up the lake. With that my interested waned, and there were plenty of nights when I went to bed thinking about going fishing the next day but decided against it come morning. Part of that was probably because I stored and launched my kayak at my hotel and I just didn't want to get sucked in to working on my day off. But most of it was the lousy fishing.

 

GA Power has made efforts this winter to fix the issues they caused with the lake, and hopefully the fishing is better. If that's the case I will be out there more often. The lease on my house is up late in teh spring, and I'm hoping to find a place to rent on the lake so I can launch from home.

[CrashVector]

This spring may be screwed for me as well.

 

They're surveying to dredge the lake where I bank fish....right when the bass are spawning.

 

Smart ppl I tell ya.

[Lead Head]

When people ask me what I will do when I retire, or what I would do if I hit the lottery or something similar, my response is always the same

 

"Well, I don't know how much fishing it will take for me to get tired of fishing, but I aim to find out".

[MacJig]

12 hours ago, padlin said:

Come late fall when the bite slows like it does in the high ponds around here, I'm ready to call it quits. Unfortunately, I'm ready to start again and it's only mid winter.

 

I can see a time not too far in the distance where I won't be going at all or darn close to it. Not because I don't want to, more cause I won't be able to. The body is starting to get worn down.

 

I've had 2 good fishing buddies in my life. One passed away two years ago after a couple years of bad health where he couldn't go out. The other's health has gone down hill to where he can't get out either, been that way for about 10 years. but he sure wants to.

Yeah. That's one of my greatest fears, being 67, that the day will come when "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". Wanting to fish but knowing you can't (or can't do much of anything) ... ?

8 hours ago, CrashVector said:

This spring may be screwed for me as well.

 

They're surveying to dredge the lake where I bank fish....right when the bass are spawning.

 

Smart ppl I tell ya.

Oh, that's painful. I need to fish just to get out. I mean I would drop a line in a mud puddle if I had to. ?

11 hours ago, king fisher said:

I may get tired of a certain technique, or body of water, but never tired of trying to solve a new fishing  puzzle.

   I guided in Alaska for 30 years.  On a couple of the streams where I fished for silver salmon, the fishing was too consistent and too easy.  After helping clients catch hard fighting fish, that are all about the same size, almost every cast to the same spot, I would be tired of silver salmon.  At the end of the day some of the new guides  would want to go fishing for silvers.  They were excited and hadn't been doing it long enough to become jaded.  I would go with them only if they agreed to fish new water, try different techniques, and fish with lures, and flies with hooks cut making it impossible to land the fish.  Get hit, watch one jump, then move to a different hole.

       Fishing for bass, even in Mexico, is not consistent enough for me to get bored.  Double digit bass on top every cast all day is not going to happen.  Getting tired of fishing can only happen to me if  fishing is too easy for too long.  As long as there is a challenge and something new to learn, then I could fish every day.

Well put! I added three new ponds to fish from this year that helps provide more variety to my fishing experience. I have maybe 6 that are pretty productive. Fishing the same place all the time can get ? as well. 

[bulldog1935]

On 1/13/2022 at 8:26 AM, MacJig said:

So, I will just get to the point. Has there ever been a time when you grew tired and/or bored with fishing? I usually go out 2 to 3 times a week when fishing permits in the northeast. I've often wondered if I went out 5 to 6 times a week would I grow tired and weary of it. Is there a time when fishing becomes so commonplace  that it loses its appeal and excitement? Is there a point where you can fish too much and fishing loses it's novelty and attraction? I'm just curious how other anglers feel about that. Have you ever reached that point where you hung up your fishing rods and shut the door?

Twenty-five years ago, I got jaded catching fish after fish on graphite fly rods and disc drag reels.  Insulated from the fishing by the gear, and wondering why I was harassing the fish without enjoying it.  Some fishermen reach this point, cut the hooks from their flies and count coup - they just want to be with the river. 

 

I started tinkering with old cane rods and matching click-pawl reels.  The first time I hooked up a 20" rainbow in fast current on Heddon bamboo and click-pawl, went oh crap, what am I going to do now?- and remembered why we do this in the first place. 

 

Not long after that, I started up a fly fishing life group at church, taking 4 to 14 friends fishing somewhere in the hill country ever other weekend, teaching others how to use a fly rod and, especially, catch fish with it.  Not long after that, I was fishing on tv with Frank Smethurst and Kevin Townsend.   First thing you note about famous, infectious fishermen - they all turn into kids with a rod in hand. 

 

So find something that puts the adrenaline back - in you, or in others. 

 

 

How about snook on UL? 

 

I also run Trout in the Classroom for Texas (17 years now) - yesterday, distributed 8000 live eggs to 28 schools.  That's another kind of adrenaline - taking kids (and HS aquatic science teachers) to the river to release trout fry they raised from eggs. 

[MacJig]

1 hour ago, bulldog1935 said:

Twenty-five years ago, I got jaded catching fish after fish on graphite fly rods and disc drag reels.  Insulated from the fishing by the gear, and wondering why I was harassing the fish without enjoying it.  Some fishermen reach this point, cut the hooks from their flies and count coup - they just want to be with the river. 

 

I started tinkering with old cane rods and matching click-pawl reels.  The first time I hooked up a 20" rainbow in fast current on old bamboo and click-pawl, went oh crap, what am I going to do now?- and remembered why we do this in the first place. 

 

Not long after that, I started up a fly fishing life group at church, taking 4 to 14 friends fishing somewhere in the hill country ever other weekend, teaching others how to use a fly rod and, especially, catch fish with it.  Not long after that, I was fishing on tv with Frank Smethurst and Kevin Townsend.   First thing you note about famous, infectious fishermen - they all turn into kids with a rod in hand. 

 

So find something that puts the adrenaline back - in you, or in others. 

 

 

How about snook on UL? 

 

I also run Trout in the Classroom for Texas (17 years now) - yesterday, distributed 8000 live eggs to 28 schools.  That's another kind of adrenaline - taking kids (and HS aquatic science teachers) to the river to release trout fry they raised from eggs. 

Wow, what a great story. One of the great privileges of being an angler is the right to become a kid again. We can laugh we can scream we can jump we can act like silly kids and that's okay! Fishing is such a nostalgic thing for me because it was so important in my childhood. I can never go back! But I can take rod and reel and tackle in hand and pretend.

[Bankc]

I grew tired of fishing in the late 90's.  I didn't have the time or money for it.  But I'm back now!  

 

Like any hobby, it's possible to grow weary.  Don't sweat it.  I've had so many things in my life that I was heavily into, only to burn out years later.  I was a professional musician for a while with albums and tours.  Didn't make much money, and eventually I came to realize that there's just not much of a market for people who do their own thing.  And I didn't want to play music that could easily fit into a "genre".  Then I switched to painting.  Sold a bunch of paintings in local galleries.  Same thing happened.  I could sell stuff, but I couldn't command the prices that made it worth my time.  Good painting supplies are very expensive and paintings can take months to complete.  Then I switched to photography.  Again, I developed my own process and unique look.  I even invented my own chemistry and developed my own prints that no one else could copy.  And again, no one wanted a photograph that didn't look like what they were used to.  And I had no desire to copy others.  I also briefly got into audio electronics for music production.  I designed my own circuits and built my own gear.  But no one wants to spend enough money on things they've never heard of from someone they don't know to make it profitable for me.  When you're making single bits of kit by hand the price of parts is enormous, and you just can't compete with mass produced items out there.  There are a few other stints that I've had over my lifetime as well.  

 

My point being, it's okay to do what you love.  And it's okay to burn out.  What's not okay is to worry about burning out to the point where it affects what you love.  Do it.  Love it.  And if it loses its draw, find something else.  Just find your passion and enjoy the time you have, and when it's over, look back on it with fond memories.  There's always a chance you'll come back to it and rekindle that love one day.  

[DitchPanda]

 I wouldn't say I get tired of bass fishing because it changes alot across the seasons so you can almost always do something different and still be successful. Plus tinkering with baits and trying new  stuff keeps it fresh. One thing I will say is I'm tired of ice fishing...we've had fish able ice for 3+ weeks and I haven even gone once...no interest.

 This year will be different for me because I've worked 12hr shifts for the past 8 years so that limited my fishing to my days off. Now I'm working 8s so I can fish year evenings A week if I want. If that don't burn me out nothing will. That's gonna come in handy from pres pawn thru spawn so I can spend more time hunting big fish during peak season.

[LrgmouthShad]

I am young and healthy enough that I can fish out of a kayak almost constantly if I want, and I've spent some consecutive days this past year with many hours of fishing with no breaks except to eat. I don't seem to tire of it

[Smallies]

@The Bassman Nice, bro!  I love me some Seinfeld.  Great episode, it was!  (But they all are)

 

[Kev-mo]

Idk that tired of it is the correct phrase for what I occasionally feel. There have been days where I've chosen to go fishing instead of doing chores or other things I need to do. Those days end with me not catching much or getting skunked. I leave without getting my 'fix' or feeling recharged and feel like I wasted time cause now I still need to do the stuff I put off.

[cyclops2]

The waters are being changed by more pollution ALMOST everywhere. The steel barrels buried in river bottoms & dumped offshore are opening up. Oceans are being covered by the  peoples throw away plastic drink bottles. Some are not even recyclable.  DUUUHHH

 

The get rich quicker leaders are doing what they want.  Ihere is no room for better conditions world wide.

 

Mr. Doom & Gloom has spoken again.  ☠️

[bulldog1935]

get on your legislators - easier now than ever now by e-mail - and they want to hear from you.  In the TX hill country, population growth is sucking groundwater dry, while fertilizer run-off increases - it kills the rivers first, then the bays. 

Mine all know me from my desalination for public water supply soapbox for 20 years. 

 

This is at least part of the reason I'm running TIC - some of these kids need to get on my soapbox when I step down. 

 

Here's my Imgur folder of field trips to the tailwater

https://imgur.com/a/Etd30

[cyclops2]

You picked a very important topic bulldog. 

Fracking chemicals are now found in well waters more rapidly around the world.  Between HUGE offshore oil pills and now rising ocean levels . 

 

Oh well.  The homemade .. pizzas are great

[TnRiver46]

4 hours ago, cyclops2 said:

The waters are being changed by more pollution ALMOST everywhere. The steel barrels buried in river bottoms & dumped offshore are opening up. Oceans are being covered by the  peoples throw away plastic drink bottles. Some are not even recyclable.  DUUUHHH

 

The get rich quicker leaders are doing what they want.  Ihere is no room for better conditions world wide.

 

Mr. Doom & Gloom has spoken again.  ☠️

From all the water tests I’ve seen, water quality has improved greatly all over the USA in the last 50 years. Waters in the 60s and 70s in many locations was literally too polluted for aquatic life . There’s a river near me that was literally black in the late 80s with no fish or even aquatic insects. It’s now the best Fishing river I know

 

ive got a buddy that works as environmental manager at a cement plant on a river. The EPA is up his rear every single day for decades about water testing and water quality. You can spout gloom and doom if you like but the fed has done wonders for water quality improvements in the US over the last 50 years. It’s a proven fact with real data 

[J Francho]

9 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Waters in the 60s and 70s in many locations was literally too polluted for aquatic life .

Lake Erie in the 70s:

 

Some need to blame SOMETHING for their bad luck.

[TnRiver46]

4 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Lake Erie in the 70s:

 

Some need to blame SOMETHING for their bad luck.

That was all over America back then, but you won’t see it today 

[cyclops2]

Our CLEANER major rivers ARE cleaner.

 

Because we shipped OUR dirty factories to China & the rest of the cheaper labor & do nothing pollution countries.

 

But fear not about pollution of America.  We now have UNLIMITED PERMANANT pollution of well water all over the USA.  Thank all your oil companies.  And let us not forget the MASSIVE amount of earth quakes where fracking is unrestricted in the USA.

 

All we do is reduce 1 type of disaster.  For a new & different type.

[bulldog1935]

On 1/13/2022 at 6:58 PM, king fisher said:

I may get tired of a certain technique, or body of water, but never tired of trying to solve a new fishing  puzzle.

   I guided in Alaska for 30 years.  On a couple of the streams where I fished for silver salmon, the fishing was too consistent and too easy.  After helping clients catch hard fighting fish, that are all about the same size, almost every cast to the same spot, I would be tired of silver salmon.  At the end of the day some of the new guides  would want to go fishing for silvers.  They were excited and hadn't been doing it long enough to become jaded.  I would go with them only if they agreed to fish new water, try different techniques, and fish with lures, and flies with hooks cut making it impossible to land the fish.  Get hit, watch one jump, then move to a different hole.

       Fishing for bass, even in Mexico, is not consistent enough for me to get bored.  Double digit bass on top every cast all day is not going to happen.  Getting tired of fishing can only happen to me if  fishing is too easy for too long.  As long as there is a challenge and something new to learn, then I could fish every day.

 

for my Alaska guide buddies, April steelhead is a rebirth every year - their personal trips sans guide fares. 

My buddy Brandon and me with an early July king - best eats on planet Earth. 

 

[cheezyridr]

i can imagine getting bored if i repeatedly went to the same place over and over and over.

especially here, where the fishing isn't great anyhow. 

 

i'm in no danger of that happening though, because there are so many other things i want to or have to do.  last year, i don't think i went fishin even a dozen times all season.  some days i went riding instead. some days i had to work, or i had work to do around the house. some days i went to the range with my son and grandson.  sometimes i went to my grand daughter's so she could thoroughly trash me at archery.  she's 10, and she is pretty good at it. 

[cyclops2]

I volunteer for children's programs.  It is what keeps me going. 

[BlakeMolone]

Luckily fishing is one of two main hobbies I have so when I tire from one I just pick the other back up. My brain doesn’t let me not be obsessed with something unfortunately/fortunately.