Have you quit fishing before?

[new2BC4bass]

For how long?  How many times?

 

I quit for 23 years after moving to this area.  Been back into it for almost 14 years.  Went to work for a company when I was 20 that had me traveling all over the country.  Kind of a forced 'quit'.  I did pack a 2-piece 6' spinning rod to take with me a couple times, but had very little time to use it.  During the time I worked there, I also went with my Dad a few times while home on vacation.  We're talking like 50 years and more ago.

 

Haven't visited relation in Florida since 2019.  I consider that to be my last time fishing.  I've gone to a local boat ramp on the Lehigh River, a fishing pier on Lake Nockamixon, and the fishing docks (and nearby shoreline) at Leaser Lake since then, but I don't consider those times 'fishing'.  Just practice and trying out new or new-to-me gear.

 

Hoping to move near my wife's family in Deland.  If that happens, then I will be fishing a lot more.  If it doesn't, then I guess I'll be quitting again as fishing in this area is a huge bummer.  Sad, because I've put a lot of money (thousands) into gear since starting back up in March, 2009.  I have more decent gear than both my local Walmarts combined.  The new gear is the only thing that kept me from quitting years ago.

 

I love to fish.  I don't have to catch any fish every time I go out.  However, catching a few once in awhile would keep my interest up enough to keep going.

 

I assume some of you quit once you got married, and started having kids.  Then started back up once the children were old enough to show some interest in fishing.

 

 

[TOXIC]

When I was 13, my grandfather took me on a dream fishing trip to Canada.  Huge Walleye, Pike and Muskie.  Lake Lac La Ronge in Saskatchewan.  I was the oldest of 4 grandkids and the first to make the trip with him and my grandmother who went every year. We had an Indian guide and even did a fly in to another more remote lake.  My grandfather unfortunately passed from leukemia when I was 14 and it was too painful to pick up a fishing rod after that.  30+ years ago when we moved to Virginia, a neighbor got me back into fishing.  I was wade fishing the Shenandoah river on a foggy morning and had a miracle experience on the water.  I met my grandfather again.  I haven’t put a rod down since.  

[gim]

35 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

I assume some of you quit once you got married, and started having kids.  Then started back up once the children were old enough to show some interest in fishing.

Not a chance. If I was required to quit what I enjoyed doing to get married and/or have kids, I wouldn’t do it. Quality of life is measured by the amount of time you have to do what you enjoy doing. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice it. My wife knew what she was getting into when we got married.

 

At one point, I went 16.5 seasons without landing a muskie. I first started fishing for them in 2000 when I was a senior in HS, and caught 5 that season. I didn’t catch another one until August 2017. I logged over 500 hours trying to catch one without success. I seriously thought about selling all my muskie gear and quitting. The flood gates opened one rainy day in August though, and since then I have caught over 30 of them, including 7 this past season.

[TnRiver46]

[A-Jay]

I'll be quitting for about 6 months again tomorrow. 15th year in a row.

There are some long days & nights waiting for open water.

But the bass are always there waiting and willing when I do get to wet a line again.

A-Jay 

 

 

[DaubsNU1]

Not so much as "quit" fishing, as I stopped for a while. 

 

Daughters got to an age with school and sports where I simply did not have enough time to Fish. 

 

Then in 2009, divorced wife...I was primary custodial parents to my daughters...they were with my every day of the week, and every other weekend. Lots of Daddy-Daughter time : ) 

 

Sports kept ramping up as they approached high school, as did the side gig (photography). 

 

Great times!  Got to be on the field taking pictures as daughter's won three state titles and two runner up finishes (softball). 

 

And got to sit under the basket taking pictures at Pinnacle Bank Arena as oldest daughter won state title in basketball : ) 

 

#34

 

 

Got back in to fishing about three years ago...after the kiddos were well in to college.  

[fishhugger]

yeah - i stopped from 20 yo to 63 yo --- that's... let's see,,.... 43 years. i didn't really learn how to fish as a kid, although went with either of my parents. . then at 63 i got back into it... trying (in order) surf fishing, lake fishing (bass, panfish), and hope to get a trout at some point. the advent of youtube and various forums, etc makes learning a lot different than when i was a kid.

[Woody B]

I sold my boat and quit fishing in 1992 due to professional and personal reasons.   I bought a boat in December 2021 and have been fishing at least once a week since then.   

[a1712]

Stopped for about 7-8 years, life got in the way. Brian.

[N Florida Mike]

Not me !

Ive been fishing 58 years now, and have never quit or even slowed down for very long.

I broke my thumb in 3 places once  and learned to cast left handed that week! I think it was around a week after getting a hook in my eye that I was back at it.

So , no , I will fish until the Lord calls me home…or  until Im physically unable …

 

[Jar11591]

No, and I don’t plan on it. I’ve been fishing since I was a toddler, or younger. Always been my number one passion. Couldn’t imagine my life without it. Even during the winter when the lakes are frozen and I can’t fish, it’s always on my mind. 

[Big Hands]

Like many, I loved fishing as a kid and fished a fair amount as a young adult. Then when I got married and had kids. I had a nice Ranger and fished a LOT since I lived in Castaic since 1987. I moved here to be near the lake and could fish weekday evenings for three or four hours, and that sounded pretty good to me. The outboard on my Ranger messed the bed at about the time when my kids got to an age when they needed me to be more involved around the mid-90's, and I cut way back on fishing. Even going long periods with no fishing or only when I would travel to Texas to visit a couple of fishing buddies.

 

Now my kids are adults and finished with college and I still have the interest. I have the time and since was able to get myself back into a boat of my own, it has become my primary leisure activity once again. My kids are also enjoying it when they have the chance to go with me. When I got the boat I have now (and the one before it that I only had for a year), I thought that nobody would want to go with me, so I got a boat that is quite spacious for one, but can certainly handle two, or even three and have found that I don't fish solo nearly as much as I thought I would.

 

If I move again when I retire, it will again be to somewhere that has quick and easy access to decent bass fishing, hopefully year round. If I have my way, it will always be a major part of my time left here on earth.

[bowhunter63]

No

[WRB]

Never decided to stop fishing but life tends to get in the way of our desire to fish.

Tom

[Craig P]

I’m 51 and have never stopped since I was 5. Hunting I have taken breaks from, a few years on, a few years off but fishing still feels like I am a kid on Xmas eve the night before I go and I am fortunate that I get to go at least once a week, either fresh or salt. 

[Todd2]

I've never quit fishing. I do have other stuff..trap shooting, competition pistol, hiking... But fishing has always been #1 in hobbies.

[The Baron]

Not quit, but stopped for far too long.  Up until I was about 15-16 I was crazy about fishing, mostly smallmouth bass and rockbass at the family cottage but also some trout, pike and walleye.  At 16, I was able to get my gun license and started hunting with friends.  That obsession took off, and expanded into skeet then sporting clays shooting, IDPA and IPSC pistol competition, CQB and even some long range rifle stuff.  It wasn't until my kids were about 6-8yo. that fishing came back on the radar.  I started taking my kids down to worm fish off the shore when they were little and, somewhere along the way, I got hooked again myself.  The last few of years I've really moved back into fishing, leading up to this year when I can't seem to get enough and am doing much less hunting.  If I consider 2018 as the year I really got back into fishing, that would be a break of over 30 years.

[GreenPig]

Paused from roughly 23 - 25 years old for 24 months and it about killed me, mentally, spiritually, and physically. I was working on my A & P license, working 40 hours on one job(Lowes)(weekdays), and 20 hours on another job(repairing crashed planes)(weekends). Between school, both jobs, and driving it was 100 hour weeks. I made up for missing so much fishing after getting my license and only had to work. I was at the lake 3 days one week and 4 the next for a while.

[slonezp]

1 hour ago, a1712 said:

Stopped for about 7-8 years, life got in the way. Brian.

Life is what happens when you've made other plans.

I've been fishing for 50 years and I'm 52. 

Things change

I fished every weekend from ice out to ice up for many many years. I'm on hold right now. Last 2 years I get out maybe 10x a year at best. I have a grandson, without a father, I need to tend to and, my own dad going thru health issues. I'm fortunate I can still fish with both...but both prove to be difficult. 

 

Real thing is, it's a sad thing, I had a chance to go fishing alone this past weekend and I didn't.

 

Grandson is sick. Dad is sick. slonezp is worried more about the grandson and dad than he is himself. This too shall pass. 

[king fisher]

I have never quit fishing, but unfortunately there have been times when I quit catching.

[Jmontgomery87]

I quit for about 13 years. Last spring I was at my dad's lake house with my daughter who was 3 at the time. She picked up a rod that day and just decided she wanted to start fishing. We caught a bunch of bluegill from the boat that day and it all came flooding back to me. My dad really got back into fishing too.

 

We've done everything from panfish to trout, catfish, white bass, and largemouth. It's been a wonderful activity to bring us all together. I'm never quitting again.

 

Her biggest white bass this summer.

 

My second largest this past weekend.

[Deephaven]

Sold my bassboat when my youngest was 2 and didn't have a boat again until he was 10.

[Catt]

[geo g]

Got out of fishing for ten years as I got into Morgan Horses in the late 70’s.  A fun time for me, but more expensive then fishing and boating by far.  

[Bankbeater]

I got back into fishing back in 2002 after not fishing for 15 years.  Work, family, and a new house kept me busy.