Bank fishing vs. boat fishing

[einscodek]

This is the way I look at it:

If you know the body of water and the fishing spots which are productive for the time of year/day/ weather/conditions, can get there quickly, and can hit it from the bank, then you can be there alot faster and more often than having to lower a boat into the water.

I catch alot more fish when I'm on the boat but I catch just as many big ones from the bank probably because I do alot more bank fishing due to the above explanation.

On certain bodies of water, its just not feasible to reach idea spots and presentation from the bank and so the boat is needed.  Most of my boating is usually in the summer months but I still do alot of slop bank fishing in the summer too which I tell ya most people don't like to do.

[PaulVE64]

13 minutes from my house. I'm lucky to live near a healthy smallie river.

19" and around #3

[thediscochef]

One of the downsides to bank fishing is that keeping lures can be a struggle. One wrong cast or learning a new spot gets expensive quick. Tonight was a reminder of that; I wanted to fish under the supermoon but there were a lot of people out, the bites were scarce, and I snapped off a trio of 3/8 tungsten worm weights. All the casts I wanted to make had other peoples gear in the way, so I tried to make the best of it and it bit me. Sometimes you make some great discoveries being pushed out of a comfort zone but other times you're just flicking $10 of tackle into the wind and going home early 

[Bazoo]

I own 2 boats, 1 is a fixer-upper, the other is a plastic bass buddy pontoon boat, but I mostly fish from the bank. Reason for me is several fold. First, while the boat is small enough I can load and unload it myself, I can't move it to the water by myself where I would enter it. I could carry it with a friend...

 

And... I most often fish my local public lake when I'm in town doing errands. I'll stop by several times a week to get a few hours in and I rarely spend all day fishing. I often fish 3 or 4 days a week though.

[Massachusettslargemouth]

This is a tangent to bank fishing so sorry if it's not completely pertinent, but it does cover not having a boat.  When I was a kid I found this little slow moving stream that runs underneath a road.  I spent countless hours fishing it on that bridge and I've caught THOUSANDS of bass over the years.  I may be wrong, but finding hidden gems with a bridge like this is a great way to catch bass.   

 

A major advantage of a place like that is that you can cover a large area.  I typically fish the downstream side, but I also try a few casts on the opposite side.  A trick I sometimes do is cast a slug-go and let the very slow current take the slug-go about 100 yards down.  I've even had times where a bass hit on the slug-go just being carried by the current.  Then I will work the lure back to me.

[Dan N]

I own a boat, and use it on weekends. But for me, after work, during the week, I really enjoy shore fishing. We have a great park , with channels that are great fishing  in the spring and fall. I catch as many fish from shore as I do in the boat. And makes for a quick , easy trip after work.

[Zcoker]

11 hours ago, thediscochef said:

One of the downsides to bank fishing is that keeping lures can be a struggle. One wrong cast or learning a new spot gets expensive quick. 

Or rods. I've snapped more expensive rods fishing from the bank. Mainly from dead sticking them up onto the bank for a quick grab. I hardly break rods on the yak, only one time that I can recall on a hard worm strike. Probably had a hair line crack in it. 

[Massachusettslargemouth]

12 hours ago, Massachusettslargemouth said:

This is a tangent to bank fishing so sorry if it's not completely pertinent, but it does cover not having a boat.  When I was a kid I found this little slow moving stream that runs underneath a road.  I spent countless hours fishing it on that bridge and I've caught THOUSANDS of bass over the years.  I may be wrong, but finding hidden gems with a bridge like this is a great way to catch bass.   

 

A major advantage of a place like that is that you can cover a large area.  I typically fish the downstream side, but I also try a few casts on the opposite side.  A trick I sometimes do is cast a slug-go and let the very slow current take the slug-go about 100 yards down.  I've even had times where a bass hit on the slug-go just being carried by the current.  Then I will work the lure back to me.

Caught this thing off the side of the road.  3 foot deep stream that dumps into an 80 acre lake .  

[Koz]

Bank fishing on big lakes is no fun. Bank fishing on ponds is a blast.

[thediscochef]

5 hours ago, Koz said:

Bank fishing on big lakes is no fun. Bank fishing on ponds is a blast.

I would contend that it depends on the lake and your geography. I bank fish a 27,000 acre reservoir and do better than I could at any public pond in the same driving distance 

[throttleplate]

I bank fish river dams, I used to bank fish only lakes but access was limited even with waders i pushed the limits but the limits won. The river dams now provide me with a box of chocolates type of fishing experience i never imagined.

I have caught in the rivers i fish, muskie, pike, smallies, largies, walleyes, white bass, catfish, carp, sheaphead, golden eye, buffalo fish, rock bass, crappie, and sunfish.

My friend has a boat with live scope and he went out last week in the heat towing his boat 240 miles round trip and caught 2 walleye on a lake. I went out yesterday in the heat to a dam and caught 4 walleye, a big fighting carp, a handfull of small brownies and some good fightin catfish. I had a blast.

[Bird]

I have a bass boat, a bass raider and a fishing kayak to keep from bank fishing.

I'm not apposed to bank fishing but none of the lakes I fish cater to it.