If you don't fish tournaments, why do you fish for bass?

[IntroC]

To feel a nibble on the end of my line🤷🏻‍♂️

I was strictly a walleye guy for many years. Grew up fishing for them. In ND that’s all anyone really fishes for. I found myself getting bored fishing for them at times and would fish for other species. At one time is was a hardcore Muskie angler to the point of obsession, something happened, I then started fishing for bass. It really fits my style. Fast paced, a million ways to catch them  unlike any other species. I have grown to love bass fishing. If I ain’t fishing for the biggest bass in the lake,  it’s numbers I’m fishing for

[Dan Turpin]

They are the biggest, most badass fish in the lakes where I am—the coolest fish in the world. Salt fishing is mostly either trolling or jigging. It's boring. The way Bass behave and how it changes your approach to targeting them makes bass fishing almost like hunting in a way. I fished a derb or two over the years to bud. Don't get me wrong; they can be fun, but they aren't the best way for me to enjoy fishing. Ever have a whole lake to yourself catching slabs, still getting a pic on the ol' Ketch board but it's all just for you? That's the stuff right there.

[Den60]

I'm getting into bass fishing for the fun of being outdoors and the challenge it presents. Didn't really have the patience for it when younger. It will get me outside with a group of friends that have fished a lot to go with my other buddies I golf with.

 

Funny story. My first real job was working as a lather for my father, a plastering contractor. Worked with a guy, Jim, who was in his 60s. One time, when I was about 22, Jim told me that when it came to either fishing or sex he said fishing was more fun and less work. I looked at him like he was crazy. OK, I was in a band and we always were chasing girls. Now I am 64 and enjoy more relaxing things. My son got into fishing with a buddy of his and I do look forward to spending time with him doing that - he doesn't golf. 

 

My oldest friend Steve, known him since I was 5, always fished and always had a boat. We play music together and I started talking about getting into fishing. He sold his boat a few years back but it was expensive and he had it moored at Harbor Island. He'd go out 30-40 miles chasing tuna. His kids now are too busy with work and their own kids and he said the gas bill was outrageous. Another mutual friend I've played music with goes for a month to the Sierras to fish, hunt and prospect. When I get back from my golf trip coming next week, we are going out to San Vicente and rent a pontoon boat. Steve seems interested in getting a smaller pontoon boat like a Bass Buggy and we all would partner in it. It just seems like the right time in my life to do something new. I've been reading, watching Youtube videos and even tournament fishing to learn as much as I can which also brought me to this site.

[Choporoz]

Good thread, @JHoss.  Done well keeping it tracking fairly straight. 

 

  I enjoy tournament bass fishing, but nearly all of my fun fishing is for bass, also.  @Swamp Girlmentioned casting, and that is probably as big a factor as any.  That, and.... if I'm gonna get skunked, I'd rather get skunked fishing for 6# bass, than 1# crappie. 

[Swamp Girl]

7 hours ago, Dan Turpin said:

Ever have a whole lake to yourself catching slabs, still getting a pic on the ol' Ketch board but it's all just for you? That's the stuff right there.

 

Hey, you're singing my song!

 

[senile1]

@JHoss  It is good to revisit why we do things and to re-evaluate why we believe as we do.  Thanks for prompting that on this subject. 

 

When I started fishing in the waters of Missouri, the main fishing staples were crappie, catfish, bass, bluegill, white bass, and redear sunfish.  There were the non-gamefish like carp, buffalo, etc. but the six listed above were what most people fished for.  Bass were always more fun to me than the others listed for a few reasons. 

 

While pulling a huge catfish off the bottom is a hell of a fight compared to a bass, I miss out on the puzzle of finding a presentation to fool them into biting.  I have caught catfish on jigs and other lures while fishing for bass, but it is rare.  And the joy of seeing a fish bursting from the water skyward is another thing I couldn't get from fishing for catfish. 

 

Two to three pound white bass can be a load of fun to catch and for their size the fight is tremendous compared to a black bass.  But again, once I find whites there isn't much of a puzzle compared to the black bass.

 

As for crappie, bluegill, and redear they all have their time and place but the bass is larger and I enjoy the fight more than the smaller fish.  Having said that, catching bluegill on an ultra-lite rod can be quite the tussle. 

 

Through the years Missouri has added hybrids to the menu.  I have fished for them and they are a great deal of fun due to their tremendous fight and size, plus they make great table fare when prepared properly.  However, I still think that the joy of the puzzle for black bass outweighs the joy of catching hybrids.  If I had more lakes near me that contained hybrids, I might alter this opinion somewhat.  

 

To summarize, the reasons I fish for bass are for the combination of decent fighting ability, decent size for freshwater, and the puzzle of determining where they are and how I can entice them to bite with lures.  The puzzle, as the OP stated, is the main thing.

 

One final note:  If I lived near the coast and was able to fish inshore for redfish all the time, I suspect that would be the fish that just might take over more of my fishing time.

 

  

 

 

 

 

[J Francho]

It's the same as why I still make music despite not recording, touring, teaching, or even playing with a regular band. It's a hobby that I enjoy, and it defines some parts of me. They're both crucial to my mental health. 

[Pat Brown]

5 minutes ago, J Francho said:

It's the same as why I still make music despite not recording, touring, teaching, or even playing with a regular band. It's a hobby that I enjoy, and it defines some parts of me. They're both crucial to my mental health. 

 

 

We are cut from the same cloth!  I am also a musician that no longer performs or teaches but I still love doing it.  Fishing is just part of what makes me feel connected to my life.  

 

I feel my grandfather, my uncle, my dad, my brothers with me even when I'm alone on the water.  People that are still around but I don't see as often as I'd like and people that have passed on.  Fishing helps me sit with the memories of good times and be at peace.

[Catt]

@J Francho & @Pat Brown I can run your sound system for ya! 

 

6 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I feel my grandfather, my uncle, my dad, my brothers with me even when I'm alone on the water

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

13 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I feel my grandfather, my uncle, my dad, my brothers with me even when I'm alone on the water.  People that are still around but I don't see as often as I'd like and people that have passed on.  Fishing helps me sit with the memories of good times and be at peace.

 

Amen, brother.

 

Love your post, @senile1!

[Den60]

Oh, I didn't say why I want to bass fish. It just seems to be the most fun. I want to try fly fishing as well. I'm not looking for it to produce food, I expect to catch and release most of the time. We are talking about taking a trip up to Idaho next year to fish and I expect if we catch some trout we will probably keep a few. As a kid, I remember catching some trout and having my mom cook them in a skillet on an open fire and how good it tasted.

[JHoss]

On 11/16/2024 at 11:04 PM, Dan Turpin said:

Salt fishing is mostly either trolling or jigging. It's boring. 

Gotta disagree with you here. I fish salt 10-20 times a year these days and can't remember the last time I trolled or jigged. I'm not sure there's a saltwater species that can't be caught with artificials. I threw live bait on two occasions this year- sight casting big cobia in open water, which is more like bed fishing than anything else. Aint nothing boring about watching a 50+ lb fish inhale a bait you presented perfectly and then holding on while that fish runs like a freight train. 

 

On 11/16/2024 at 11:04 PM, Dan Turpin said:

The way Bass behave and how it changes your approach to targeting them makes bass fishing almost like hunting in a way.

I'm with you on this- it's one of my favorite parts of bass fishing. But it doesn't have to be exclusive to bass. I've used this philosophy and the things I've learned from bass on many species both freshwater and salt.

 

On 11/17/2024 at 5:23 AM, Choporoz said:

  I enjoy tournament bass fishing, but nearly all of my fun fishing is for bass, also.  @Swamp Girlmentioned casting, and that is probably as big a factor as any.  That, and.... if I'm gonna get skunked, I'd rather get skunked fishing for 6# bass, than 1# crappie. 

I'd agree most of my fun fishing is for bass unless there's an unusually great bite/run of something else going on. I likely differ from you and most folks in that my fun fishing for bass is practicing for future tournaments in my mind. But if we get to pick when we get skunked, I'm going with a late spring day on the Chesapeake Bay, a couple good friends, a cooler of beer, and someone else's boat so I don't have to worry about driving us home. 

 

On 11/17/2024 at 9:09 AM, senile1 said:

To summarize, the reasons I fish for bass are for the combination of decent fighting ability, decent size for freshwater, and the puzzle of determining where they are and how I can entice them to bite with lures.  The puzzle, as the OP stated, is the main thing.

 

One final note:  If I lived near the coast and was able to fish inshore for redfish all the time, I suspect that would be the fish that just might take over more of my fishing time.

Can't argue with any of that reasoning. I think a lot of die-hard bass anglers would be a little less die-hard if they lived places with an abundance of equally exciting species to chase, like reds. Reds may be one of the few saltwater species we have close to year round, so maybe their patterns would challenge me like bass if I dedicated some time to them. Have you ever seen the videos of the giant schools of bull reds cruising the Chesapeake and being sight casted to with topwaters and bucktails? Not what most folks think of when they think of redfish, but I doubt anyone would complain about getting on that bite. 

[Functional]

Some hobbies/sports to me I just get different feelings about. Shooting I really enjoy but I certainly get more of a thrill being better than most in competition and practicing towards proving it. Shooting without that goal just to stay proficient is enjoyable but not as exhilarating as competition. 

 

Fishing is the opposite for me, or what I feel like would be the opposite. I enjoy friendly competition with friends/family I go out with on occasion but I feel a proper tournament would put stress on something I find relaxing. My thrill comes from the fish catch but its mostly time for me to unwind and be alone with my thoughts.

 

I'm sure for someone else on here it may be the exact opposite on these exact two hobbies/sports.

[GrumpyOlPhartte]

For me it was an evolutionary process:

 

1953 - First there was fishing.  My dad took me out in an old rowboat on Spirit Lake in Iowa.  I was five and had a three-section bamboo pole with a bobber and worms.  I caught two giant perch and a monster crappie.  (They’re all big when you are five!). He died two years later so fast forward to …

 

1965 - First bass was a smallmouth caught in the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania. Although my uncle didn’t fish, he did buy me a rod and Zebco spincast reel. He understood that I liked to fish, just never why.  Heck! I didn’t understand why either. But that was the first fish I caught on an artificial bait. 
 

1972 - First serious largemouth caught when my LPO took me fishing in his tin boat in Back Bay, Charleston, SC.  He introduced me to the magic of the Texas-rigged grape firetail  worm.  We weighed it at four and a half pounds on our old spring-loaded scale.  Took it home and ate it … blargh!

 

1980 - First chance to show off / be shown up. Went fishing with my BIL here in Massachusetts. He still worm-dunked for panfish until I tied into a three pounder with my trusty grape firetail. Made a believer out of him.  The same year I took my wife out in our little plastic boat and, before I had even gotten my line wet, she had tied into a five-pound pig using a gold Rebel.  Even named it Zelda!  Did you know that wives get really noisy when they’re wrestling uncooperative bass?

 

So why am I addicted to bass fishing?  Probably for many of the reasons above; however, I notice that my best fishing memories all seem to involve someone who was/is very special to me.

 

Oh.  And because the tuna bite really sucks here in the local lakes of western MA!!!

 

[Bucks Bass and Bourbon]

Can’t really explain why but they just drive me to catch them. It’s an obsession. The chase - especially smallmouth lately - never gets old. Once I find the right combination and I catch them one might think it scratches that itch but it just makes me want to do it again. This weekend I was back on St Clair where I just started fishing and have struggled quite a bit. Finally hooked up with a few 4+ pounders and not being sure what I had until they flashed in front of the boat as they made their last run ripping off drag… nothing beats it. 
 

As an aside a buddy and I were launching the boat a few months back as a local tournament was just wrapping up their weigh in. As we were pushing off a guy walked up to the dock to release his bag and was visibly p****d off about it. So much so that he was actually pretty rude when I asked how he did. A five fish bag and he was angry and miserable. My buddy looked at me as he walked away and commented that he never wants to be the guy who catches fish and is miserable about it. I fully realize that is the exception not the rule but I never want what I love doing to cause me stress and make me upset while doing it. 

[senile1]

20 hours ago, JHoss said:

Have you ever seen the videos of the giant schools of bull reds cruising the Chesapeake and being sight casted to with topwaters and bucktails? Not what most folks think of when they think of redfish, but I doubt anyone would complain about getting on that bite. 

 

I hadn't seen the videos but I just pulled up a couple of YouTube videos.  My wife and I have fished in Baffin Bay Texas a couple of times and once in and out of Mobile Bay.  We caught a few 34 to 38 inchers in Baffin Bay.  We were using typical bass fishing rods and reels.  You definitely have to let your drag do its job on these fish before you can get them in the boat.

[Catt]

1 hour ago, senile1 said:

You definitely have to let your drag do its job on these fish before you can get them in the boat

 

Calcasieu (Big) Lake 15 minutes from my house. One of top destinations on the Gulf Coast for Specks-n-Reds.

 

Black Drum 

 

[JHoss]

2 hours ago, senile1 said:

I hadn't seen the videos but I just pulled up a couple of YouTube videos.  My wife and I have fished in Baffin Bay Texas a couple of times and once in and out of Mobile Bay.  We caught a few 34 to 38 inchers in Baffin Bay.  We were using typical bass fishing rods and reels.  You definitely have to let your drag do its job on these fish before you can get them in the boat.

I'm not sure the videos do justice to the size of these fish. When we talk big reds in the Chesapeake Bay, we mean 40" plus. And a lot of those schools are made up of nothing but those 40"+ fish. We usually use TLD 15s or 5000+ spinning reels when targeting that trophy class. I'm not sure I'd want to hook into one with anything I carry bassing. 

 

16 hours ago, Bucks Bass and Bourbon said:

Can’t really explain why but they just drive me to catch them. It’s an obsession. The chase - especially smallmouth lately - never gets old. Once I find the right combination and I catch them one might think it scratches that itch but it just makes me want to do it again.

This is something I had kind of forgotten about. Like many people, I enjoy "leveling up" in whatever game or hobby I'm doing. But, my wife says that my ADHD causes me to lose interest in an activity once I've "leveled up" high enough to be in that expert class of participants. That's why there's a garage full of woodworking tools and a closet full of camera gear- I got to a point where I had it somewhat mastered and it became boring. There's so much to bass fishing and it's always evolving, so I don't know that I'll ever truly feel like I've mastered it and get bored, which is something I love. When I start to feel bored, I can find a new technique or body of water to learn. 

[senile1]

2 hours ago, JHoss said:

When we talk big reds in the Chesapeake Bay, we mean 40" plus. And a lot of those schools are made up of nothing but those 40"+ fish. We usually use TLD 15s or 5000+ spinning reels when targeting that trophy class. I'm not sure I'd want to hook into one with anything I carry bassing 

 

That is wild.  Forty inches plus is definitely a tank.

[WCWV]

Because it's Fun!!

I've seen several tournament guys that looked like they weren't having much fun

[jrb772]

I must admit, I have read this post a few times and thought about replying and just hadn't done so. Well, here goes nothing and I hope someone can relate. I refuse to fish in tournaments because I enjoy trying to decipher the conditions and enjoy the pursuit. Some of the darkest times in my life where I didn't know how to cope with whatever was going on, I went fishing, I spent time resetting and changing the pace in which I moved forward. I do the same thing with my son, when he has a hard week or I have to explain something that isn't good or deliver bad news it's always when we are fishing. This is therapy to me and has been my happy place all of my life. I grew up living between the stickmarsh and garcias, two of the best places to fish in my area. To sum this up, fishing has been a gift to me, just like it was to my dad and his before him. I am probably not able to see it in any other way. 

[Jigfishn10]

Loved the post @jrb772

[CDMTJager]

For me I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever it is because I still have a VERY VERY strong even irresistible recessive gene of the 'hunter gatherer" that dominates my DNA. I have been fishing literally since 5 years of age and in over 50 years have never gone more than 6 or 8 weeks without fishing and that is ONLY from ice over till ice out. Once ice is out I fish at least 2 days a week till ice over. I wanted to hunt as long as I can remember and when I got my first pellet gun a Sheridan Silver Streak I STILL own to this day at age 8 I constantly snuck off to a wooded area about a miles bike ride from home by a large industrial complex and hunted pigeons that nested in bridges and rabbits in the brushy areas with impressive success.  

 

Once I worked and could drive Good lord I was going on 3-4 fishing trips a year in the lower 48 plus one to Canada and at least two canoe trips (one spring one fall) to the boundaries waters was bow hunting deer 30-35 days a year firearm hunting deer 7-14 days a year and upland game hunting at least 10 days a year. 

 

ALL my girl friends and including my wife all said I'd rather fish or hunt than be with them. 

Still true to this day. Only time with my sons is more important to me than hunting and fishing. 

 

Should have seen the look on my wifes face when I announced I had been drawn for LE elk in WY and would miss our first sons 1st Bday party then two years later happened again when I went to NM for a ML elk hunt and used 90% of my vacation time to take my sons on fishing trips.

Wife KNEW before we ever got engaged I will not do tourist trap vacations no cruise ships no Disney land g*y days, no all inclusive south of the border or caribbean 3rd world vacations 

Told her will do anything lower 48 or even AK as long as I can do a little fishing or hiking. I even brought a fishing set up along on our honeymoon and yes went trout and bass fishing in UT, AZ and NV. 

 

ONLY things I did harder than drink and party in my premarital days was fish and hunt. Told my wife once married I'll give up either hunting and fishing or partying, but NWIH all three. You pick. I don't drink anymore at all since my honeymoon.

[Pumpkin Lizard]

It's not complicated.

 

Bass are everywhere. Chasing them is fun. And generally more fun than other species. I never eat fish.

 

I also fly fish for trout and sometimes steelhead.  That's a really fun game too.  They fight much harder than bass but they aren't nearly as available.

 

 

[CastingClinic]

I've spent some time going through this thread and was a bit surprised at the offense taken by many.  To answer why I don't fish tournaments the answer is simple, I don't really have the time to.  I'm blessed to be a weekday morning fisherman and don't have enough weekends to spare to make tournament fishing viable and I don't see that changing any time soon. I keep an eye on the local clubs and have thought about joining but it just doesn't make sense though I'll give it a shot one day.

 

Now that's not really the question you asked.  What you asked is why I fish for bass and that is a question I've asked myself.  When I pass a boat trolling, maybe for lake trout, hybrids, walleye, or salmon, or perhaps  I pass a perfectly splayed set of rods in search of crappie, or a guy with a hefty broomstick rigged up for catfish, I ask myself, "why am I doing this instead of that." 

 

I was maybe three or four when I started heading out with my dad and company on the Great South Bay of Long Island in search of, mostly fluke and flounder.  Squid strips or spearing with big heavy weights dragged across sandy bottom are my earliest fishing memories.  We always played for keeps and having to throw one back because it didn't quite make length was always a cruel ritual.  It wasn't always fluke and we would run into a wide variety of fish which was always an exciting affair but as much fun as it was it could be oppressively boring and our little skiff offered no reprieve from the brutal summer sun or a rough windy day. Fishing was an exhausting activity.  My dad worked six days a week more often than not and this type of fishing wasn't a convenient thing and so when a day to fish came up it would be quiet the adventure, dawn till dusk.  This is what fishing was to me.

 

I left Long Island for collage and my dad moved away to Texas shortly after so our saltwater trips became far and few, relegated to charters or party boats.  In my mid-twenties I was living across the street from a small pond in New Jersey and a noticed the trout stocking postings one day so I bought my license and a cheap Walmart spinning rod and had a blast cleaning up trout and bluegill like I had on the handful of trips to my great aunts pond in Indiana during my childhood but it got old fast.  It was unbelievably easy fishing.

 

I'd pond hop with friends on occasion and fish for whatever would bite, bass included, but a few years ago I was invited on a week long men's fishing trip to Black Lake in upstate New York.  It was family and friends of a friend and there was a good group of us younger guys and plenty of old timers.  Some were better fishermen than others but everyone was there to wet a line and relax.  The weather was hot and the water was very low and full of weeds.  The fishing wasn't very good but we managed a decent haul of panfish, bass, and pike over that week.  One guy even pulled up a decent sized walleye.  That trip really rekindled the desire to go fishing, freshwater in particular, but more so it made me realize that I really didn't like fishing from shore.  I don't hate it but I find it tedious and quickly bore of it but fishing from a boat is what I grew up on and a fishing trip from dawn till dusk wouldn't phase me one bit if I was out on the lake rather than hiking through brush.

 

So I went on the hunt for a boat but needed something relatively cheap that I could cartop myself.  I looked at kayak options but I'm a big guy and want to stand so I wasn't sure.  I ended up see some pictures of guys fishing from canoes with outriggers and trolling motors online and found a 17ft aluminum canoe that would become my winter project.

 

As spring approached, another buddy of mine had expressed an interest in getting back into fishing.  With his daughter now in preschool he was in need of a hobby that would get him out of the house for a bit and a YouTube rabbit hole sent him pond hopping, for bass in particular.  With my canoe not quite seaworthy I would accompany him and get my fishing itch scratched.  When the canoe was ready he came along for the maiden fishing trip.

 

We headed out on a lake neither of us had been before and started fishing.  We caught a bunch of fish that day, mostly bluegill, but the biggest fish were all largemouth.  None could've been over two pounds but it was the best day of fishing we had up to that point and beat scratching our heads as we hiked around ponds.  We spent that night texting back and forth, linking videos, all in a quest to better understand what we could do to catch more, bigger, bass.  That trip was three years ago now.  My canoe has since morphed from a slightly rickety, diy contraption, to a lean mean fishing machine and my buddy has long since left my front seat for his own kayak rig.

 

I often talk about taking a day to go hunt down crappie for a fish fry, or try my hand at trolling for monster lake trout, and I still get out saltwater fishing from time to time but mostly you'll find me hunting bass.  I've never truly felt like I've known what I'm doing while fishing until I started really trying to decode bass and its the first time I realized that fishing is something you can get really good at with enough effort.  The goal is simple; more bass, bigger bass, and with the least time between them, and so, in a way, every trip is a tournament day for me.

 

So that's why I fish for bass, because its what I'm good at but I can still always get better.