Advantages and Disadvantages

[Swamp Girl]

Reading about @Aaron_H's and @CastingClinic's big catches has me thinking about advantages and disadvantages on the water, since Aaron caught his seven and eight-pounders from the shore and Mr. Clinic caught his PBs on a cold, windy day. The playing field is not level for us. Some of us have more experience. Some of us have boats. Some of us have motors. Some of us fish less-fished water. Some of us can pick and choose our fishing times because we're retired. Some of us can afford guides. Some of us have FFS. Some of us have Garmin. And so on. What are your three biggest advantages and what are your three biggest disadvantages and why?

 

My biggest advantages:

 

I have access to water without ramps, which means they're less fished, so the fish are less educated. 

 

I have canoes, which are quiet and don't need ramps to launch.

 

I get to fish three to four times a week.

 

My biggest disadvantages:

 

Canoes have high sides and are bullied by the wind, so I get blown off water or simply can't launch.

 

Canoes sit high on the water. They skate atop the water, so even a 2.5 bass can pull me into weeds.

 

I fish in the north, so for five months a year, I can't fish. 

 

 

[king fisher]

My advantage is I live in Mexico.

My disadvantage is I don't live in Maine.

[Tennessee Boy]

Great question.  I assume the goal is to catch more fish and you are you are asking what advantages and disadvantages we have in that regard.  For me that all comes down to time on the water.   So my greatest advantage is I’m retired and my greatest disadvantages are other obligations that keep me off the water.  In my opinion nothing else even comes close to time on the water when it comes to catching fish.   

 

As I get older I’m starting to realize that it’s not all about catching fish.   For me it’s more about understanding the game and solving the puzzle.  

[Pat Brown]

Disadvantages?

 

I think probably - my experience is a disadvantage sometimes.  We often do what has worked or what should work and neglect our child like sense of wonder and curiosity - often times the child like sense of wonder and curiosity lead to much bigger fish.

 

I think the size of the places I fish makes it tough sometimes.  Small is fun sometimes - but it makes the fishing tough as nails when the fishing pressure is high or the weather is odd etc.

 

I like to fish with my wife and son.  I realize that this means some times I probably don't catch the big one or a lot.  I would rather be out there with people I love and maybe get lucky than be all alone with the odds in my favor.

 

Advantages?

 

I think I understand the nuance of presenting baits in bass fishing better at this point than a lot of folks.  There are so many little ways that we can make fish bite with a little creativity and practice - we tend to get locked into the extremes - mechanical is how a lot of anglers I see fish their lures.  I am good at not being mechanical.  I impart a lot of subtle nuanced variation to my baits that surely account for a lot of the bigger bites that I get every year.  Less is more - but intentionally varying the intensity/distance/frequency/direction of my bait throughout the retrieve seems to be important. And CASTING ACCURATELY (and quietly when necessary)!!!!

 

Focus - I pick my weapons - and then I learn them inside and out, backwards, forwards and sideways.  I throw baits in places and times most people would laugh at because I know they can work and I want to figure out how for each one.  You can gain HUGE advantages by fishing baits that nobody thinks to fish at times nobody thinks to fish them and they almost always work fine if you understand the where, when and why of the bait for each situation.  I catch tons of big fish every year fishing the 'wrong' baits at the 'wrong' times knowing full well they're the right bait and the time is perfect.  Don't follow rules in bass fishing.  Follow your instinct and learn from experimenting with your fish and your baits of choice.

 

Understanding the scientific side of forage/seasonal migration/bass behavior etc.  Learning about bass, water, bugs, birds, baitfish, lowland reservoirs, highland reservoirs, spawn cycles, crayfish behavior, solunar cycles and how they move bait.  Studying pond management, flood control, dam schedules, online topographical maps etc etc.  This is the kind of stuff that every angler should spend the majority of their time doing when they aren't on the water learning their baits and their local bass population behaviors.  Much more productive than watching bait reviews 😅

 

[Swamp Girl]

12 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I throw baits in places and times most people would laugh at because I know they can work and I want to figure out how for each one. 

 

I have seen some YouTube anglers hook bass in places that astonished me. I follow their lead and yours and also cast into skinny water that's more weed and wood than water.

 

12 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Understanding the scientific side of forage/seasonal migration/bass behavior etc.

 

I've been rereading my trip reports to study where and when I caught bass in 2024 to replicate that in 2025. What is most useful in my trip reports are the occasional photos I took of the places I caught fish. Those photos are pinned with the dates I caught them. So, I know where and when to go. 

 

Pat, you such an analytical angler. I wish I were more like you. I'm a more intuitive angler. I have great intuition, but I can't share why I cast where I do.

 

23 minutes ago, king fisher said:

My advantage is I live in Mexico.

My disadvantage is I don't live in Maine.

 

Ha! Of course, I could say that my advantage is that I live in Maine and my disadvantage is that I don't live in Mexico, which is pretty much what I wrote in my opening post.

[gim]

Advatanges: I still have my health, most of my youth/athleticism, and I live in the land of 10,000 lakes.  I have a boat that I own and maintain myself which is a reliable fishing outfit.

 

Disadvantages: I have a family, dog, house, and a full time job that all inhibit me from fishing more often and exactly when I would like to.  All of those have to come first.  Luckily, my job is somewhat flexible and my wife is very tolerant of my passions in life so there is a balance to it.

 

Don't think anyone here can indicate that they only have advantages.  Weather and life cannot be completely controlled.

 

 

[Susky River Rat]

Advantages? I have fun! I have a jet that opens up a lot of the susky to me. The susky is probably one of the best small mouth locations in the world. I think it gets wrote off by articles because of the specialized equipment recommended for it. I’m never scared to get snagged. 
 

disadvantages? I have a jet. Anyone who has a jet knows those disadvantages. Also, without traveling 2 or more hours I am very limited to where I can fish. My boat is too big and heavy to load in electric only lakes. My fishing is dictated heavily on water flow. The fish in the river are always moving. Sometimes it’s a chasing game that takes hours to figure out where they are at.

[A-Jay]

If we're referring to Advantages as conditions or factors that enhance my ability to achieve success, which in my case means staying safe, having fun and catching a few big brown bass while doing it, then this is what I've got.

Desire, commitment & determination. 

Experience has shown me that it takes what it takes.

The only question is am I willing to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes.

That can and does come in many different forms. 

It's always a test/battle of wills between me, the elements, father time & the bass themselves. 

Over the years we take turns winning & losing.  

 

 If disadvantages in fishing refers to the unfavorable conditions or obstacles that reduce the chances of my success, deals that impose challenges and require extra effort to overcome.

Or might be complete out of my control.

There's plenty of those.

Don't feel the need to make a 'list'.

Instead I just say IME, Life is the Ultimate challenge.

Whether I'm fishing or not.

When such a small percentage of my time is spent 'actually fishing',

seems not doing whatever I can to prepare & to set myself up for success before I get on the water, would be a distinct disadvantage for me and a big advantage for the bass. 

Stay Safe.

A-Jay

[CastingClinic]

There’s only one advantage and disadvantage I can think of.

 

Advantage: Most of the time I don’t really know what I’m doing.  I’ve only been seriously bass fishing off my canoe for the past three years and so I am still very much learning the ropes.  I find myself throwing baits I have little experience throwing, into places I shouldn’t throw them, on days I shouldn’t have even tied them on and I’ve caught nice fish and learned a ton doing it.  I read and watch all the orthodox tactics and techniques but prefer to experience it myself and will purposefully do the “wrong thing” over and over just to see what it feels like.  Sometimes the “wrong thing” isn’t wrong at all.

 

Disadvantage:  Most of the time I don’t really know what I’m doing.  Things can get brutally frustrating and some days I’ll find myself tying on new baits every few minutes or wasting tons of time moving from spot to spot, back and forth, with no idea what the plan is.  Most of the fish I catch feel like luck of the draw because the odds that I had tied on a different bait and thrown it somewhere else are so high.  My last trip was the best day of fishing in my life but the truth is I caught every bass on a blade bait and I had never caught on that bait before.  In fact, I had never caught a fish on a lipless crank of any kind and only brought the blade bait because it’s a “cold water bait” or so I’ve read.  I know next year I’ll find myself once again hopelessly frustrated by the blade bait because a few hours fishing on one cold December day may have been a ton of fun but I learned only a tiny bit.  I didn’t head out and hunt those bass down I just kind of stumbled upon them with a bait I know little about.

[Mike L]

Advantage…

I live in Florida where I can fish all year in the Bass Capitol of the World. 
 

Disadvantage…

Sometimes taking as my signature too literally “Improvise Overcome and Adapt”

At times that adage has me doubting myself too many times that I’m not in the right spot at the right time doing the right thing. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[SC53]

Advantages

Like @Mike L I live in Florida and can fish year round.

I’m also semi retired and self employed so I can pretty much choose when I fish, which is 99% of the time during the week.

 

Disadvantages

Age. @A-Jay and @Swamp Girl and others can attest to it as they are close to me. Being in my early 70’s I just don’t have the stamina I used to. Desire yes, stamina not so much. 
Living here in Florida my entire life, I think I tend to fish history a lot which as you know can be a detriment.

Also being on a fixed income affects my decisions as to where to fish. 

[Swamp Girl]

47 minutes ago, CastingClinic said:

 I didn’t head out and hunt those bass down I just kind of stumbled upon them with a bait I know little about.

 

Like you, I fish from a canoe and have only focused on lmb for three years. When I started posting at Bass Resource, I did not know the majority of the lures and techniques. I still Google a lot to decode some posts. Like you, I stumble upon bass because I don't have @Pat Brown's analytical mind and I don't have FFS to find fish and I don't have @AlabamaSpothunter's wealth of knowledge. The difference between us is that I would frame your catching those big bass as hunting them down. So what if you were casting a blade bait for the first time? That's one more time than me. And so what if you happened upon them? I happen upon the majority of my bass. I just keep moving and trying lures until I find a lure a bass wants to hit.

 

My only expertise is canoeing. A canoe is a stealthy platform and I just ordered more adhesive-backed rubber strips to attach to the gunnels to quiet my canoe even more. Play to your boat's strengths and sneak up on 'em. I remember a couple guys pulled near my canoe this past fall in an aluminum canoe. They were making all kind of noise and it was the worst kind of noise, like striking their canoe with a paddle when they set it down clumsily, which makes a canoe vibrate like a bell. I caught a three-pounder, a 3.5-pounder, and a four-pounder while the noise-makers caught nothing.

 

So, keep moving. Keep switching lures. Keep casting. And keep quiet.

 

 

12 minutes ago, SC53 said:

Disadvantages

Age. @A-Jay and @Swamp Girl and others can attest to it as they are close to me.

 

Age is huge. I should have mentioned it. I wish I could still fish all day. On one of my last 2024 trips, the one where I caught about ten bass that were four or more-pounders, I had launched in a cool fog, paddled miles, landed scores of bass, and returned to my takeout right beside a dam. The shoreline was slick and sloped and the dam was sucking water through it, so I could not tip. I ever so carefully moved from my canoe to the shore and tried to stand, but I immediately failed and collapsed onto the mud.

 

That was my age and I feel it everyday. Here's one of the bass from that morning and whenever I see it, I remember driving home with a muddy bum and I smile, for age humbles us all eventually:

 

[Reel]

Advantages: I have time ( retired from work)

                     I have a boat

                     I have experience

 

Disadvantages: I don't have enough time.  I live north and rivers and lakes are frozen 5 months of the year ( December to April).  Also, there are closed seasons. Bass fishing starts in the middle of June so no prespawn or spawn time where the BIG fish are more accessable.  

 

I'm not young anymore

I like to fish for other species

 

[JHoss]

I guess I'll look at this through the lens of my local tournament fishing, since that is what's most important to me when it comes to bass fishing.

 

Advantages:

Age/Athleticism- At 33, I'm still younger and in better shape than most of the field I fish against. 

Boat- I have one of the faster and better equipped boats.

Mental toughness- I can grind out tough days better than most folks without getting spun out. I also can stay locked in and fishing for the entirety of a tournament day when a lot of others are taking periodic breaks. 

 

 

Disadvantages:

Time- Full time job, wife and 4 year old means I'm usually lucky to get out once or twice a week. 

Experience- While I've been fishing my whole life, I've only been bass fishing for about 4 years. Hard to keep up with guys who have been doing it their whole lives and on the same lakes we fish regularly.

Location- Living in SE VA, we don't have as many large bass lakes within a reasonable driving range as others, which has made the learning curve a bit steeper.  

[Catt]

3 Advantages 

Able to fish year round

Sam Rayburn

Toledo Bend

3 Disadvantages

3 ruptured disc

 

[Mobasser]

My advantages: been fishing forty years so have good experience.                                      Have a good general understanding of bass behavior, and seasonal patterns.                                           I'm open minded, and still learning. I feel like I can always learn.                                   I LOVE FISHING!                      Disadvantages: I'm old, beat up from years as a carpenter, and tire out faster than I did years ago.

[Alex from GA]

The advantages are  1 retired and can fish when I want  2 live where I have a boat in the water  3 go to FL during the winter 

Disadvantages are 1 age and stamina  2 can't take cold weather

[LrgmouthShad]

Yeah we all got our own situation in this hobby. I think we spend too much time worrying about how our situation compares to someone else’s 

[Catt]

13 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Yeah we all got our own situation in this hobby. I think we spend too much time worrying about how our situation compares to someone else’s 

"If you worry about what might be...and wonder what might have been...you will ignore what is."

[AlabamaSpothunter]

@Swamp Girl  Katie, don't sell yourself short......you're without question one of the most knowledgeable Bass anglers in Maine!    I have no doubt that you'd crush anybody on this site in a fishing derby in your state.      You're a true expert on the techniques, patterns, and waters you fish!     Nobody catches TWO THOUSAND BASS in a year without being an expert 😎

 

To answer your question.......

 

Advantages:  1. Patience   2. Stubbornness  3.  Ability to spend time on water

 

Disadvantages:  1.  Stubbornness   2. Battling a negative mindset  3. thrifty about losing baits (there's a correlation b/t willingness to lose your bait, and catching big fish imho)

[Jigfishn10]

Advantage 

I think too much 

I’m persistent 

I read too much

 

 

Disadvantage 

I think too much

I’m persistent 

Fish aren’t reading the same material 

 

 

Not trying to be a wise guy but all are true .

 

I do work and can’t get out often and I do a lot for my parents who are experiencing health issues. Those can’t be a disadvantage tho. That’s just part of life.

[Skunkmaster-k]

One of these days I’m going to get me an advantage or two. That’s going to be nice. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You're a true expert on the techniques, patterns, and waters you fish!

 

Thanks, Alex.

 

I imagine myself fishing OH Ivie and just bobbing out in the middle, as stinky as a skunk, and yelling, "There aren't any bass here!"

 

I do think I'd fare well on the Susky. I've watched YouTube videos of guys fishing it and it's familiar enough that I might guess right about where to cast. 

[crypt]

advantage....I live in Fl.   fish all year round......disadvantage.....I live in Fl.....wish I could fish every day.......

[T-Billy]

9 hours ago, A-Jay said:

If we're referring to Advantages as conditions or factors that enhance my ability to achieve success, which in my case means staying safe, having fun and catching a few big brown bass while doing it, then this is what I've got.

Desire, commitment & determination. 

Experience has shown me that it takes what it takes.

The only question is am I willing to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes.

That can and does come in many different forms. 

It's always a test/battle of wills between me, the elements, father time & the bass themselves. 

Over the years we take turns winning & losing.  

 

 If disadvantages in fishing refers to the unfavorable conditions or obstacles that reduce the chances of my success, deals that impose challenges and require extra effort to overcome.

Or might be complete out of my control.

There's plenty of those.

Don't feel the need to make a 'list'.

Instead I just say IME, Life is the Ultimate challenge.

Whether I'm fishing or not.

When such a small percentage of my time is spent 'actually fishing',

seems not doing whatever I can to prepare & to set myself up for success before I get on the water, would be a distinct disadvantage for me and a big advantage for the bass. 

Stay Safe.

A-Jay

Well said Andy. I'm 100% in agreement.