In praise of shore fishing

[Bloomingtownie]

While it's great to get out in a boat and have the whole lake available with all the best approaches, I've been enjoying shore fishing lately.

There is a little, mostly neglected lake about five minutes north of Bloomington. If I get the kids into bed by 8 or 8:30, I can run up there and have almost two hours of fishing.

So I've been going up a couple nights a week as the light is fading out, listening to the geese and herons, feeling the breeze.  There's usually a couple guys near the road, but I can walk for three minutes and feel like I'm a world away.

No messing with a boat, no busy ramps, no smelly engine.  Just peace and quiet. I step out of the car, grab my rod and tackle box and I'M READY TO GO.  I usually already have a Spook or Pop-R already tied on, so I can just park alongside the lake, step out and I'm fishing.

I think the pleasures of shore fishing are somewhat neglected, eh?

[Hookemdown.]

Shore fishing is without hassel, but  you can't do everything  you do from a boat on a bank and you can do everything from a boat better than you can do from bank

[roadwarrior]

I just got back from a pond I fish regularly. The fishing has been exceptional this year, in both size and numbers. It's close and convenient. There are many attributes to fishing from shore. However, I would never fish this way if I had the option of fishing from a boat on this or any other water. Besides the bugs and the snakes, the narrow selection of usable lures is what I dislike the most. Not counting single hooks, I have lost five lures over the past few years and they were all at this particular pond. Maybe that's no big deal, but it's just irritating. I find myself restricted to soft plastics, topwater and shallow running crannkbaits. There are other lures I enjoy fishing, but really can't from shore.

I'm glad you enjoy your pond and I like mine, but I certainly prefer being on the water.

[Tom Bass]

I fish from shore and boat and they both have their advantages and disadvantages. For pure enjoyment I do prefer shore fishing but the lakeshores near me are getting so developed you need a boat to get better fishing access.

[Guest avid]

I think bloomingtownie makes an excellent point.  there are alot of times when conditions are perfect for fishing but we only have an hour or two to devote.  Bank fishing from a local pond is a hassle free way to quickly get a line in the water and enjoy being outdoors as well as challenging the bass.

I think with all the hype coming out of the pro circuits we forget that bank fishing with a cane pole and a minnow can catch the biggest bass in the lake.

[Fish Chris]

although I always bring my boat, I often only use it to get me to different spots around the lake, where I will then beach it, and fish from the shore.

The couple main reasons for this are: A) Big bass chase bait from the deep water, up towards the shore, to "squeeze them out of space".... not the other way around, and It's much easier to sneak up on a bass from shore, than by water. Even if a big bass doesn't instantly swim away when it sees you, just seeing you often puts up a red flag, and causes a clamped shut mouth.

I think I have caught about 20 of my 71 DD bass from the shore.... although I always had my boat nearby :-)

Peace,

Fish

[Marty]

I have always done a huge amount of shore fishing. It has its joys and its maddening frustrations. But almost every big fish I have caught over the last 15 years has been from shore. Maybe that means I stink at boat fishing, maybe there are other reasons, who knows.

[Whopper-Stopper]

Bloomingtownie: My favorite thing to do is what you just described. I love to fish lakes that are small enough to fish from the bank. These small ponds often have very little to no fishing pressure and Topwater is the best selection on most of these. I know of a few in my area that are almost small enough to cast across. An hour's fishing can produce 15-20 decent bass on topwater.

Fish Cris: Not to get off topic but how big is the bass in your picture.

[senile1]

Small, unpressured ponds can be great fisheries, and, as Avid stated, for those who don't have much time, shoreline fishing fills a need.

[Fish Chris]

at 15.8 lbs, she was my third largest bass. She was only 25 1/2 inches long, but she had a girth of 24 3/4's. What a fatty, huh ? :-) She did photograph well.

Oh BTW, I caught her on a Castaic Baby Shad, fished with a 1/4 ounce barrel sinker on the line in front of its nose. She was hanging in one small spot (as if she was on a bed) and I was working my lure like I was bedfishing, right in that one spot...... But keep in mind, it was darn near September (August the 27th, 02' to be exact). You might look at her belly and believe she was full of eggs, but I think she was just a very well fed trout-eater.

Peace,

Fish

[Whopper-Stopper]

That is huge.   :o

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Shore,..I'd love to go fishing,....just lemme grab my boat! lol

[Pond Hopper]

I do the majority of my fishing from shore and like it, but I had a little boat this weekend and its nice not to have to walk or worry about mud or anything but not sinking the boat, which isnt all to unfamiliar to me either.

COrey

[KU_Bassmaster.]

I'll take fishing any way I can get it, but ......... there is one thing on the shore that I don't like ...... SNAKES!!!!! As soon as I see the first snake of the year, my bank fishing for the year is over.

One thing I like to do during the spawn though is ... locate some bass on a bed in the boat. Place a marker bouy about 3 ft away from the bed, then beach the boat and fish at the bed from shore. Kind of cheating I guess. : ;D

[Marty]

I'll take fishing any way I can get it, but ......... there is one thing on the shore that I don't like ...... SNAKES!!!!!  As soon as I see the first snake of the year, my bank fishing for the year is over.

Haven't you read these horror stories about water mocassins dropping out of trees into boats? Watch those overhanging branches!!!  

[KU_Bassmaster.]

I'll take fishing any way I can get it, but ......... there is one thing on the shore that I don't like ...... SNAKES!!!!! As soon as I see the first snake of the year, my bank fishing for the year is over.

Haven't you read these horror stories about water mocassins dropping out of trees into boats? Watch those overhanging branches!!!

I guess I just better stay home ;D ;D ;D

[Whopper-Stopper]

Water mocassins don't get in trees but chicken snakes do, and sometimes they do fall.

[Hale]

Water mocassins don't get in trees but chicken snakes do, and sometimes they do fall.

Maybe this is some joke going over my head, but ask any man with a boat from the south and he will tell you a story about someone swimming after a cottonmouth found its way in the boat from a tree or other type of overhang.  

[anglerintraining]

Hello all--

As to boat vs. shore fishing, I love both, but alas, no boat.  We do rent one once or twice a summer.  Here's my question: How do you locate these not-over-fished ponds if you're not lucky enough to know someone w/one on their property?  

Here's one thing that REALLY bothers me about shore fishing:  Putting up w/all the trash left by inconsiderate fishermen!  I will never understand how someone can love to fish & just trash the pond/lake/river.  We often take a trash bag & pick up, but talk about a "enjoy the outdoors" spoiler when you're faced w/all those beer bottles, worm tubs, stench, flies...  Ok...pardon the rant...

[tuxdaddy]

I love kicking back on shore, its my favorite way to fish, but I won't turn down an invite to fish in a boat...

[Bankbeater]

Hello all--

As to boat vs. shore fishing, I love both, but alas, no boat. We do rent one once or twice a summer. Here's my question: How do you locate these not-over-fished ponds if you're not lucky enough to know someone w/one on their property?

Here's one thing that REALLY bothers me about shore fishing: Putting up w/all the trash left by inconsiderate fishermen! I will never understand how someone can love to fish & just trash the pond/lake/river. We often take a trash bag & pick up, but talk about a "enjoy the outdoors" spoiler when you're faced w/all those beer bottles, worm tubs, stench, flies... Ok...pardon the rant...

Check with your State Conservation Dept.  The little lake by my house is patrolled by the City Parks Dept.  but it is maintained by the state.