Ever wonder if fishing is not your thing?

[helms83]

I love fishing, and I will not quit. But man, have I had some rough days!

I have been skunked so many times this year, can't even begin to count them. The biggest bass I have ever caught is a pound. I'm not wanting an 8+lb fish or even a 4lber. I would be thrilled with a 2-3lb bass! I would flip my lid. I have maybe caught 20 bass in my lifetime; and I'm 27!

I can cast into safe areas, and get snagged in the craziest ways! There is a standing dam thing near the shore of my small lake. Well I was attempting to cast parallel to it and somehow I cast my spinnerbait in between a 1" gab on the dam and lose my lure. Not once, but twice! Or I'll cast in a safe location and my line will get snagged on the one little twig that should easily break off, but doesn't, and I lose my lure.

A few weeks ago, I had a wet leaf on my hook, pull it off, and my pole snaps in two! My rod was only a few months old and had no prior damage to it, and wasn't weakened due to fish being caught. It just snapped!

The other day I lost $70 worth of lures; and maybe 1/4 of the lures lost were my fault. I had a spook get hit in between some spread-out timber, set the hook, the fish jumps straight into the timber, hook gets stuck and fish gets off! Lost my other spook when I cast by one piece of standing timber and a gust of wind swirls the water and somehow, my spook gets wrapped around. Lost several crankbaits, a spinnerbait, hooks and soft plastics, just feet from the shore and all in different areas. The thing that sucked the most is I could still see 2/3 of the lures I lost. It really was simply bad luck!

Then last night, I'm casting under a tree on shore, and just as I'm snapping forward, a tree limb falls on my line and I get the backlash from hell! I ended up having to cut the line out, it was terrible.

This kind of luck always finds me when I'm fishing, it's nuts! My girlfriend goes fishing with me most of the time and will atest to my luck. she can't believe the things that happen to me when I'm fishing.

But I'm not going to quit or give up, and I apologize for the long rant, but I had to get this off my chest and see if anyone else has this kind of luck.

[Shane J]

Sounds like you ticked off a voo doo witch doctor. Just stick with it, and you'll get more enjoyment than frustration from it, but we all have our days. You just seem to have lots of those days. On a brighter note, that bass you're looking for is not far away, and could happen on your next cast.

[Red]

You will get it man.  Just this morning I was about to call it quits, the crank bite I was on died completely, couldn't get a bite on anything.  Figured I would try one more thing before I left.  I tied on an X-Rap, first cast I nabbed a 2.5lber!  I was happy, packed my stuff and went to the ramp.

[Grey Wolf]

You've got to crawl before you can walk , hang in there.

[FL_Sharpshooter]

It's all just a test of character, hang in there and your day will come.

[grimlin]

In the summer when those dog days start ticking me off I just grab my light spinning rig and go after bluegills.Grab yourself some live crawlers or wax worms and tie one on under a bobber and enjoy the scenery.

Fishing should never be about catching,it should always be about enjoying yourself outside and getting some fresh air for a chance.Fishing is my stress reliever....It's a hobby i truly grew up and enjoyed my entire life.

There was a T-shirt I once had "A Bad day fishing beats a good day at work". I still find that true.

[OHIO]

In the summer when those dog days start ticking me off I just grab my light spinning rig and go after bluegills.Grab yourself some live crawlers or wax worms and tie one on under a bobber and enjoy the scenery.

Fishing should never be about catching,it should always be about enjoying yourself outside and getting some fresh air for a chance.Fishing is my stress reliever....It's a hobby i truly grew up and enjoyed my entire life.

There was a T-shirt I once had "A Bad day fishing beats a good day at work". I still find that true.

X2. When I can't catch a bass, I go for some bluegill

[kllrbee]

In the summer when those dog days start ticking me off I just grab my light spinning rig and go after bluegills.Grab yourself some live crawlers or wax worms and tie one on under a bobber and enjoy the scenery.

Fishing should never be about catching,it should always be about enjoying yourself outside and getting some fresh air for a chance.Fishing is my stress reliever....It's a hobby i truly grew up and enjoyed my entire life.

There was a T-shirt I once had "A Bad day fishing beats a good day at work". I still find that true.

X2. When I can't catch a bass, I go for some bluegill

X3.  Alot of truth in that T-shirt.  Sometimes Ill go out and get skunked, get snagged, maybe lose a lure or two, end up frustrated, and just have a bad day overall.  Then as Im heading back to the shore, Ill think "That was still more fun than almost anything else Id be doing."  Plus I always try to take something away from every time out.  Even if you didnt catch any fish, you still learned something, practiced your casting, tried different lure presentations, etc.  Its definitely not time wasted. 

Also, I fish out of a kayak and it makes things more fun in my opinion.  Im not just fishing, Im also kayaking.  If I get bored, frustrated, or whatever, Ill just paddle around, explore, and get some exercise.  If Im on a nice long flowing river, sometimes I end up not fishing at all.  Ill just paddle the river.   ;D

Keep your head up, dont quit. If it was easy, it wouldnt be fun.  Ever play the card game "solataire"?  Ever notice how its kinda fun when your playing, then when you finally win, it sucks and its not fun anymore? 

I guess my point is the challenge is what makes it fun.   

Good luck.

[Big Fish Rice]

Through thick and thin, you stick with it. That's what fishing is all about. You more than most, will certainly appreciate that next bass, especially if it ends up being your personal best.

Keep at it, and don't worry about losing lures, I go through 4-5 jigs a trip. These dividends of losing your gear will pay off sooner or later.

[bilgerat]

It's called "fishing ", not "catching"

I wish I had half the stuff back I've lost in 30 years.

It seems like this has got into your head. Step back, take a breath and shake it off. Follow that advice about catching gills.

I just got home from the lake. One 6" perch in 6 hours of fishing. Nobody else I talked with at the ramp did much better. We'll all be back next week for sure.

[RAMBLER]

If the fish was all it was about, you can go to the store and buy fish an awful lot cheaper than it costs to catch them.  I went out the other day, on a lake I'd never fished on, and caught about a dozen dinks (little dinks) and that's all.  I had a GREAT time exploring that lake and watching the birds and listening to the sand hill cranes warbling.  Losing lures is just part of it.  That's part of the reason I don't buy those $30  and higher priced lures.  I like plastic.  A bag of them costs less than a good crankbait and catches fish.

[SharkHat]

I've had times like that.  If you're finding that losing a lot of expensive hard baits is taking some of the enjoyment out of your fishing trips, switch things up and fish nothing but plastics for a while.  You can still cover a few different techniques throughout the water column, and you can rig weedless to cut down on snags.  If you do have to cut it loose, you're only leaving a buck and a half in the lake or hanging in a tree.

[Gatorbassman]

It's all about the next cast.

The excited anticipation of what might be.

The pride in the accuracy of it.

The desire to use all the skill you can muster to make it better than the last one.

If you ever loose the desire to make the next cast then that's when you should hang it up. Until then keep striving to get better.

[NateFollmer]

It's been a bad season this year for me too. I haven't really lost stuff like you have, but the bites been weak. I usually have twice the fish I do now. I've be en experimenting a lot this year so that may be some of the problem, but the weather has been crazy this year.

I am predicting a decent fall and early winter bite though so hopefully I can turn my luck around and nail some decent numbers!

[ChrisAW]

I've had the same thoughts at times, yes.

Last year I didn't get to go out a lot, and even when I did get to, I only caught maybe 20 bass all year, none even close to 2 pounds. I started taking my ultralite and just started hooking loads of bluegill instead.

But believe me, keep at it and it'll be a worthwhile feeling when you finally haul in a pig. I skunked 4 times in a row the beginning of this season, and the 5 time I got to go out I pulled in a 3.5lber. I was absolutely shocked by it and I was so excited, I probably looked like a fat Mike Iaconelli. Then my year started to pick up, I ended up catch more than my fair share of fish above 2#'s, which I hear a lot of guys having trouble doing on the lake I was fishing.

Just keep at it and you'll find them.

[BASSclary]

When the going gets tough, do what I do. Wade onto little blue gills's beds and try to catch them with just a 2' piece of line and a little grub. No rod or reel. They attack it like crazy but it takes some fun time to get em. But this only really applies to shore fishing in semi-clear water, and only if you have a good sense of humor and get kicks out of little things

[fishfordollars]

Nope

[7mm-08]

I've never considered giving up fishing, but it is one of, if not the only thing I've put sooooo much time into and not obtained a satisfactory degree of proficiency at.  I guess the challenge is what brings me back time after time.

This year in particular has probably been my worst year ever from a fishing standpoint.  Haven't had near as much time to fish as I'd like, and when I have gotten to go the bite has been terrible.  Last year by contrast was my best year ever.  Things have a tendency to balance out so just think of the season you may have in store next year. 

[FD.]

yep, but then I make another cast.  You just have streaks where things don't always go your way.

Two weeks ago I was on the St Johns river, hit a wake wrong, rod saver pops open and out bounces a Fenwick with a new Revo Sx on it.  Good bye 300 dollars. 

[slonezp]

[Daddyodo]

Boy oh Boy do I know the feeling. I started fishing in June and it has been frustrating to say the least. I lost 6 or 7 lures in that time and 5 were because I did not tie them on properly. Now that will tick you off. To top that off, to date I have caught exactly 4 fish, all dinky dinks. I do all of my fishing from shore and I feel that I miss out on a lot of fish because of it. BUT, I LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT!! CAN'T IMAGINE NOT SPENDING MY FREE TIME FISHING. I agree, it is time to hang it up when you no longer want or expect to catch anything on that last cast. I get the feeling from many of the guy's on here that it has been a rough year all around. Hang in there it will come, hows that saying go, oh yeah, "GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE THAT WAIT" If that's true and I beleive it is you and I are destined to catch MOBY DICK in the very near future.

[skey44]

I never wanted to give up, but I have definitely had the type of day you describe. Now though with the changing weather and experience of a whole summer, things have finally started to click for me. Just give it some time and keep on searching, learning, and fishing. It has worked for me and I very much look forward to getting better and better!

Stay positive, don't give up.

[KansasBassin]

My advice is to hang up the expensive hard baits and concentrate on plastics.  Grubs, worms, senkos, craws, Texas rigged, weightless, pegged, and unpegged.  The possibilities are almost endless.  You will lose a lot less lures, and the bass are always biting plastics.  Remember to go slow!

[WVcrank]

Being on the lake and away from work or whatever is what its about.  Catching fish is a bonus! Learn from your mistakes, And remember losing lures gives you a good reason to visit the tackle store and buy more.

[senile1]

I get a laugh out of your post, though I know some of the pain you feel.    I remember a few times like those you describe.  When I first started using baitcasters I remember making a few nice casts and thinking that I had it.  Then out of the blue would come the inevitable bird nest from hell, and I would end up cutting my line off the reel.  I also remember casts that would end up in the worst possible spots.  I couldn't have made those casts if I had tried to hit those spots, but for some reason, fate seems to wreak havoc when you are first learning something.  It will pass.  Further down the road of fishing, these things will just be humorous memories.