LOL you are right there buddy! But what if the closest good lake is 90 miles one way like in my situation?
In repsonse to another thread on here I would like to say that my parents caught more fish than I could ever dream about. They had a 10 foot john boat with a small trolling motor, no electronics and no fancy rods or reels. Mostly Zebco 33's and always kept their freezer full of fish. I would be safe to say they enjoyed every minute on the water as much as anyone. I only wish I will live to fish as much as they did.
LOL you are right there buddy! But what if the closest good lake is 90 miles one way like in my situation?
I live in Louisville KY and there is a lake called Taylorsville Lake and it is about 45 miles from where I am at but I never catch anything there. I have seen and heard a couple of guys getting little luck only too at this lake.
You can spend what you want on it. I think everyone agree's the gas getting to and from is a big expense. If your happy just being out there, then there is no need to drop tons of money on your equipment. I spend enough time (almost all my free time) on the water, and therefore have no problem saving up and buying spendy rods, and reels, and graphs for what I like to do. It costs more now, then back in the day to anything. My dad talks about 10 cent. movie weekends all the time, but we all know those days are over. If your happy, and enjoying yourself, nothing else matters. Fish with a Walmart combo, or a Loomis rod, either way, as long as your out there.
My grandfather used to absolutely wear the fish out. He had a job where someone would cover for you to fish, then you cover for them. It wasn't about the fancy car you drove, or having the biggest house. Now I think its kinda keeping up with the next guy that makes it expensive. And the amount of equipment that is available now FAR exceeds what my dad or grandad ever fished with. I've had fun fishing with a cane pole, but its awesome to also go to a new lake, see the fish on the HB DI unit, and snatch em out spider rigging.
Just gotta pay to play, no matter what the game!
I learned to fish with my grandpa many years ago (back in the mid '60's). He had a 12 foot boat on a home made trailer that he pulled with a ford falcon. We would get night crawlers the night before going fishing and pick worms out of the piles of cow dung at a neighbor's farm and pick catalpa worms off the trees on the way to the lake. We used oars for the boat and fished with cane poles. No other equipment, except for a wire fish basket and maybe a tackle box with a bottle opener and some pliers and a knife. For lunch we ate egg sandwiches that grandma made for us and drank warm coca-colas. We caught a lot of gills and bass and it hardly cost anything. It was heaven on earth to an 8 year old boy.
Now I have a bass boat with electronics, fancy rods, all the artificial baits, GPS, etc. I still wish I could catch as many fish as me and grandpa did.
In response to the original other post...... if the nearest lake was 90 miles away, I might take up another hobby.
I grew up fishing out of wooden johnboats using sculling paddle for propulsion. We thought the 33's were the best equipment there was at the time. Mostly used long jig poles & slip bobber combinations. I've still got a few of them. Wouldn't take anything for them. Lots of memories in that old equipment. We were low budget as you could get.
That's the truth. To me, that's all that matters. Don't concern yourself about all these folks talking about their 12" thousand electronic dollar units and how they connect them, etc - just enjoy yourself, that's what is more important. Sometimes I'll buy a basket of crickets and jerk perch just for fun. My two cents.Fish with a Walmart combo, or a Loomis rod, either way, as long as your out there.
Randy Andres