How to fish? The fun way

Don’t push those techniques you don’t enjoy

When I was a youngster growing up in Raleigh, surrounded by arguably the best lakes in the country — Falls, Jordan, and Harris — I was influenced by all kinds of professional fishermen. I wanted to flip like Denny Brauer, crank like David Fritts, and be able to read water like Rick Clunn. The one thing I never wanted to do is scream like Ike … but that’s another story. Maybe I could attach, “Bless your heart” which in North Carolina you can attach to any insult and make it all better.

What I realized, after thousands of dollars spent on Poe’s crankbaits, was I could never fish offshore as well as Fritts. After buying a Daiwa Lt Flipping, the best flipping stick on the planet — I still use it today — I could never flip as well as Brauer.

The offshore game is challenging and exciting when you find fish. You can catch literally 50 or 60 fish of a spot or pull up and catch 30 pounds of bass on five casts. Some guys are so good at fishing deep with their electronics that they are literally like drones, picking off any fish they want.

If you are interested in fishing tournaments, you need to learn to fish offshore for certain times of the year, or you just can’t compete. If you just fish for fun — great news — fish the way you like and enjoy yourself.

I recently made a fun trip with a buddy to a small lake in South Carolina. It was post-spawn: some fish still guarding fry, other suspended around wood, still more on deep structure. I had a great time skipping frogs and swimming jigs around shallow cover. It was a fantastic morning on a 90-acre lake, catching 22 bass , many heavier than three pounds. I felt like a little kid, literally giggling about every bite.

We went in for lunch, came back out, and my buddy wanted to fish offshore. We caught more fish in a shorter amount of time, but it was not as fun to me as the visuals you get from those shallow bass busting topwater or boiling on a jig swimming near the surface. So I just sat in the back of the boat pouting — poor me. I was literally just dragging a jig behind the boat and getting bites thinking of all the fun casts and bites up on the bank.

To my buddy, fishing off shore was great fun; I could no longer front end him! He enjoys visualizing the structure and making a long cast, feeling that bite and setting the hook.

My point is that most bass fishermen are not top-level tournament pros. Don’t force fishing or you will not have fun, waste money and not go as often. If you seek out fishing that is enjoyable to you and have fun, that’s all you can ask.

It’s great to learn and try all the different types of fishing to figure out what you like and what you don’t. For some, the variety and constant change is what makes fishing so exciting, for others it is all about the bite. So don’t waste your time fishing in ways that are not fun to you — enjoy your time on the water.