Fish Like a GIRL

This column was inspired by a recent discussion at the Lakeland Times office. Brian Jopek and I were just shooting the bull over how expensive everything is these days. We were the “old salts” in the discussion, which included staffers Trevor Greene, Brett LaBore and Mikey Rottier.

It started with vehicles but, as with most conversations of which I am a part, it quickly turned to fishing. I always say that fishing is one of those hobbies that can be as expensive as a person would like to make it.

Obviously, a person can have a lifetime of fun with a cheap spinning rod and reel combo and a few bobbers and hooks, digging up their own worms or stopping off at the tackle shop for some live bait. 

But, of course, that moves into maybe a different rod and reel set up. Next comes a simple Mepps spinner or two. Now the door is open. There is a reason anglers call bluegill the “gateway drug” of fishing. What started out as a simple first attempt at an outdoor pursuit can quickly turn into an expensive boat and an obsession with chasing little green and brown fish (largemouth and smallmouth). Or an angler might prefer fish with teeth and choose musky or walleye fishing. I can speak only from a bass fishing perspective, and a bit of musky experience too, now that we have added a musky line to the bait shop.

Back to the office conversation. When it turned to fishing, I mentioned that we priced a new bass boat the last time we had the boat out for repair. With plans only to have the boat worked on, we decided to check out a new one, just for fun… well, half seriously, but mostly just for fun. Trading in our current boat, a 20-foot 2014, and using most of our electronics, the boat would still run over $90,000.

“But it’s a boat!” Jopek said, stopping his coffee cup halfway to his mouth, giving me the “knife-hand” for which he is well known.

“Well, the new trolling motor we just bought was over four grand,” was my answer.

“But it’s a trolling motor!” Jopek gasped, which of course had us both laughing. I explained this trolling motor was a 36-volt that is super quiet because it is brushless. It also has a built-in side imaging and had spot lock, among other things.

“Great!” Jopek replied. “Only a thousand dollars a feature!” Of course, we all laughed again.

But, other than the major purchases such as a boat, the amount of money a person spends on fishing kind of sneaks up on you. One year, back when I was still fairly new to tournament fishing, I kept all of the receipts that my late husband Rod and I accumulated over the course of a fishing season. It did not start out well, as we took a trip over Christmas to see his oldest son, his daughter-in-law and their son. Of course, on the way back we had to stop at a large sporting goods and outdoors store. It was my first time in this store, so we probably spent a bit too much. We wanted to do some fishing in the few days we were going to spend in Texas, but there was a small craft warning on the day we thought we’d get a guide and fish, so that did not work out for us. But we spent that money and more, of course.

In all fairness to the total for that year, I also bought a different outboard for my boat. I do not remember the year of the one it replaced but that was old enough to still have points, which Rod said he certainly did not want me to have to deal with on the water. The motor looked cool, because it was old, but I knew he was right. So that was part of the thousands of dollars we spent on fishing that year. Honestly, I was not incredibly shocked by the amount of money we spent, but I have not kept records that close since then, for sure!

Fluorocarbon line instead of monofilament has added to the expense in recent years, for sure. But, to stay competitive, an angler needs the benefits fluoro brings.

Tungsten rather than lead is another expense, but also needed if a person is going to compete well. I think “everyone” knows the issues with lead. There is a reason it is no longer in our paint or our gas, right? I know tungsten is several times more than lead, but for the average person, it should not even be a thought. If I said we have hundreds of dollars, just in tungsten, in our boat at any given time, I would not be wrong. But, again, if we want to compete, we need the superior feel of tungsten (not to mention it is environmentally friendly).

Electronics are crazy, and anglers who fish for fun can likely get away with far less than we have on our boat. Again, though, in order to compete, electronics are a necessity. Some say a necessary evil. I will leave that up to individual opinion.

I remember when side imaging first came out. It was, as they say, a game changer. People who did not have it wanted it banned from tournaments and wanted to say it was unfair. But, the ability to see 100 feet from the boat on either side showed us things we would have never seen before. Rod and I learned a lot about what we were fishing and why fish were holding in certain areas.

Now we have down imaging, side imaging, 360 imaging, MEGA imaging, spot lock on a brushless trolling motor, shallow water anchors and four graphs on the boat. Of course, all of that caused us to upgrade from AGM batteries to lithium. That was another big expense, but it does let us fish all day, or even two days, without worrying about battery problems. We also lost about 100 pounds out of the boat, which never hurts at take-off time.

As I said, it does sneak up on a person. I started out, I think, with three spinning set ups. Then I moved to bait casters. Soon I was using almost solely bait casters, except when Rod made me do some deeper drop shotting from time to time.

Within a couple of years of Rod’s passing, I sold off my “extra” rods and reels, after combining all of our gear, leaving me with about 26 bait casting setups and, honestly, only three spinning setups. 

That said, however, the bodies of water I tournament fish are getting tougher and tougher. The fish are getting smarter. For the most part, that means downsizing. That means finesse fishing, of which I am not a fan. That may mean more spinning reel set ups in my arsenal soon. That will likely be a bit of an expense for next year. Maybe it is time to keep track of fishing expenses again? 

Maybe next year.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].