Fishing types

The big bucks in freshwater fishing is the bass. Loads of fun to catch when they are bighting. If it weren't for the bass craze. the fishing tackle industry would be loads scarcer and my bank account would be loads bigger.

However, I wonder about folks who go fishing. Today, another fisherman was near me whe I hooked a pickerel (~2 lbs). The fish hit the worm and I was early on the hook set and pulled it away from him. It made him mad and he hit the worm again about 3 feet later. This time, he bit deep enough that the line was broken. I "talked to the fish" during the double-strike. The guy near me said that having the line bitten off was "better than having to remove the hook." It's probably why I'm not a great fisherman. I go fishing to catch fish. I do all the chunking things for bass but am happy to catch bowfin and pickerel if that's what hits the lure. I also enjoy pulling out the ultralight when I see bream poping the surface.

I really wonder about those folks who go fishing and get upset when they don't catch bass and catch something else. Of course, I don't have the latest Ranger or Triton boat and a bigger fortune in equipment, all for catching bass.

For me and a few others, the fun is catching fish. I do enter the big bass pot every time I go. Who knows, I might catch it. But if, like today, the bass were hiding from me and the bowfin and pickerel weren't, I can still have fun. I wonder about the bass fanatics.