fishing unselfishly.

[Hobious]

I try.  I really try.  I want to catch bass just as much as the average RABID bass fisherman.  I do however like it when a friend catches fish too.  this urge to get a friend on bass is proportionate to the amount of bass I catch.  I hate it when I am crushing it and my friend that day is sucking a dry hole. 

one day on the CA Delta, I was doing okay.  my friend had a big goose egg and it was showing on his face.  I came to an overhanging tree and it just looked "right".  current going by, undercut bank, tree giving it shade and the tide was perfect..  I was about to fire my bait in there when I paused.  I put my rod down and whistled for my bud.  I waved him over.  I pointed at the tree and said.."cast in there". he was pretty smart.  he casted around the perimeter of the tree and went he got to the hole I pointed out, a 5 lb bass grabbed it.  it was cool.

Fast forward to yesterday.  it was his turn.  he kayaked off and found fish.  we came upon him and he asked me how many I had.."ONE!"  I had one fridge bass.  he triumphantly announced he had "seven and mostly around 3lbs". hahahha..he was quietly crushing it and never "whistled for me".  how soon we forget. 

we all fish and live our lives differently.  I keep doing what I do, but I do get bummed when life goes the other way sometimes.  this kid is young.  (dont make me say, millennial :D). he wants me to show him my secret spots on the Delta.  I showed him one.  He wants intel on my secret lake.  nope. I have two secret lakes.  I am not bringing him to either.  I am holding those cards close.  I met this kid skunking on a lake.  I paddled up to him, showed him the drop shot and handed him some sinkers and worms.  we kept contact.  and he has become a dang good fisherman.  he fishes like a lone wolf for sure.

[coldfront]

back in the day when I thought about tournament fishing, had a club event.  out on a small lake, very windy...  fishing was tough, but I found them holding on trees out in mainlake off channel breaks.  the non-boater didn't have any of the right lures...  so after I was 'out front' of him by a couple... we pulled over, sat down and I shared my baits and talked about what I was doing... what I would continue doing.
I filled my limit (card:  measure and release format) and did well in the club tournament.  my non-boater was also able to fill out his card and finished one place behind.  matter of fact, his father won the tournament fishing a couple offshore rock piles (that's where the 20+ inch fish live in that lake)...
lots to unpack here:  first and foremost, it was a CLUB tournament and we all fished with each other, just round-robin in tourmanent format. 


great young man and a great family.  it didn't stop me from competing as hard as I possibly could... I just hated to not help my 'boat-mate'.  just one more step on the way for me to really understand what I wanted from my fishing...

[Pat Dilling]

I fish with my wife a lot, so I make a habit of leaving good places for her to cast to.  Also fish with our old guys club and it is mostly for fun, so I try to make sure my partner has a good shot.  I get a lot of joy out of watching them get a good 'un.

[Larry Francis]

I understand all too well what you are saying. I HAD a friend that was honestly a terrible fisherman, and you want to help them as much as you can. But you must be aware of things like pride and shaming them as they can get hurt. Over a year of fishing with this man and I kept working with him on his hook set because it was basically nonexistent (he had always just trolled for fish up north). This guy lost 80% of the fish he would have on. I kept talking about his hook set and blah blah. Then this past February the Spawn was in full force, and I had caught 10 fish and he had not even touched one.  I saw a bed right up by a dock against the shoreline and told him to throw at it. He did and it was a 5-6 lb girl and she instantly came up outta the water and spit the hook. When the worm hit the water, she instantly grabbed it and he just started reeling and never moved the rod tip to either side so no hook set pretty much. When he lost what would be the biggest fish of his life he melted down and slammed his rod on the side of the boat breaking it. He was yelling and cussing as well. Now, I know I should have kept my mouth shut but I had to say that you never set the hook. He then turned on me yelling and shaking his finger at me and cussing. I powered up and took him to the dock and dropped him off. Since then, it has only gotten worse. I now just do not acknowledge him being around. So, the point is, wish them well but mind your own. It is on them not you.

[Eric-Maine]

I captain a NEPVA boat for their tournament in Maine every year A couple of weeks ago on Damariscotta I fished with a veteran, Mike. Mike shows up with a 5'6 pistol grip with an Abu 25lb mono with something plastic with a big swivel. I smiled and pulled out the rods for him I thought would work that day. I told him my team partner  He said he fished some 30 years ago or so. I said if you can throw that AbU you'll have no trouble with these. He did a great job with my curados. Anyway, the way the PVA tournaments go is it is a 5 fish team effort. The veteran is responsible for 2 fish minimum. He can upgrade any fish that I catch but I can't cull his. First spot I go to I dropped the tm and see a fish on the graph. Drop on it an catch a smallie. Mike, can you fish spinning? Sure he says. I pull out a rod with a spider jig. Mike catches 2. 3 fish in about 5 minutes. Pressure off the captain. Lol
Mike caught fish all day culled some that I caught. Fun day. The captain was on the net alot.
Fished a team tournament in my partners boat on Cobbosee Saturday. Steve fished targets on the bank. I fished out knowing he wouldn't miss much. I contributed just 2 of our 7 fish limit. A 5.55 and our last cull a 2.5 for a total of 23.23......we lost (6th). I fished hard and was content to contribute. Gorgeous day, changed into shorts with barefeet.

Picture from PVA

Sent from my SM-G781U using Tapatalk

[big g]

I have fished from a boat for over 40 years, and during that time I have fished with over 50 friends.  I always try to give them as much an opportunity to succeed as I have up front.  Boat placement is an important part of your partner being successful.  We fish long canal systems in South Florida and to allow your partner equal opportunity the front of the boat must be out toward the middle of the canal on a angle so both can cast forward.  Leave some unused water for them to use, by not targeting every inch of water.  Sometimes move the boat without casting.  I always want the other guy to have as much fun as I have while on the water.

[Capt. BassinLou]

Like Big G, we fish the same waters, and are like minded when it comes to fishing with someone else on our boats. I have been fortunate to have fished with several UB members and various friends through out the years. I think I have inadvertently been guiding for years because I can't relax until my fishing guests catch a fish. Once they start catching, and have a pattern going, I can do my thing and enjoy the outing. As Big G mentioned, boat positioning is important. I purposely do not fish certain techniques if it gives my fishing partner bad angles. I have been fortunate and have not had a bad guest on my boat.