Boated vs non boated 2024
813basstard reply :
Does having a boat (any kind) make you a better fisherman. Or does it allow you to be the same fisherman in more locations??.
I have my own opinions but would love to hear from the guru’s
BassWhole! reply :
Boy is that a loaded question. I do not think there is causality, but there likely is a positive link based on the fact that acquiring a boat is most likely an indicator of motivation and participation. So no I do not believe having a boat makes one a better fisherman, but you will find that statistically as a group boat owners will be better fishermen than non- boaters. I know some folks that exclusively fish from shore that are awesome anglers.
Troy85 reply :
I don't think it makes you a better angler, I just think it gives your more opportunities/locations to fish. Same as having more expensive boat, having a more expensive boat doesn't automatically make you a better angler. The boat is just the tool.
NYWayfarer reply :
A boat opens up a world that can not be accessed from shore. It will make you a better angler through the experience.
scaleface reply :
For the most part a boat allows one to be more efficient.
mattkenzer reply :
From a boat ..... All the water is available.
From a boat ..... All the fish are available.
From a boat ..... All techniques come into play.
Your ability to handle a line and lure makes no difference if you stand on land or in a boat.
Catt reply :
When a bank fisherman acquires a boat they have a tendency to fish what the know...the bank.
Having a boat allows the angler opportunities to fish offshore structure which holds more & bigger fish.
Offshore structure intimidates more anglers than any part of bass fishing.
On 7/18/2018 at 8:30 PM, NYWayfarer said:A boat opens up a world that can not be accessed from shore. It will make you a better angler through the experience
roadwarrior reply :
Another HUGE advantage for boaters is lure recovery. I very rarely lose a lure.
This aspect also eliminates the fear of casting into the muck. There are a lot of
big bass that stage in the middle of a brush pile that rarely see a lure.
Bluebasser86 reply :
Having a boat is awesome, but I can't get my boat into a lot of places so it isn't everything.
NHBull reply :
I have never been a bank fisherman. Even as a kid, I had access to a canoe or Jon boat Fast forward a few decades......many of my friends that join me for a day are bank guys. We have totally different views, comfort zones and techniques.
Additionally, I believe the boat guy develops skills on finding fish and understanding bodies of water. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great shore anglers, but there is a clear benefit to getting on water
scaleface reply :
When I fish from shore , there are almost always over-hanging branches blocking my cast to reach lay-downs . ????
boostr reply :
I catch more fish from the bank than I do from my boat, but then again I fish ponds and lakes from the bank that I know because I've fished them for years and they are non boating lakes and ponds. The lakes I boat are new to me, as I'm also new to boating so I'm still learning the lay of the land on these bodies of water. All said and done though a boat does give you access to spots you can't reach from the bank.
mattkenzer reply :
30 years ago, shore fishermen where a big part of our club tournaments.
Our river system had many so called "Honey Holes" that fished best from shore .... silence can be deadly!
Needless to say, the shore fishermen where tough to beat.
DINK WHISPERER reply :
Better, no.... more efficient, absolutely.
NH-Fishin reply :
Definitely not better skill wise, but certainly has more opportunities. I think this also depends on location as well - for opportunity. For example in New England trees and brush are typically very thick, so most shore fishing spots are man made, which often means they have significant pressure. In a place like some areas of Texas where there aren't as many trees and brush due to the climate, the shore fisherman have many more opportunities. Around where I live most ponds have very limited shore access, the last few I fished had maybe 20-40' of fishable public shore access on an 80 acre pond.
Ksam1234 reply :
I don’t think it makes you a better angler. A lot of people can’t afford a boat at the time but I think having a boat makes the lake more accessible. More opportunities than a shore fisherman.
BankBasser reply :
No, I don't think it makes for a better angler. Just better access. An analogy I'd use is this... I've played guitar almost my whole life (since I was 5) and have done tons of studio work and live gigs, it being my only source of income at one point. I have better than average gear, but I'm not a gear hoarder. I know guys that have rooms full of guitars and amps WAY more expensive than what I have, but if you ask them to play anything other than "Smoke on the Water", they can't do it. A boat does not an angler make, but it'd be nice to have.
38 Super Fan reply :
Yes a boat will make you become better because it opens up so much more opportunity.
TOXIC reply :
The 2 are not relevant. Can a good angler catch fish from shore? Yes. Can a boat make a good angler better? IMHO yes again. Shore anglers are limited to, well, shore and many times only what they can carry in. I have a 21 foot tacklebox that carries many different techniques and multiple rods/reels and can take me to where the fish are. As a result I learn many more techniques and become more skilled in them. That's discounting the obvious that when the fish move off the shore they are out of reach for the bank fisherman. Doesn't make them any less of a fisherman unless you are gauging it by the numbers of fish caught in any one day. I can go to the fish, the shore bound fisherman can't.
TnRiver46 reply :
On 7/18/2018 at 8:21 PM, Troy1985s said:I don't think it makes you a better angler, I just think it gives your more opportunities/locations to fish. Same as having more expensive boat, having a more expensive boat doesn't automatically make you a better angler. The boat is just the tool.
And sometimes a tool is driving the boat......
Logan S reply :
On 7/18/2018 at 8:17 PM, reason said:Boy is that a loaded question. I do not think there is causality, but there likely is a positive link based on the fact that acquiring a boat is most likely an indicator of motivation and participation. So no I do not believe having a boat makes one a better fisherman, but you will find that statistically as a group boat owners will be better fishermen than non- boaters. I know some folks that exclusively fish from shore that are awesome anglers.
This is an excellent answer to the question...I was going to write something similar but there's no way I would have hit the nail on the head as good as this. Well said.
Junger reply :
On 7/18/2018 at 7:38 PM, 813basstard said:Does having a boat (any kind) make you a better fisherman.
Better fisherman can be interpreted so many ways...going from shore fishing all my life to owning a boat this year opened up more opportunities to fish spots where I couldn't from shore. If taking a metric, such as fish per hour between shore and boat, I would actually say I caught more fish from shore. But, I catch more quality fish from the boat.
One thing is certain though, since buying a boat, my rods have doubled and my wallet has gotten a lot lighter!
813basstard reply :
Agree with most here. The more I’m out in a boat the more I see there’s SO much more to fishing in a boat (everything working, everything in place and clean, safety etc..) then fishing from shore. Not better or worse just different. Nothing worse than fishing in someone’s boat where it looks like a Cat 5 hurricane came thru..that ain’t fun either
mattkenzer reply :
I think an argument could be made that Shore Fishermen learn to let the bait soak and not be so quick to real in and fire at the next available target because their options are limited ..... A quality that leaves me at times and for that, my catch rate suffers.
Gundog reply :
I have a friend who has a boat and it really hasn't helped him catch fish.
Ziggy Bones reply :
Personally I think buying a boat made me a better angler, the reasoning being two-fold: not only did I have more opportunities to get to more fish, but in buying a boat I had more (better?) reason to get better. I guess I'm really agreeing with @reason up top, it didn't make me a technically better fisherman in and of itself, but gave me more reason to make myself a better angler. Maybe the question isn't in skill level attained, it's in motivation gained. I will say one thing however - before my boat I had a few rods and one bag with a couple boxes and caught plenty of fish, whereas now I have quadruple that amount (so much so the old lady is considering having me build a shed strictly for fishing gear) and my hookup ratio isn't that much higher. Boat fishing will definitely make you and your wallet enemies.
Brew City Bass reply :
Depends on the angler.
For me, I started out bank fishing for years and got pretty good at that. But I knew there were way more fish I couldn't even reach. I decided to buy a boat. It wasn't any "easier" fishing on a boat, but I worked my butt off to learn new skills and techniques and now I catch way more fish than I ever did on the shore. In the spring, bass are plenty on the shore at my lakes. Come summer, they almost all move deep. No reaching them from shore.
Like all things, you have to put the work in to reap the reward though.
soflabasser reply :
Any decent basser has the ability to catch quality bass on a consistent basis either on a boat or land. Having a boat is no guarantee of success and I know several boaters with PB's under 10 and non boaters with PB's over 10.
Bankbeater reply :
I think it depends on how you use the boat.
Angry John reply :
No the boat does not make you better. It does provide you the opportunity to learn more which in the end can result in a better angler. Your skill is learned and refined by experience on the water. The same can be said about a boat with all the best sonar. Does it make you better, why only if you know how to use it and then using it to catch more fish.
Wurming67 reply :
Buying a boat made me a better fishermen the comfort of owning a boat allows me to fish alot longer and more,explore and acess areas I wasn't able to by land,and carry more equipment to explore other techniques.
Koz reply :
Fishing from a boat is a HUGE advantage considering you can cover a lot more water and can use electronics to locate fish whereas from the bank you may find a spot that looks like it should be holding fish only to find out 45 minutes later the fish are somewhere else. Plus, with electronics you get to see the structure that can't be seen from the bank.
I think that those that learn to equate what they see with their electronics with what they see with the above water surroundings probably develop a slight advantage over time. But don't count out bank fisherman (like me) when it comes to breaking down a body of water. It's just depressing when I know where the bass should be but I can't quite get there.
LionHeart reply :
I've been using a boat for the past two seasons. You know what I learned? To fully take advantage, you need some sort of electronics. Reading topo maps and speculating what it looks like below water based on what it looks like above water can only take you so far in my experience.
Is a boat more fun? I say so whole heartedly. I've had a chance to see and fish so many parts of the lake that I never would have been able to from shore. I'm talking about an old... real old Jon boat and 15 up motor, so nothing fancy.
Do I catch more fish from a boat than shore? Kinda a toss up.
I just sold the Jon, and bought one of those 2 man plastic pontoon boats. Had it out a few times and have been having a total blast. No need for a trailer, or a ramp for that matter. I can launch it almost anywhere.
FishDewd reply :
More opportunities, yes! The places I like to fish have drop offs close to shore. It'd be beneficial to throw towards the shore and pull it away from, rather than throw along from the bank and risk a hang-up!
813basstard reply :
On 7/19/2018 at 5:40 AM, Bankbeater said:I think it depends on how you use the boat.
Yes this^. Haven’t been fishing from a boat that long but boat position now comes to my mind more than I ever thought. It may sound like fiction, but the bite does turn on and off more than I thought due to angles.
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