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Old 06-27-12, 12:02 AM   #1
USMCbassman
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Default When is enough enough? (long winded)

I have been asking myself this question lately and interested on others thoughts and feelings toward this and as with everything else the responses will be different:

Quick background on where I'm coming from; at one point and time I had a Plano tackle box that had a 3 drawer system in it and the top opened where it had a spinnerbait "box" and a few slots for sinkers, hooks, etc. I had one spinning rod and Zebco 33 combo that stood the test of time. When I left for the military I left it in my dads garage and then the garage burnt down and I lost everything. Simple, effective and got the job done even in tournaments.

I didn't fish for years as I didn't have the gear and didn't have a whole lot of time. In late 2008 early 2009 I decided it was time to start fishing again. I went to BPS in Mobile, AL (I was living in MS at the time) bought a BPS baitcaster combo and scored a killer deal on a Browning tackle bag that had four 3700 boxes, a front and 2 side pouches. At this time I didn't have any tackle, but picked up a few things here and there. The monkey was on my back and I couldn't shake him. I'd take off work early to go fishing, run over to BPS and pick up a few things, read, eat and sleep fishing.

2010 rolls around and I'm back in SoCal; fished here and there, between field ops and deploying. The monkey would punch me in the face as I'd walk through the garage and see my fishing gear setting there. Fished when I could at my local lakes (there are 2 on base) and never really ventured out to the surrounding areas, although I'd always heard about the big CA bass.

May 19th, 2012: National Bass West hosted their 5th annual Wounded Warrior tournament and it's a sweet deal. Volunteer anglers donate their time, boat, gas and equipment (yes they open their tackle boxes and pull out their rods and reels for us and they fish with us as I would hope they would). I'm the type of guy if I have my gear I'll use it; however, I greatly appreciate their generosity. That's their gear and they worked hard for it. Hell I felt guilty because I was on someone else's boat and the guy wouldn't accept anything in return for his resources that I was utilizing. I was very grateful for that, I didn't offend the guy by offering I am just fortunate to be in a position where I could. Not all military members are able to do that, own their own equipment, etc. God Bless them for what they did for us. I just wanted to fish and have a good time and I did. This was first I'd ever heard about it and I hope one day I can do the same thing in return for someone else. After this tournament the monkey was back and on crack.

This leads me up to now: I am buying rods and reels as money allows. I research gear, equipment and tackle. I'm looking for a boat, I want to join a local bass club and I want to fish whenever I can. However, I feel like I'm not fully equipped for a bass club or tournament fishing. I am a competitive person and I believe the proper gear/quality gear makes all the difference. I build carts all the time to get an idea of where I'll be when I get my "allowance" and place another order. I still use my Browning tackle bag; however, I have out grown it. My 4 boxes are full and my pouches are bulging at the seams with plastic baits, drop shot gear, etc.

Here's where I see fall short: I don't have any creature baits, I have 2 selections for jig trailers, I have a couple of spinners that just sit as I have no confidence in them, a few crankbaits and some jigs. I run through my plastic baits use what I like (which is most of them). If I had it my way though I'd drop a 100 bucks or better every couple of weeks on new tackle or save it for another rod and reel, etc. I'm always scouring eBay and CL's looking for that killer deal on another piece of equipment.

This got me to thinking; where do you draw the line, where do I draw the line? When is enough enough? How many plastic baits does one really need. Jigs, spinners, crankbaits, terminal tackle, etc all fall in line with this question. I've been eyeballing a tackle bag that hold (7) 3700 boxes, I want it and I could fill it, but then I ask myself, "is it really necessary, is that going overboard?"

I went and dropped XX amount of dollars the other day on some smelly jelly, a couple bags of senkos and a few other items. I went through all my "extra" spools of line and discarded about 5 or so spools with not enough line to do anything with. I thought to myself, "wow, I just spent XX amount of money on this stuff, I'm throwing this away this, I still need a spinning reel for my dropshot rod, I need to find a way to better organize my plastics, etc; where does it end?"

This is not a post to show the amount of money I can spend or spend or to "brag" about what I have. For those that frequent the board I think we can all relate to a certain degree. So, I'm curious where do you draw the line? Do you draw the line and it slides forward so you never cross it? In YOUR OPINION what do you feel is enough?

Here's how I break it down: There is a suggested rod and reel ratio for every style of fishing. Each style has certain terminal tackle, baits, line, etc, etc, etc for that particular style of fishing. There's a million and one different colors for each bait, they come in a myriad of different lengths, weights, hook sizes, etc. You all know what I'm talking about, none of you are new to this. Do you just focus on one style until you feel you're well equipped with it and then move on to the next style that you want to master or build confidence in or are you all over the map?

Long winded I know and I went down a couple of rabbit trails, hopefully though you all can see what I'm trying to get at.

So- When is enough enough?
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Old 06-27-12, 12:22 AM   #2
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Thank you for your service, sir. It is wonderful to hear that there are other anglers out there willing to support those fighting for our country's freedom.

I am basically in the same situation as you, and as I look back, I really wish that I had chosen standard equipment for everything. I look at my crankbait box, and think "Where the heck did all of these baits come from?" I wish I had saved up and bought every color of a crankbait and filled a tackle box, and then moved to the next type. The same goes for my rods/reels. I wish that I had chosen a standard setup (i.e. Skeet Reese rod series and Quantum Kinetic PT reels) and bought the rods and reels that I needed when I got the money saved up. Unfortunately, I am stuck with a lot of different baits / colors / brands in my tackle box, and mix and match rods and reels on my rod rack. However, I feel that we are in the vast majority of anglers that do exactly what we did.

When is enough enough? That is a question to answer for yourself. Some pros have every compartment in their boats filled with tacke, and a full tacle shop in their camper shells. Some people have a single plano tackle box and a pack of worms, and can outfish others. When you have enough rods and reels to fit your needs, and enough tackle that you have confidence to catch fish on every outing, then you have enough.

Thank you again for your service, and I hope that your love for bass fishing grows as much as your tackle collection!
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Old 06-27-12, 01:54 AM   #3
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I hear you, and I think it is a natural progression. I didn't go that far when I was at your stage of development because I realized something early on. Some things work better than others in my waters and some colors and sizes worked better than others. I focus on those things that are truly needed.

The rest is what I call fluff-n-stuff. It's nice to have but you realize most of it is never even going to touch the water, lol.

So I am glad I learned to keep it simple from the get go. My waters will probably differ a little from yours so start taking mental notes as to what things have truly been the most effective for you in your waters.

It saves a lot of time, $$ and headaches.

If not, your wife if you have one, or family members will be selling your gear for the price you said you paid for it when you're gone, and that one of the greatest fears we bait monkey influenced anglers have, lol.
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Old 06-27-12, 01:48 PM   #4
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Default From a different perspective

I am an AVID fisherman, and a professional addictions counselor. Believe me, I understand "monkeys"
The way I have come to look at it is sorta like deciding if you have a problem with drinking: Are you spending more than you can afford? Does the amount of stuff you own cause conflicts with loved ones? Does owning/buying stuff interfere with other priorities in your life? Do you have a certain amount of time and money that you want to devote to fishing and buying equipment, but you find it difficult to stay within those limits? When you fish and/or buy stuff, do you feel guilty afterward? Have you gotten annoyed by others telling you that you fish too much/buy too much?
If the answer is "no" to all of these, then you probably do not have too much. If the answer is "yes" to more than one, then maybe you have hit the "enough is enough" level.

Let me also thank you for your service to our country. Freedom isn't free.
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Old 06-27-12, 06:18 PM   #5
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Dave that is great input and are all valid questions. I can honestly answer no to all of them.

The gist of what I was trying to get at was it seems like there is an endless amount of gear one could buy. Where does one draw the line? LOL, I may have summed all of my original post up into one sentence! I think what you responded with though answers that.

Edit: Serving is my pleasure, I love what I do.
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Old 06-27-12, 08:13 PM   #6
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i have been buying fishing equipment for the better part of mu life(65 YEARS). enough is a personnel thing . you know when you know. like boggie downsizing.gbassmman with tourneys. i enjoy buying fishing equipment a lot i still have not opened . my son knows what i want done with it when i am gone. you will know when enough is enough
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Old 06-27-12, 08:45 PM   #7
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I am certainly NOT the person this question should be directed.

Putting my tackle away - this is the crap load I carry on my boat.


The rods - I carry on my boat.


I am just a recreational angler and an admitted tackleholic, but I don't have so much when compared to some other TOURNAMENT ANGLERS I know.

As Donald mentioned above, I'm getting out of this rat race, and downsizing. The boat is for sale and when it goes some of the tackle and other boat related stuff is going. I'll be fishing from a kayak, and making do with about 20% of the stuff I carried on board the boat.
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Old 06-27-12, 09:24 PM   #8
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I just hope I have some cash when boogie sells lol
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Old 06-27-12, 09:38 PM   #9
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MONKEY FODDER...................... we are just bait monkey fodder marine. LOL!!!
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Old 06-27-12, 10:49 PM   #10
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Over the years I have finally got to where I have pretty much everything I need. I don't tourney fish, but fish for the pleasure it gives me. I have a pretty good idea what works when, depending on the season, weather ect. I take what I think I will need and leave the rest of the stuff behind. If you get to where it seems more like a job dealing with your tackle than a pleasure, then you've gone overeboard. Most of my purchases now are to replace worn out or broken items, and to upgrade if needed. Lures on the other hand......well.....they are still fun to buy.
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Old 06-27-12, 11:21 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bassboogieman View Post
I am certainly NOT the person this question should be directed.

Putting my tackle away - this is the crap load I carry on my boat.


The rods - I carry on my boat.


I am just a recreational angler and an admitted tackleholic, but I don't have so much when compared to some other TOURNAMENT ANGLERS I know.

As Donald mentioned above, I'm getting out of this rat race, and downsizing. The boat is for sale and when it goes some of the tackle and other boat related stuff is going. I'll be fishing from a kayak, and making do with about 20% of the stuff I carried on board the boat.
got to have a laugh on this one. sorry, but you are a great example of how marketing works. obama can not say that you are doing anything to slow down the economy.
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Old 06-28-12, 08:50 AM   #12
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Default 20%?????

"As Donald mentioned above, I'm getting out of this rat race, and downsizing. The boat is for sale and when it goes some of the tackle and other boat related stuff is going. I'll be fishing from a kayak, and making do with about 20% of the stuff I carried on board the boat."

Wow. I'd love to see the yak that can carry 20% of all that!
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Old 06-28-12, 09:21 AM   #13
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Quote:
Wow. I'd love to see the yak that can carry 20% of all that!
LOL - I've posted pics and commentary about it.
http://www.bassfishin.com/bassfishin...ad.php?t=32628

It's a bit of a stretch to call this a "kayak", but it is and it's designed specifically for fishing. I tried a more "traditional" style kayak before this one, but I am a big guy and I didn't like it as it was just too small, so I opted for the biggest, baddest, fishing kayak on the market and am completely satisified with it.
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Old 06-28-12, 12:01 PM   #14
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Default Stretch or not, it is COOL!!

Great looking boat. Maybe you should plan on taking 30% of your gear

My own downsizing started from where yours ends, LOL! I went from 6 poles and 2 boxes down to 1 pole and a fishing vest when I fish from my yak.
From the boat, it is still the 6 pole and 2 box configuration. IMO, still a pretty modest amount of stuff, but I'm happy with it.
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Old 06-28-12, 10:26 PM   #15
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Holy crap boogieman...that is a boatload of gear (pun intended) and I could see myself being there one day. I'm all about the sale and will continue to buy as I come across deals I can't refuse!
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Old 06-29-12, 09:12 AM   #16
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To be honest, I think you’re on the right track. This past year I decided that if I’m going to get into this, I’m going to do it properly. I slowly but surely replaced ever Rod and Reel I owned with a Technique specific Rod and Reel. I have Dropshot Rods, Senko Rods, Shakeyhead Rods, Jig Rods, Crankbait Rods, Frog Rod etc… I also purchased reels and Line to match, Braid, Flouro etc…

When I started this, I swore I would not purchase lures that didn’t catch fish. I started reading all of these Bass Forums with threads that stated, “What are your top 3 lures” “What is your favorite Color” This got my collection of lures up there and before you knew it, I had filled up 13 of those 3700 boxes and that’s with my Soft Plastics in separate tupperware containers.

Let me make my long reply short, First of all, there are only a couple of colors you need as far as Plastics are concerned, Watermelon, Green Pumpkin and June Bug, you can get rid of every other color and you’ll never miss them. I think you’re there man, Just slow it down and you will soon just be replacing what you’ve lost instead of purchasing new stuff. I go into the store now and before I purchase something I think, will I use this? The answer is normally no, so I don’t buy it. It takes one HELL of a lure to crack the starting line up of my Green Pumpkin Shakeyhead, Watermelon Red Flake Senko or my Carolina Rigged Watermelon Trick Worm. You have to be a 5 Star Athelete of a Lure to get on my roster these days.

I would like to thank you for your service as well

RLTW!
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Old 06-29-12, 11:03 AM   #17
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Quote:
that is a boatload of gear (pun intended) and I could see myself being there one day
Really, you don't want to get to that point. My problem is that I am afraid i won't have the bait fish want on any given day. Reality is, that I may use 5 - 6 cranks if it's a crankbait bite. 2 - 3 spinnerbaits it that's what they want. Plastics, same deal and on it goes. I don't use 1% of the crap I have on board on any given day, and that also is true of the rods. I do admit it looks impressive to see so many good rods spread out on my deck, but I use about 5 - 6 on a regular day's fishing.

Take a hint from Mumphy, he IS on the right track - keep it simple. 3 -4 basic colors in most of your lure types and you'll catch fish. Even doing so, you will have a large selection, because there are so many lures. Keep track of the lures and colors you have luck with, continue buying them and the others - forget about.

When my boat sells, then I intend to cull about 80% of my tackle and do exactly what Mumphy suggests. I hope to cull about half my rods too. I know it won't be easy, but that's the plan, stay tuned to see how well I make out. And you may find a deal or two you can't refuse.
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Old 06-29-12, 01:16 PM   #18
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I have to say, I am glad that I have kept my tackle arsenal pretty modest. I STILL only use about 30% of the baits that I have, but that may be because I fish the same waters 90% of the time and I know what works there.
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Old 06-30-12, 08:58 AM   #19
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All good replies. Only you can be the judge of when to say when. Personally I tend to agree with Mumpy and bassboogieman. I like Rapala hardbaits so I keep 3-4 Original Floaters in each of my favorite colors and sizes...same with Shad Raps etc. I like Shimano reels so all my reels are Curados/Chronarchs/Stradics.....I like Falcon rods so Taras/Bucoos/Low Riders get the nod....you get the idea.
However I admit that I will buy stuff on impulse from time to time and every year I find myself giving or throwing away stuff while wondering, what was I thinking?
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