Fishing burn out

I notice when I’m in the boat, and have no interest in fishing that it is because I’m lacking motivation. Usually a challenge keeps me interested.

Few things that motivate me well these days:
1) River is showing conditions i haven’t seen before. This excites me to go figure it out. Where did the fish go (whatever species i’m chasing) and how do i catch them. Often the worst bites excite me the most to figure them out. When the fish have me puzzled, you can expect me storming to the boat ramp to get answers.
2) I have a guest planned to come fishing, and they have expectations. If i’m not on a bite, i’ll push to find one before the day arrives.
3) Fish Fry. I enjoy catching a limit of walleyes to clean and cook for others.
4) I’m trying something totally out of the box… Tuesday night i made some custom drift weights to drag over the nastiest of river bottom for flathead catfish. Yesterday i tried it, and i couldn’t believe the 1/4 mile stretch of chunk rock/rip rap and trees i dragged that weight through. I was using a tactic used down south to target blue cats, and attempting to use it to target flatheads instead.
5) Hot bite for trophy fish.
6) I often just go after and do what i am desiring to do. If i feel like trolling – I’ll load up that gear and go. I’ve learned that pushing yourself to do something you aren’t desiring, just leaves you sitting in the boat kicked back in a chair without a rod in the water.

You might say i get bored before I get burnt out. I fish for many species, with many tactics, and strive to utilize technology in ways others do not. Variety is the spice of life for this guy. I also cannot stand not catching fish(the questions of WHY WHY WHY), so there is a continuous drive to do better. Also not afraid to try new things and look outside of the region to find new things to try.

Sheepshead have made HUGE moves in the past week. All i wanted to do yesterday was catch 6 sheep in 10 minutes and then go drag some fillets for catfish. Of course i expected to find the fish in the same spots as a week ago. Little over an hour and i had 3 sheeps from 8 spots..Aaargh!

….BTW, don’t leave a sheepshead in a cooler for a week+ That was a RUDE surprise when i went to fill my bait cooler with water yesterday.

If you’re feeling burnt out or feel it coming, try something new or outside the box. A change of pace brings a new challenge, a new thought process, and you’ll definitely learn something.

Tuesday night I caught crappies pulling crankbaits. Last night I caught crappies on a dry flies. Would I have caught more fish using traditional methods? Yeah probably. But it was fun to change it up.

A lot of it plays into personality types. What works for someone may not be transferable to someone else. Personally I pick up and set down hobby/recreational pursuits all the time. I have no timetables, agendas or preconceived ideas of how to go about them. It’s primarily fed by curiosity and perceived entertainment. I just formulate ideas to pursue until I’m ready to change it up or move onto something else. This helps keep things fresh by finding different ways or perspectives to enjoy something. I find myself in a revolving door of picking up something new or revisiting something old.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Never…

My suggestion. Challenge yourself to learn something new each time out. New body of water, new section of a lake, new tactic.

I drove around for over two hours one day this weekend when it was flat calm and scanned around just to try and learn new spots. Cracked a beer ( I don’t drink to often when I am captain) and went for a calm ride. I looked for current spots but also looked for areas the fish might move too.

New tactics is a big one too. I often challenge myself to catch fish in ways I am not as comfortable with.

Tourney mode is a different challenge all together can be fun if you want to learn from others . Can be annoying if you take it too serious.

Sounds to me like you have a good problem on your hands that you need to challenge yourself to find a new way to not get burnt out. Get out and fish out of your comfort mode.

I myself am always after the largest fish I am targeting. So I am always looking for the hiding spot.

I’m w Ripjiggen on this. I look for new lakes, now spots, learn and try to prefect new techniques, invite others out who are not fishermen and try to hook them up and teach them something new. Same places, same species would get old quick.

Umy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Never…

My suggestion. Challenge yourself to learn something new each time out. New body of water, new section of a lake, new tactic.

I drove around for over two hours one day this weekend when it was flat calm and scanned around just to try and learn new spots. Cracked a beer ( I don’t drink to often when I am captain) and went for a calm ride. I looked for current spots but also looked for areas the fish might move too.

New tactics is a big one too. I often challenge myself to catch fish in ways I am not as comfortable with.

Tourney mode is a different challenge all together can be fun if you want to learn from others . Can be annoying if you take it too serious.

Sounds to me like you have a good problem on your hands that you need to challenge yourself to find a new way to not get burnt out. Get out and fish out of your comfort mode.

I myself am always after the largest fish I am targeting. So I am always looking for the hiding spot.

I’m w Ripjiggen on this. I look for new lakes, now spots, learn and try to prefect new techniques, invite others out who are not fishermen and try to hook them up and teach them something new. Same places, same species would get old quick.

A. PERFECT new techniques
B. Play with the Humminbirds and try to get smarter on how to use them – was on Turtle River Lake this past weekend up in Bemidji. Huge boulders below and lots of different structure. Just drove around seeing what the boulders and structure looked like on Side, down, sonar etc so I could learn what I was looking at on the screen and what it really looked like below me. Actually pretty cool and pretty fun.

When I get tired of fishing in the boat, I put on the hip boots get some crawlers, and go Brook Trout fishing. Plus they make the best-smoked fish I have ever had, DK.

As I get older, it’s the adventure side of fishing that keeps me going. Having 2 kids, I fish a lot less than I use to and going to the same old lakes over and older just doesn’t do it for me.

When I do fish locally, I enjoy specifically targeting trophy fish instead of just fishing to catch fish. Trophy fish require a totally different strategy and mindset which keeps me on my toes and challenges me. Often times you can fish an entire weekend and not touch a fish. Other times the stars align and the magic happens. So much more rewarding than just “going fishing”. This winter, we had one weekend where we boated 4 walleyes that were 12, 13, 13, and 14 pounds. Unbelievable. Makes all the days and hours that go by with nothing totally worth it.

I’m also looking to do more travel for fishing. New states, new lakes, and even international. European Zander, pike, and perch are very high on my bucket list and will hopefully happen in 2022. This fall, I’m considering going to Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, or the Philippines) to fish for a variety of crazy fish. Because of covid, flights and accommodations are pretty cheap still and might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to fish completely outside my comfort zone.