i do.  i still get completely perplexed. i still flub badly trying to skip a bait.  i always forget if flouro floats or sinks (:D).

 

there is so much still new to me.  i only started seriously getting into kayak bass fishing in 2020, i think.  maybe, i'm at Journeyman level now.  maybe.  

 

you?  there are some heavy hitters here for sure on this forum.  i'm happy to keep listening, mouth shut.  okay, mouth isnt that shut.  

I’m not a rookie. I am just terrible at fishing. I have a bunch of fun doing it though.

I’m 39 and some forum members think I’m 60 if that tells you anything…….

After all my years, I consider myself intermediate level at fishing. Not good,  not bad. I'm always trying to improve, and I've learned some good stuff since I became a member of BR.

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’m 39 and some forum members think I’m 60 if that tells you anything…….

are you messing with us?  you're not 60?

60 years old I think I run in the middle Caught my first one in 73 and have never stopped learning. Love it 

1 minute ago, Darth-Baiter said:

are you messing with us?  you're not 60?

 I know this isn’t concrete evidence but……

Intermediate. Like chess, anybody that I meet that just kinda fishes casually, I will outfish most of the time. What I lack is years of experience on any body of water or even a region of the country, because I’ve been moving around. The advantage to that is I’ve seen pretty much all types of cover and structure

@TnRiver46 that pic looks circa 2002

I'm 63, been fishing since I was six years old. Far from a rookie, maybe I'm to the advanced side of intermediate. There are a few techniques that I haven't mastered, some I'll never even try.

2 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

@TnRiver46 that pic looks circa 2002

52 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’m 39 and some forum members think I’m 60 if that tells you anything…….

I'm 38 and you look like my dad.

Yeah, I ain't a rookie, I'm just not any good at it.

mmmmm... cake!

 

 

Absolutely not, I consider myself a seasoned experienced fisherwoman!  I've been fishing since I was 5 years old and next week on Labor Day I"ll be 75.  I can not possibly be a novice or a beginner.  And I don't mind bragging that I know a lot about fishing and I usually don't share my knowledge.  Now there.

@TnRiver46 are you sure you didn’t transpose the 3 and 9? Just kidding. ??
 

@Darth-Baiter nope, no longer a rookie and as much as I’d like to still be a rookie, I am not one either. 
 

A parallel for you. There are people who have played golf all their lives and still can’t break 90 or 100. In the words of metallica, “Sad, but true,” and it sux but ding dang nab it, I’m in that fishing boat.

 

I started fishing in 2004 and to be honest I didn’t “break thru” were the fruits of putting in that time on the water, finding nuggets or wisdom from each outing until 2018.
 

I finally got my first spinnerbait and buzzbait caught bass. Yup, it took that long. Granted, in most of that time, I was honing in on shot drop shot and cranks but every time I threw a spinnerbait, it was always a fat zero … until 2018. Then I started catching them left and right.

 

To make things worse or more difficult, I am a shorebound angler and I think that it is practically a separate discipline within bass fishing. As a shorebound angler, you don’t always have the luxury of getting to where the fish are located and that is a sad reality. Also, in western Washington, Our fishing window for bass (from the shore) is small (without a boat )

 

Therefore, I want to remain a rookie because I usually get rookie results. Maybe we’re just RINOs. “Rookies in name only,” lol ? 

I consider myself still a rookie, at modern bass fishing, but am at the top pro level with bass fishing BS.

I'm 62 and been fishing for a long time so I'm under intense pressure NOT to fish like a rookie. ?

SO when I get skunked I like to think KVD would have also. Lol

I'm 46, threw my first cast in 1980. I'm far from a rookie, I've been skunked more than some of you guys have been fishing!

Nope. I’m an “expert “. Just ask me, I’ll tell you. 

I'm far from a rookie but not trying to keep up , equipment wise, with modern anglers either. I'm pretty good at some things and other things I have not even tried.  

30 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I'm far from a rookie but not trying to keep up , equipment wise, with modern anglers either. I'm pretty good at some things and other things I have not even tried.  

This is me also. I'm good at what I know, but haven't even tried some of the newer things yet. I'm not ready for the bass man old folks home just yet.

3 hours ago, Darnold335 said:

I’m not a rookie. I am just terrible at fishing. I have a bunch of fun doing it though.

Ditto.  I can't hide behind being a "rookie".  It's best if I just come clean and admit that I don't know what I'm doing and am just killing time in between the brief moments of dumb luck that accidentally happen upon me from time to time.  

I am not a rookie angler. I am an experienced angler with a rookie skill set. <G>

Overall fishing, no. Bass Fishing, yes. I didn't start heavily fishing our rivers for bass until maybe 7 years ago. Combined with mostly short trips, I just don't have a ton of time on the water compared to my peers. I have fun though.