Hear, hear for the shore anglers!

[Swamp Girl]

I toast the shore anglers. If I were pinned to the shore, I'd hope to catch one bass because that's what I catch on a GOOD morning when I cast from the shore before boarding my canoe. Yet, I see you shore anglers not only catch multiple bass, but some big ones, and many of you fish with picnickers on one side and another angler on the other. I don't know how you guys succeed like you do, but I always admire you. 

 

#contextcounts

[MN Fisher]

Just now, ol'crickety said:

I don't know how you guys succeed like you do, but I always admire you. 

Considering that I do occasionally fish from shore - thank you Katie

 

This shore caught 17" is for you.

[Swamp Girl]

@MN Fisher: I love 17-inchers, so thanks! 

[Skunkmaster-k]

I angled from the shore too. Don’t tell anybody. 

[Tennessee Boy]

I’m not gonna drink before church 😆 but my complements to the shore anglers.  You have my respect.

[Fried Lemons]

Funny you mention this, last year I started going out on a canoe with a buddy and this year I got a paddle board to get off the bank with minimal hassle. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly prefer either of these modes of fishing over bank fishing but I still have way more success chasing big fish from the bank.

 

Part of it is the learning curve of controlling my position from a floating object which gets pushed around by wind and current and even the resistance of a lure. This isn’t that big an issue fishing moving baits but when I want to slow down and work the bottom I find myself often wanting to beach or tuck up right against the bank to fish uphill. Also sitting unsupported all day is murder on my lower back. 

[BrianMDTX]

@Fried Lemons I was going to post something similar. I love going out in my boat. It’s small and slow but it gives me access to places shore anglers can’t fish. And yet…all my biggest bass have come from fishing off the bank. And all but one have been fishing either a Texas or wacky rig. 
 

Line movement is not happening off the bank unless it’s a fish (not counting high winds). A drifting boat sometimes entices strikes, but it can also appear to be a bass that isn’t. I see line moving from the bank, it’s a bass. 
 

I fished four days this week. Three from my boat and once from the shore. Caught my first 4 lb’er of the year…from the bank. On a Texas rig. 
 

Besides all that, sometimes it’s just nice to grab a couple rods and some tackle and just fish. No pressure. No maneuvering the boat. Just casting and (hopefully) catching some bass!

 

[Swamp Girl]

57 minutes ago, Fried Lemons said:

Part of it is the learning curve of controlling my position from a floating object which gets pushed around by wind and current and even the resistance of a lure.

 

You and @BrianMDTX are right. Small boats do present challenges. Even a two-pound bass can turn my canoe. Four-pounders and up can tow my canoe. However, I began as a shore angler and there's no way I can ever say that the bank's advantages are greater than my canoe's advantages. 

[Pat Brown]

Lakes around here tend to be so small that bank anglers and boat anglers are about equally challenged in terms of presenting baits to resident fish effectively, but I still personally get more jazzed when I catch big fish from small pressured waters under tough conditions.  It always makes me chuckle to say the least.  It's my preference to do it in the still hours of the morning with just me and the fish and the creator of everything, but I'll take either as long as they're biting!  😂😂😂

[IcatchDinks]

Is this where we show off our big shore caught bass? This is my biggest: a very skinny 18 inches long. 

 

 I appreciate the love given to us bank anglers, @ol'crickety 

 

I think often I look at those who have boats with envy, but I've got a lot to grateful for, and part of that is not having to worry about storage, transportation, launching, and care of a boat. I can just walk up to the water and start fishing. 

 

By land or by sea (or lake, river, or stream) it seems we all find a way to land fish. And some of you guys manage to land some giants. 

[MIbassyaker]

Shore fishing can be just as productive as being physically on the water, as long as you can access good spots.  In the places I can access from shore, the key is often mobility, being able to work down a shoreline, going spot to spot, giving each one a couple different angles.  The rivers around here tend to have more extensive shore access than the lakes and ponds

 

I don't do it as much as I used to since getting into kayak fishing, but walking a bank somewhere is the perfect use of a spare hour.  A couple of my better bank bass in recent years:

[BrianMDTX]

@ol'crickety I agree. My boat’s advantages outweigh the bank. It’s simply hilarious to me that my biggest bass have come from the bank. 
 

But there’s no doubt that 95% of the time, I’ll be on the water vs the shore. 

[LrgmouthShad]

Oh yeah! I like a good bass caught with my feet firmly planted on the ground

[Swamp Girl]

I'm really enjoying these shore angler big bass pics! 

 

@MIbassyaker: That's a heckuva belly on that river smallie. All the river smallies I've ever caught were lean from fighting current. 

[Pat Brown]

6 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I'm really enjoying these shore angler big bass pics! 

 

@MIbassyaker: That's a heckuva belly on that river smallie. All the river smallies I've ever caught were lean from fighting current. 

 

Okay if I gotta 😁😁😁

 

 

8.9/9.1/8.0/9.3

 

[thediscochef]

7-5, 4-1 SM, 7-1, 7-1, 7-5, all within the last calendar year, all from the same 27k acre reservoir. One whopper plopper, one chatterbait, two lipless, one Trig Zcraw. That's not even all the 7s I caught off the bank there last year. I wish I had a record like Pat but I think I've done OK for having only been at this a few years. I think being stuck on the bank is only sometimes a bad thing. But when it's tough, you start fishing for other things. I'm currently a crappie fisherman cause that's all I catch lately.

[MIbassyaker]

44 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@MIbassyaker: That's a heckuva belly on that river smallie. All the river smallies I've ever caught were lean from fighting current. 

 

Pre-spawner. She probably is lean most of the year!

[Swamp Girl]

I'm all out of reactions, but thanks for the parade of tanks. 

 

 

So, here's my question: When you hook a monster from the bank, to land her, do you go into the water sometimes? I ask because I think I would if the shoreline supported such a move.

 

@MIbassyaker: I'm sure I've caught pre-spawn river smallies, but none of them looked like yours. Your fish looks like a bog bass who just lazes her days away waiting for the abundant swamp smorgasbord to be served to her. 

[Bankbeater]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

So, here's my question: When you hook a monster from the bank, to land her, do you go into the water sometimes? I ask because I think I would if the shoreline supported such a move.

Nope, not even with rubber boots on.  Around here going deeper than your knees is considered wading, and that is illegal in most of the water I fish.  Besides, I wouldn't know what I'm stepping on or stepping in.

[MediumMouthBass]

@Pat Brown a big bass on a lipless crankbait from the bank? I see you too are a man of culture

 

 

These are all bank fishing a lipless, ive tried the same lake in a kayak and all i did was get blown around and my lures stuck in trees on the other side.

I love my kayak, its one of the best river kayaks ever made. And for the river its amazing.

But for lakes and ponds i still love kayaking or using the jon boat, but theres nothing like bank fishing.

It teaches an angler so much, builds will power and determination, and when i finally got off the bank and on the water, it gave me a different perspective, and a greater appreciation.

If $10,000 was on the line id rather fish with 5 fellow bank fishermen than 10 guys with boats, somethings you just gotta learn by not staring at a fish finder for 3 hours a day.

[Swamp Girl]

Bi-i-i-i-igggggg bass!

 

#bankanglersarethebest

[Catt]

Started bass fishing from the bank & still enjoy it today.

11 lbs 3 oz 

 

[gim]

Honestly if all I was doing was fishing from the bank, I seriously doubt I would even be an angler. I didn’t grow up fishing from the bank. I grew up fishing from our family boat, and dreamed of owning my own boat someday. Throttling down in my boat with the wind in face is one of the best parts of fishing and being a boat owner. Being planted on the bank in one spot does not appeal to me. It sounds a lot like ice fishing which is mostly a stationary thing. If I was a bank angler, I would do what @throttleplate does and target areas near dams.

 

That being said, I realize that not everyone can or wants to have a boat (or kayak).

 

@Pat Brown those are some dandies.

 

 

[MN Fisher]

9 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Honestly if all I was doing was fishing from the bank, I seriously doubt I would even be an angler. I didn’t grow up fishing from the bank. I grew up fishing from our family boat, and dreamed of owning my own boat someday.

Until I was 14, only fishing I did from a boat was a couple times dad took me on a charter in Nantucket Sound. Grew up shore fishing or wading the local creek for trout. Boat we got after the move to Bemidji was a runabout more for family cruising than fishing...still did quite a bit of fishing from shore or wading the Straight River in Park Rapids for trout.

 

Since getting my own place - I've had a boat (or canoe) about 13 years of the 38 I've been here...otherwise it was all shore fishing.

 

If I didn't have the boat...I'd still fish...it's an obsession.

[Mobasser]

Lately I've been walking the banks and fishing. I've got a few more pounds Id like to lose, and walking banks is good exercise.  Plus, as has been shown, bank fishing can be productive also.