Very short trips?

[Bazoo]

Today I had only a bout 30 minutes to fish before bible study. I almost decided to not even bother, but I figured 30 minutes is better than nothing. I was able to connect with a little guy:

 

 

Having only such a short time, I know the odds are against me, but I planned my lure choices beforehand and I was basically ready to go when I got there. Save 2 minutes to put the line through the guides and tie on the hook.

 

There have been other times in the past, especially before bible study or church, that I only have 30-45 minutes to fish. The fishing hole is right next door, but having such a short time means I have to fish right next to where I park, and not do a lot of lure swaps.

 

So what does everyone else do in this situation?

[Sp33dSnake]

29 minutes ago, Bazoo said:

Today I had only a bout 30 minutes to fish before bible study. I almost decided to not even bother, but I figured 30 minutes is better than nothing. I was able to connect with a little guy:

 

 

Having only such a short time, I know the odds are against me, but I planned my lure choices beforehand and I was basically ready to go when I got there. Save 2 minutes to put the line through the guides and tie on the hook.

 

There have been other times in the past, especially before bible study or church, that I only have 30-45 minutes to fish. The fishing hole is right next door, but having such a short time means I have to fish right next to where I park, and not do a lot of lure swaps.

 

So what does everyone else do in this situation?

Well..far be it from me to question religious beliefs, but are you sure there isn't a, "If there is a chance to catch a lunker you can be excused from bible study once a month" clause, is there?

I mean, if there isn't that sort of rule, there should be. 

I have a small canal/pond area where I live.  If I have less than an hour, it takes me five minutes to walk there and toss a lure it.  There are some lilypads in there and the water is relatively shallow, so sometimes I can catch a fish with a topwater frog in the middle of the day.  Then, I just go back, put my poles back in the shed and take care of whatever business I need to take care of.

[The Budget Angler]

I fish between classes sometimes.  The trick for me is to already have everything tied.  I don't bother much with slower baits (jigs, senkos, etc.) because I just don't have time.  Depending on the time of year, I'll throw a fluke, a swimbait, or a crankbait.  I usually keep moving to make sure I cover as much water as possible, especially this time of year.

[JHoss]

I used to tell the wife I was stuck in traffic on the way home from work so I could hit the neighborhood pond for 20 minutes on my way. I'd always have a rod or two rigged before they went in the car with whatever I thought would play that day. I'd throw pack of spare plastics (maybe a spare hook and weight in that pack of plastics) in my pocket and go. Keep it simple with the gear you bring and be ready to cut it short if you break off everything. 

[IYAOYAS]

I live in Western NC the closest lake used to be 45 minutes from me with Helen's intervention now I can't even get to it. We have creeks and rivers all over and I am thinking about taking a rod with me in the truck to hit these creeks. Lot of folks around me say they are loaded with smallies.

[Swamp Girl]

I did a lot of hour to an hour and a half fishing trips last year. Ten minutes was consumed by walking through the woods and back and another five minutes was consumed backing the canoe out of the canal where I dock it, so efficiency was key. I'd only take two rods and fish close to my dock, as paddling the length of the pond to the best fishing would have consumed another 25 minutes. Many sessions I'd catch eight or nine, but I went looking for a trip report on one of my short trips and in the first trip report I found, I only caught four. Here are three of the four:

 

 

Only four bass, but what a way to end a summer day, walking through the woods, down my boardwalk, launching my canoe, and casting to 17" to 17.5" bass. 

[king fisher]

It takes me a half hour to decide if I want to use a Junebug colored worm, or a Greenpumkin worm. 

[dytmook]

With 3 kids I have to steal short trips at times. I have a few spots I can hit the rivers quickly from parking. I usually try to keep whatever is tied on going and just fish. Whatever happens, happens. Just happy to be outside. 

[Bird]

We had a great smallmouth stream just down the hill from our church.

As kids we'd play hooky during church and go fishing.

THAT IS until we all got chiggers really bad and Grandma said " it serves ya' right " 😂

I fish from a boat so need to throw a whole day at it.

[Swamp Girl]

6 minutes ago, dytmook said:

Whatever happens, happens. Just happy to be outside. 

 

Good attitude. I feel the same way. I actually find myself happiest on my short trips because I have zero expectations. I too am simply happy to be outside. This approach reminds me of the Shaker song:

 

Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

 

7 minutes ago, king fisher said:

It takes me a half hour to decide if I want to use a Junebug colored worm, or a Greenpumkin worm. 

 

Tis a gift to be funny too.

 

4 minutes ago, Bird said:

As kids we'd play hooky during church and go fishing.

 

A smallmouth stream is a church.

[Fishlegs]

I'd estimate that 75% of my fishing trips last less than 1.5 hours. They're mostly happen on my lunch break, or just after work. Lunch break trips take 15 minutes to get to the river, and 15 minutes back to work which leaves 30 minutes to fish. I also go after work when I don't have other responsibilities like church, kid's activities, yard work, etc. The length of those trips is determined by how long it is until dark.

 

It's worth it to me though. Any time spent fishing is quite valuable for my mental state.

[Steveo-1969]

9 hours ago, Bazoo said:

So what does everyone else do in this situation?

Skip Bible Study. There’s a reason the church was built right next to a fishing hole. God wants you to go fishing!!

[Catt]

@Bazoo My Pastor says God gave everyone a talent & we need to use it. I said yeah but you won't let me stock the baptistry!

 

Don't take but one cast to catch a Hawg!

[GitInMuhBoat]

@Bazoo Basically, I do the same thing you do.  In the summer I'll go out and hit a bank during the lunch hour. At some point that morning while taking a "coffee break" I'll pick what I want to throw and tie those lures on to a couple of rods. I usually take a couple to save time switching lures. If those aren't producing, sometimes I can fit a re-tie in but won't have long to work it. I have two bodies of water just up the road from me so 15m for load up and travel leaves about 45m to fish.

[Alex from GA]

My short trips consist of me walking 20' across the lawn and throw a worm in the pond.  After all the launch to the river is 2 miles down the road.

[Bazoo]

Interesting replies, thanks all. Yeah, I do like to squeeze in time before bible study, this time of year, but during summer, I usually have an hour after bible study before it gets dark. Often I'll hit it an hour before, and an hour after.

 

I do try to be rigged with what I want to use, but in yesterday's trip I was trying the new rod for the first time and didn't have it strung.

 

I normally take 2 rods, one for hard lures and one for soft plastics. My go to plastics generally will use the same hook so I might change from a grub to a worm.

 

I am pretty adept at stringing and tying lures though. I do try to limit myself on lure changes, with 1 change. So if I'm fishing a crankbait I will switch to topwater, which I did yesterday. I did have 1 little guy swipe at my topwater.

 

 

[casts_by_fly]

If I only have an hour, that means I'm hitting one of the two ponds that's within 10 minutes of here, neither of which has anything over 15" in it.  But, if I know I'm going to have an hour to pop into one, I'll have a rod rigged with a small soft plastic kinda like you did there (looks like a missile bomb shot).  I'll carry a second plastic on a second jighead (or weighted slider) in my pocket with a pair of hemostats clipped to my shirt.  If I catch so many that I ruin all of my plastics I'm happy.  If I lose both before an hour is up then it isn't my day and I go home.  

[Bazoo]

Bible study isn't mandatory, but I do enjoy it, so I do try to attend. We usually have some sort of potluck as well.

 

I appreciate everyone's insight.

[dytmook]

I took a short trip yesterday. It was a disaster (I laughed at myself so many times). I usually only take two rods at most but I took three since I was trying to get all my equipment in working order. I started with a treble hook in my shirt and then my bag. My first cast with a jig, my bait just went flying off (of course I spent time tinkering with that jig too). I slipped on every bank, found every sinking mudhole, and caught several random trees. The fish remained safe.