No budget.

 

I’ve been adding a few high end combos a year to the lineup. By the end of next year I shouldn’t need much more.

 

The biggest expense will come hopefully next year. I’m assuming a half years salary, ouch. That would be a boat.

 

For the most part I live a fairly frugal lifestyle so treating myself to my favorite pastime is fine.

 

My wife doesn’t complain too much.  

Read this thread. Shrug.  Goes to Latest Sale thread...

3 hours ago, RRocket said:

I also feel extremely fortunate that she wants to be an active participant in my fishing adventures, so money for the boat, gas, etc is for "us" rather than just me.

 

That's awesome! My wife likes to fish too, though does it a lots less than I do. She grew up on a lake so has a good fish sense. She's also A LOT more patient than me, so usually catches the biggest fish of the day when she's along. 

This thread feels like the prequel to the latest tackle purchase thread...

On 11/22/2025 at 11:44 AM, Jig Man said:

Do you have one or do you just buy stuff?

When I was still working I bought what I wanted based on how many OT/detail hours I worked. 
 

I have everything and then some now, and only replace what’s used up, now that I’m retired.

1 hour ago, Rucksack said:

 

That's awesome! My wife likes to fish too, though does it a lots less than I do. She grew up on a lake so has a good fish sense. She's also A LOT more patient than me, so usually catches the biggest fish of the day when she's along. 

Oddly, the only thing she'll pick up a rod for is....Channel Catfish.

 

Otherwise, she just comes along and enjoys the ride and weather, snaps photos, videos, etc

 

She packs a picnic/cooler every time. I call her my CFO: Chief Feeding Officer! 

 

And when I say "Net!", she snaps right to it like a pro. 

 

I am really fortunate to have such a great fishing partner.

 

Oh...and she's like a drug dealer because every year she says "Let's get a bigger boat! ". LOL 😆

Unfortunetely all of my life, I have had to either budget my fishing expenses, or my time.

 

When I was young, I had an unlimited budget on my time to fish.  I had no money, and minimum tackle.  I fished often and caught more fish than I ever dreamed I would.

 

Now that I'm grown up, I have more gear than I ever dreamed of, but seldom fish, and don't catch many.  

 

Now I constantly organize my tackle while dreaming of catching bass.  When I was young, I caught bass and dreamed of having a huge horde of tackle.

 

Back then I didn't have much and always wanted more, now I have more, and wonder if I should have less.  Either way, my tackle budget will always be more than I can afford, and my time budget will include every minute I am able get on the water, plus one more cast.

^^^^ could’ve have said it any better.

My wife has absolutely no interest in fishing, and even less in camping 

Being retired and fishing and camping my whole life I have pretty much all I need.

Just need to replace stuff, terminal tackle and pretty much plastics with some lures too.

Fishing out of kayak is cheap after the original purchase.

I have all the camping gear I need, when I retired I did treat myself to what I figure is my last tent.

I camp about 50 nights a year, my wife goes on vacations with her girlfriends and my daughter.

We'll go on one vacation a year to our old friends vacation home down on the Jersey shore.

It's worked out for almost 40 years.

I do have start taking my rmd this year so maybe I'll upgrade some stuff.

My fishing budget is $100 a year only to replace terminal tackle. A new rod or reel wont have any gains or improvements that actually matter over what i already have, i wont lose out on my next PB because i didnt buy soft plastics in 10 different shades of one color, fish will still bite my lures if im not using a spool of line that costs $30, a bass isnt going to get to my boat and decide to throw the hook because it sees my reel isnt made in Japan, and the 200 lures sitting in my tackle trays ready to go for next year will stay dry, because i will only use the same 10 lures i always do.

 

However, there was a time i had no budget and blew every paycheck on fishing gear. I was young, and worked hard. I enjoyed life even harder.

I am going in to year 4 of boat fishing (spring of 2026) -- I have tried to stay "within budget" but have not always been successful (which means trimming down something else, I love to enjoy live music yet a few times I have passed on buying tickets as I spent a bit too much on fishing gear) -- year one was the used boat/motor purchase, which meant the budget only allowed for yard sale/Goodwill rods/reels/lures -- year two I tapped in to the used rod/reel market and upgraded to a few mid-tier rods/reels (and my shoulders/elbows/wrists were very happy about that) and expanded the lure collection (mostly bought during sales, I have learned that most everything fishing wise goes on sale at least once a year, including BOGO's that are budget friendly) -- year three (this past season) was more of the same with adding a couple of used rods/reels and a variety of lures (at least 80% from sales/used, some from Japan before the tariffs kicked in) -- I would like to add one or two more rods/reels and will look to stick with the used market if possible, but then should be all set with rods/reels -- I am still experimenting to find which lures (sizes/colors/actions/ect....) work best in the waters here yet I have a much better idea than I used to -- I believe in year 5 (2027) I will slide in to what many of you have said, just replacing lost/damaged/plastics/line/terminal tackle and will probably sell some lures/baits that I bought but have found are not useful in this area (Fire Tiger/Bright colors, some larger lures, ect.....)  -- the boat itself is in great shape but at some point the motor (1993 2-stroke) will probably need to be replaced (I would look to go used and most likely a 4 stroke but $$$ will play a factor) so I am considering starting a bank account with an auto withdraw to build up a "motor replacement budget"

I’m at the point where I’m just replacing terminal tackle, line and soft plastics. I receive a BPS gift card every X-mas and I’m still using the 2023 card. Haven’t touched the 2024 card and will get the 2025 card in another month. Sweet…

I used to be more susceptible to the latest fads. I sold the boat and started with the kayak. That earned me a lot of capital with the wife. So I amassed 8 or so updated combos. But I have to admit I have about all the equipment I need now. I buy the occasional replacement lure when I lose one or some hooks here and there. I could be sending a fortune on Yum Dingers, but I bought a 100 pack off Amazon. Wish I could find bulk packs of Rage Bugs and Craws. I use PowerPro braid, which is expensive. But it lasts a long time and you can simply turn it around and use the other end. It can last 3 years.

 

I started fishing smaller places like a private lake and some ponds. So the deep divers are rarely used. I can get by with the basics-soft plastics, some topwaters, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks. All the tried and true seasonal favorites.

 

There are some rabbit holes I could go down like big swimbaits. But if I did, I would want a new expensive, specialized combo and a small fortune in expensive lures. And I'm not convinced I would catch more big bass. Trying oversized lures in the past has not produced for me.

 

So all things considered, I feel like I'm doing it on the cheap now.

PS:

I have learned I'd rather cheap out on rods than reels. I have 3 rods that were better than $100 new. One of them, an older Falcon Lowrider, I actually bought used for $50. But I don't need to spend a fortune on a rod to cast a spinner/buzzbait, a lipless crank or a Pop R. I can save that money.

My budget is usually the TW giftcards I get for Xmas, birthday, and fathers day. 😉

I typically just buy it.  The last 3 years my expenses have increased alot with my 3 kids fishing with me.  They wont use my stuff they have to have "their" stuff.

I went to buy a newer boat recently and my wife said why settle buy what you want.  She doesn't buy tackle for me but encourages all of my purchases.  

Most of my purchases are replacement hooks and fishing line.  I'll ask for gift cards for my b-day or over the holidays.  The cards tend to cover anything that come up unexpectedly.  

Every once in a great while I will get on a role that will make the bait monkey smile.

Well I think I went over budget yesterday with the purchase of 2 Shimano Curados.

I can afford whatever I want but really cut back on tackle buying. For 2026 I will be buying line,  bullet weights,  and some supplies to finish two spinning rods I am building. The tackle I have will last me past my death. 

 

Allen 

It's my only hobby that requires money.. So no budget... 

I don't have a budget but I do have some guidelines:

1)  I buy pretty much everything on sale.  Being a HS coach, I do get 15% off and no taxes through Tackle Warehouse but I don't abuse it for personal use.  But I do often "try out" some new baits for the team.

2)  Use credit card rebates for fishing trips.  I'll accumulate $300+ dollars a year that I always spend on a June trip up north.

3)  I sell stuff I don't use.

4)  I'm not crazy about colors so that keeps the spending a little under control.

 

What I've stopped caring about:  cost of gas, cost of launch fees and licenses, and the cost of going on fishing trips.  I should go more often and spend more on fishing trips.  There are so many worse ways to spend it.  

I obviously have my day to day budget. In the summer, I try to keep as much of my additional paycheck available as I can so I can do some extra fishing and not have to worry about eating out on the way for example, or maybe if I grab a couple of cigars when I'm shore fishing.

 

For line, rods, reels and tackle, I usually try to find deals, usually black friday or spring sales. I'm mostly set on rods and reels but would like a faster reel for prop baits but have been putting it off as I don't throw them that often. Buying whatever I need on Black Friday sales is nice because if I do it right, I don't have to buy anything during the summer and can then use that money towards fishing more.

 

This year I sadly have no black friday budget between buying music gear as I've started to land some gigs but have to pay that down, plus I went from no car payments to two almost overnight. But the good news is the only thing I will need for next year is monofilament line, 2.75" tubes, senkos and baby brush hogs, and bladed jig trailers and maybe some jig trailers (not sure). I stocked up on everything else pretty well the past few years.

My budget is I only buy things that are on sale, and things I may use eventually one day.  

It would be a lot more if I could make my own receipts to show my wife