While chatting with @Lottabass this morning, I realized that I apply Thoreau's "Simplify, simplify, simplify" to my angling. I have owned several boats with motors, but I now prefer my paddled canoes and kayaks because I don't have to fiddle with gas, tuneups, ramps, etc. And come winter, I simply flip my boats upside down beside the ponds. After trying several larger tackleboxes, I've settled on this one, about the size of the one I used as a kid:

 

 

Plus, most of my reels have been used for decades.

 

Now, I'm not full Thoreau. That would be bank anglers like @Joedodge and @Bazoo and they aren't even full Thoreau unless they're fishing with one rod, but walking through nearby woods to a waiting canoe would likely make Thoreau nod in approval.

 

To be frank, I'm Thoreau-ish because I'm pushing 70. I once towed my boat to the Mississippi, Lake Superior, and Lake Michigan because I had youth's energy. And I'd bushwhack Ontario's Crown Land to reach far yonder lakes, lakes beyond the ken of 99.99% of anglers. So, I don't live large anymore. I no longer thrill to 100 and sometimes 200-bass days. And even when I was living larger, I was never @22RangerZ520R hauling a big, tricked-out boat thousands of miles to fish the hottest bass water in the world for the biggest bass. That's both above my pay grade and skill level.

 

However, it doesn't feel like I'm living small when I hook a four-pounder that pulls me into the weeds. That's plenty of drama for me. And some afternoons, I don't even take five rods. I take one with a few spare soft plastic lures in my pocket. Yeah, here and there, I go full Thoreau and I love it.

 

I bought a fourth boat this fall, an Old Town Predator 13 (used, of course), but even that is to simplify my life because I'm keeping it at my pal's pond, which means no more driving my Kevlar canoe there. So, in 2026, I'll have three boats waiting at two ponds and I'll only have to load my rods and tacklebox to go fishing, five and twelve minutes away. Simple, simple, simple.

 

So, my questions:

 

Have you simplified your fishing over the last ten years or complicated it?

 

If you'd complicated it, is it because you love tech or because you love the hunt for the biggest bass?

 

If you've simplified it, how is that working for you?

Great post, Katie!  My answers:

I have complicated it.

Not because I love complication, because I love simple as you do, but because I retired 9 years ago and started having health issues that put an end to bow hunting (I can't walk and my eyesight is not good).  My wife also passed away at this time.  So all my focus is on fishing, also the only shopping I enjoy is for fishing tackle!

Simple because I carry 3 rods and 1 tacklebox in my small boat, and am very happy with my fishing!

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

Have you simplified your fishing over the last ten years or complicated it?

If you'd complicated it, is it because you love tech or because you love the hunt for the biggest bass? If you've simplified it, how is that working for you?

 In the ways they are presented here, I'll say I'm currently doing it all.

As my experience, knowledge, confidence and abilities improved, my rig, gear, and 

the battles I choose to wage, and where I do it, have grown proportionally.

At the same time I've modified my effort focus to be directed at plus-size fish only.

So "complicated" and "simplified" might not be the best terms to describe what's going down up here, but I get the idea.

A-Jay

 

At the age of 77 I have actually complicated it. And I have done it for both reasons as you have suggested I love tech & love the chase for the biggest bass. I know I only have so much time left to pursue my hobby so I choose to chase the trophy dream. Numbers are fun but not my thing anymore. I do understand the allure of simplicity and very occasionally limit myself to just one outfit & only a few baits. 

I have definitely not simplified it with equipment and tackle.  I have a Humminbird one boat network that is linked to my cordless Minn Kota Ulterra trolling motor which I can deploy, run, and stow from anywhere in the boat.  I have added several rods and reels to my arsenal including 2 Curados which I bought yesterday that will be delivered today.

 

I have however, simplified my use of baits.  Primarily I use TRDs for Ned rigs, Zinkerzs for shaky, Keitech swing impact fat swim baits and a plethora of jigs that I make myself.

Simplified my approach and equipment and tackle for the most part and I’d say made the mental/biological aspect of fishing more complicated in the interest of better understanding how to be a steward of healthy fisheries and big bass catcher.

Excellent post!!! 
 

I have definitely simplified over the last 10 years. In florida. I kayak and canoe fished in salt water flats and lakes. And bank fished. I tried lots of lures and colors. I did well. But it was just too much. So I’ve just simplified to make my time fishing more enjoyable. And dove deeper into paying attention to the water and cover. And a lot more on presentation of a bait instead of a million baits. 

While I do own a boat with a small motor, I have definitely simplified. Make no secret about it, I am a Thoreau fan in some aspects, read everything of his that I could find. I haven’t gotten to the point of naming our furniture yet. What about you @Swamp Girl, you started naming your chairs yet?
 

No longer own a big bass boat, no longer own almost 35 rods and reels and no longer own enough tackle to fill a small bedroom. Sold and/or gave it away. Currently down to 10 rods for bass fishing, four for panfishing. Toying with the idea of reducing that number even further. Have only the tackle that I’ll use.
 

Bought a used 16’ X 50” locally built jon boat that was actually designed for duck hunting. Gutted it and turned it into a bass-jon. She does have a 2 stroke, 40 h/p Tohatsu outboard. While she does have two Garmin down scan units and a 45 lb thrust Minn Kota, there is and never will be FFS on my boat. She has room for six rods in the locker and some tackle storage. For convenience, I did install a Power Pole Micro unit. All of that said, if I don’t start fishing more often, I’m going to sell her.

 

”simplify, simplify, simplify”

I've complicated my fishing by buying two colors of worms instead of the one I've been using for the past 15 years. Yes I'm serious.

13 minutes ago, Joedodge said:

And dove deeper into paying attention to the water and cover. And a lot more on presentation of a bait instead of a million baits. 

 

23 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Simplified my approach and equipment and tackle for the most part and I’d say made the mental/biological aspect of fishing more complicated in the interest of better understanding how to be a steward of healthy fisheries and big bass catcher.

 

What we have here is a North Carolina Joe and an Iowa Pat. Twin brothers from different mothers.

 

13 minutes ago, volzfan59 said:

What about you @Swamp Girl, you started naming your chairs yet?

 

Naught like that yet, but I ought!

 

For years I wandered the banks with one rod and my tackle in a backpack. A little over 4 years ago I got into kayak fishing and each year it became increasingly more complicated as I upgraded my kayak and electronics to where I now have a motor driven kayak with spot lock, two graphs, and multiple transducers including FFS.

 

I also picked up more bait and tackle along the way and with that when I head out of town for a week to practice and fish a tournament it seems like I'm bringing along a small tackle shop with me.

 

But recently I have pared down what I carry on my kayak by a lot. And this summer I realized that I have reached my personal plateau. I went out and looked at new bass boats and found one that I really liked, but I didn't pull the trigger. It wasn't the money that turned me off. It was adding multiple layers of complexity that turned me off. All I could envision was more headaches with a boat.

 

As far as simplifying, there is something I want to start trying and that is hitting a local lake and bringing only one or two rods and only one type of bait. For example, one day might be Jig Day. Another day might be Shaky Head Day.

 

The goal is to get better at baits and techniques that I rarely use, gain more confidence in them, and stop getting into a rut when I'm fishing.

 

 

1 hour ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I know I only have so much time left to pursue my hobby so I choose to chase the trophy dream.

 

I understand this, Dwight. I'm not in the same place, but I understand and admire your courage in facing your mortality and your tenacity in pursuing the biggest possible bass. I don't join you in your pursuit because I think I've already caught my biggest possible bass in Maine, which happened last year with my PB and my PB five-bass bag, when I caught an estimated seven-pounder, two sixes, a five, and several fours one morning.* I'll likely never enjoy the conditions that enabled that big bag again, which was a dam that was opened to draw down the water and condensed the bog bass. A few days later, an upstream dam was opened and the bog was refilled. FWIW, that morning nearly emptied me. I launched in the dark, paddled for miles, running aground several times, and landed so many big bass. When I reached my car again, I had to carry my canoe up a muddy bank, but when I exited my canoe and tried to stand, I immediately fell into the mud, my point being that I don't think I would even want to fish a lot more mornings like that one. Yeah, it was great, but it emptied my tank.

 

And my PB was a unicorn too. I've never seen another like her, not even one that I hooked and lost. I caught her so early in the spring that she was cold and hardly fought and I hooked her in open water, so she came to the canoe without a single weed on her. Again, the conditions were highly unusual and I got lucky. If I hooked another eight-pounder in the heavy cover I often fish, I can't imagine landing her.

 

Getting lucky two times is enough for me. 

 

 

*I am good at estimating the weights of bass. I watch YouTube videos and usually guess correctly within an ounce or two. 

 

1 minute ago, Kayak Koz said:

It wasn't the money that turned me off. It was adding multiple layers of complexity that turned me off. All I could envision was more headaches with a boat.

 

I hear ya.

It's complicated

http://sacompassion.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/monkeyandfish2.jpg

Depends. On my 14' jon with the 25 Merc, 80lb Terrova, 15" Solix, 360 Imaging, 12 - 15 rods, and 150 lbs of tackle under the front deck, not so simple. 

When I sneak along the bank with one rod with a hard bait/frog tied on or a pack of plastics in my back pocket, very simple

3 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

Depends. On my 14' jon with the 25 Merc, 80lb Terrova, 15" Solix, 360 Imaging, 12 - 15 rods, and 150 lbs of tackle under the front deck, not so simple. 

When I sneak along the bank with one rod with a hard bait/frog tied on or a pack of plastics in my back pocket, very simple

 

You've got range, making you a ranger! Is this you?

 

I keep it pretty simple, 3 rods, a 4 medium size tray bag, a small bag of plastics, and sometimes the little box of spinnerbaits. Of course that’s just what’s in the boat.

 

Fwiw. I read The Maine Woods just before a Sept trip down the Allagash. after experiencing how thick the pines are it’s amazing they dragged their bateau up and down the hills, mile after mile, through those trees. Finding a spot to setup a tent is near impossible. Tough guys back then.

3 minutes ago, padlin said:

The Maine Woods just before a Sept trip down the Allagash. after experiencing how thick the pines are it’s amazing they dragged their bateau up and down the hills, mile after mile, through those trees. Finding a spot to setup a tent is near impossible. Tough guys back then.

 

They had it much easier than you're thinking. The eastern forest was described as "park-like" by those who first forayed into it. That's because the old growth trees subdued the brush. The Maine first today is a scrum, created by successive clear-cuttings, a tangle of flora all struggling to claim the rugby ball/light. 

Everything that goes on the boat must come in. So my son and I are about as minimalist as possible. 
 

* 1 rod each

* A tackle bag that looks like this

* An oar for the dinghy

* Maybe some water if it’s really hot out

 

Just easier to row out to a moored boat with less gear

Selling my boat and becoming backseater changed how I bass fish. No longer have all my tackle and thousands of lures to choose from.

A small tackle box would work but prefer tackle bag tat holds Plano 3600 size boxes and pockets for miscellaneous stuff.

I take 5 rod combo’s now. Jig and worm rod, Medium fast casting rod for general use and now 3 BSF combo’s. 
Lures include a few hair jigs and pork rind bottle, Spoons, crank baits and top water lures, assortment of soft plastics with hooks and weights and about 8 BSF lures between 1/8- 1/4  hard baits.

Enjoying catching bass on the BSF tackle.

Tom

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Have you simplified your fishing over the last ten years or complicated it?

Complicated

 

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

If you'd complicated it, is it because you love tech or because you love the hunt for the biggest bass

Neither. As I continued to fish more places, what I was doing was not working, so I had to adapt.

I still have not downsized my arsenal of gear, but have definitely simplified what I take with me.  All I ever use anymore is 4 total rods.  All casting models.  7' BFS, 7' mhmf, 7'5" mhmf, and an 8' heavy swimbait rod.  I am typically fishing 4 to 8 different baits routinely.  The rest stays at home anymore.

My bass fishing approach definitely got streamlined over the years, and I'm trending that direction with musky also, now that I've gained some experience with them. I'm a firm believer in the K.I.S.S system. 

55 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

They had it much easier than you're thinking. The eastern forest was described as "park-like" by those who first forayed into it. That's because the old growth trees subdued the brush. The Maine first today is a scrum, created by successive clear-cuttings, a tangle of flora all struggling to claim the rugby ball/light. 

Well you popped that bubble, it was a walk in the park.

I understand the context of the question, but do not subscribe to the belief that reducing equipment is simplifying, and adding equipment is complicating.  

I think the answer to whether someone has simplified or complicated their fishing depends on what is going on between their ears.  It is more about an uncluttered mind v. a cluttered mind than it is about an uncluttered boat v. a cluttered boat.  And I think Thoreau would agree.

Removing the clutter is minimalism which is supposed to be more simplistic.