A guy I just met at a church function invited me to go fishing with him in his subdivision lake (which I've been wanting to try) in my jonboat. We went last night and things started off pretty slow as it was a new lake to me and he is a nooblet at bass fishing.

He wanted to fish this shoreline where he had alot of success about 1 year ago. The depth of the water about 2 feet from shore goes down quickly to 7-8 feet then after another 2-3 feet out goes down to 15 feet. As it was 6 pm I suggested we try and find some shallower water near a drop off but he wanted to try there during what time we had.

He started off with what he had tied on which was a weightless chartruese worm and wasn't having much luck. I put on a Zoom red shad Utail with a 1/8 worm weight and caught a couple in the first 30 minutes. He never had a bite and switched up to some other lures he had. I offered to set him up with the same thing I was using but he declined. About 1 hour later I had a couple more and he seemed a little off that I was catching fish and he wasn't getting a hit. I mentioned again that he might want to switch colors of the worm he was using. He did switch to a motor oil color but still going weightless.

My next dozen casts resulted in hits or fish but all about 1.5 pounds or less. He made a statement like 'man it's like loaning your golf club to someone and they hit it better than you'. I mentioned alot of fishing is just being at the right place at the right time with the right lure but it kind of fell on deaf ears. He ended up skunked but still okay but I'm not sure I'll get another invite back anytime soon.

How would you handle something like that? I felt like I was very personable and humble enough (no trash talking and offering him the same rig I was using.)

It sounds like you did the best thing.  You didn't rub it in when you caught the fish, and you offered him the "hot" bait.  You can't do much more than that.

Eddie you did the right thing....Maybe just leave him some of the effective baits and hooks weights etc. so that he can go try them on his own...He will get the hint and thankyou later for thinking of his best interest.

Big O

No Eddie, you did wrong.

You should have hit him on the head with your rod to beat some sense into his brain.  ;D

Actually, you did great. And all you can do is offer a bait or a rod and reel setup to someone. If they don't take it then it is their problem.

I wonder if he thought that this was "his lake" and he should know what to do?  But as we all know, fishing from the shore is different than fishing from a boat on the same body of water.

Also, with him being a novice he has no idea of how color and type of plastic mixes with the formula.

Maybe you can suggest he go out with you to shore fish and you all can get better acquainted and he will then have a 50-50 chance of hooking up with a few bass.

Otherwise, stay out of his Sunday School class! ;D   ;D   ;D

The other half of 2 Mooks in a boat liked to fish the shoreline more than I did, We were lucky to have several spots on the Lake where fishing from either side of the boat allowed us to do both at the same time. He is a converted stream/trout fisherman

I remeber not following advice here and persitentally fishing the shore, until I got frustrated. So I decided to let him go through his learning experience

We had a summer of hot days with very little rain, the lake is currently down 4+ feet. He finally got tired of catching nothing, and since he has not chosen to come on here yet, he asked me what i was learning, and now I can not get him away from the deep water THANK GOD!

It took some patience, giving him the stuff that was working for me and showing him the LITTLE BIT that I know, now we are both learning how to fish the deeper water together. Give him time.

eddie my friend, you have just done a perfect job outlining the main reason i fish alone most of the time.  sure i go with friends every once in a while, but when i do my goal is fun and fellowship.  the fishing is secondary.  that way it's a fun and "successful" trip no matter what we catch (or don't).  that's not to say i wanna get skunked when i'm fishing with somebody else.  i still wanna catch 'em and i try hard to and try to make sure they do too.  but when catching fish is my primary goal, especially catching a big fish, i mostly fish alone.  the one exception to this rule is my sweet little 6 y.o. daughter.  if she wants to go, i try real hard to take her.    she is my favorite fishing buddy of all.    

Thanks for the replies guys.

I guess I'm just not that competitive. When I fish or golf it's me vs the lake or golf course; not me vs whoever I'm with. This guy's obviously alot more competitive than me but I think he'll be okay. I have fished with guys like that before when they start counting the fish you or they catch my eyes start rolling.  :

You didn't do anything wrong....i don't think i would have did anything differently than you did either.

I take a guy out with me who's recovering from cancer and he's in the same slump...he always tells me "It don't bother me i just love being outdoors." That's the kind of guy i like bringing to the lake with me to fish and just have a good old time catching or not.

Eddie, you did the right thing.  It's not your fault that he didn't take you up on your offer.

;D ;DWHO'S YOUR DADDY NOW?...HUH...HUH (while pumping your fist) ;D ;D...

                          As Ever,

                           skillet

BTW no, not really. You did the only thing you could have done (except the above). The "bad" was on him...

I hate to post this for the fear of him seeing this but my dad is like this. The last time we were on a boat together he literally said "That should have been my fish!". I couldn't believe it and I remembered why I had actually stoped fishing for several years. I love my pops and I'm glad he is fishing again now that I started back up but there is a reason he doesn't get invited to go fishing on the boat very often. We go fishing at ponds all the time but there I can be half way on the other side of the pond from him ;D. While on the other hand my sisters boyfriend is GREAT to fish with. We respect each others space and are actually happy when the other catches a fish. We talk about whatever we want and discuss what spot we want to hit next. He also seems to prefer to have me to be up front running the trolling motor and you have to love that in a partner . While if I or both us take my dad fishing and he runs the trolling motor he positions the boat thinking about HIMSELF only. Maybe he just fished alone for to long or in tournaments to much when he was younger. >

It is not uncommon at all for guys to let their pride get in the way.

a friend told me recently about going fishing with a guy who insisted on fishing a particular lure.  My buddy was using a ratLtrap and slaying em.  He offered several times to loan the guy one in the same size and color, but the guy kept insisting that his lure would work.  He didn't catch anything and my buddy ended up with 18.

The guy was all bummed.  

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

There is one thing you should have done that would have been very nice.  After hooking one you should have asked him if he wanted to reel it in. LOL.  ;D

Some people are hard to fish with . If they are family  , it's easier to accept to a point and if they aren't family , they can fish by themselves.

I have to admit, I have a tendancy to think that way. I repress it cause I consider it anti-social and a bit rude. However, no matter how much someone is killing me, if they are willing to share what trick they are using, I am LISTENING to what they say. Pride or not, I want to catch fish and free advice is rare so I take it when I get it.

On a recent trip I had with a friend, we both deliberately tried different stuff until one of us found something that worked. In half the time we found the rig, bait and color that was working great that day and we both caught a pile of fish.

You did all you could. You offered him free advice in a respectable way and even went so far as to offer him some of the bait that was working well for you. That is the most you can do.

Well I saw the guy at church today and he seems okay. I did say something along the lines of when you want to go again and he replied soon. His wife was within earshot and said 'I hear you're quite the fisherman! Sam says you really know your stuff'. So apparently there's no hard feelings and I'll go with him again.

One other note; I only told one of my kids he didn't catch anything. When I got home that night, when the wife asked if we caught anything I said we caught about a dozen. I didn't want her saying anything to the guy's wife that could pour gasoline on the fire.

Like the other guys I think you did the right thing. I am always open to someone else's suggesti0ons and I am always either asking questions or advising what "I would do if I were you" type things.

As for him saying that y'all will be going out again "soon". I agree I doubt there are any hard feelings as he is a church going man he shouldn't hold a grudge, but the next time y'all go out before you even start fishing give him a idea of what you think should work and maybe he will take you up on the suggestion. If he doesn't then once agian that is his decision. But I have a pretty good idea that he will not want to get skunked again and he is probably looking to whip up on you on your next outing.

Wave a fish in the guy's face and tell him to keep his day job.