Get what you pay for...

I think it is safe to say everybody has heard the saying "you get what you pay for." I think this can be related to fishing. I just recently though of this. Well one could translate "you get what you pay for for" as "You get back what you put in."

The more time, the more effort, the more focus, the more commitment you make to fishing, the more you'll get back. Whether this is putting in more mentally, by looking at fishing as more than a recreational activity, and more or a task to be accomplish, whether it be catch a new PB limit, or personal best bass, or beat the state record, etc. Or put more in physical, meaning spend more of your free time fishing. Whether it be planning an extra fishing trip a week, or stopping at your local spot on the drive by for an hour. You could fish for an hour longer than usual, or if you planed on fishing from sunrise until noon, stay out anf fish until mid afternoon.

On top of these mental and physical parameters, you can make more of a financial investment. This could be buy a wider array of lures(more sizes and colors for each lure) or purchasing better or more equipment(this doesn't mean if you are fishing with a $50 graphite rod purchasing a $250 rod will make you better or atuomatically you'll catch more fish) But if you are fishing with your old ugly stik or your original spincast rod.) Upgrade your tools or the trade. Maybe if you are a bank fisherman, save up and buy a small jon boat and trailer with a small motor, this will hugely boost your experience and skill since you will beable to fish more places and not just, your usual shoreline. If you already have a jon boat, save up for a depthfinde to even further imporve experience and skill.

You can always put your skill up against others and fish tournaments for a change of pace.

Bottom Line: We all put in our share towards fishing. We all get back something unique to what we have gave. If you are content, great, but if you ant more, there are many ways to get more out of fishing. I know for a fact I am sick of just beating the shoreline bank fishing. Once in a while I'll  have a good day if the fish are there, but more times than not they aren't. I need to invest in a boat/trailer so I can get out there onto the water and cover more water, find more fish, find that hot spot, etc. That way if the fish aren;t on the shoreline, I can motor to where they are. I could also invest more time, this means look at my weekly schedule and plan a couple or at least one SET TIME I will fish for at least a set amount of time, instead of just impulsively heading to the local ponds when I have free time. I also have to work on my focus and mind set when fishing. I reccommend that if you fish with someone who doesn;t share the same mind set towards fishign as you, stop fishing with them, at least don't fish with them often. They will only bring you down, and them wanting to leave after two hours without a bite could mean you not catching that trophy later on that day when you found that hot spot.

So, in order to achieve your fishing goals, to become better, whatever that means to you, whether it is catching at least one fish every time you go out, catching your limit every time out, or beating your personal best, or the state record, invest more mentally(focus, determination, information), physically(hours fishing), and financially(make sure you have what is needed to realistically acheive your goals)

I hope this didn't bore everyone who read it. It was a sincere article I thought would help almost everyone, especially young guys like me who at 21 still has (god willing) a solid 40-50 years to fish. I've came along way in 10 years fishing for sunnies with nightcrawlers, god only knows where I'll be in terms of fishing in 20-30 years down the road after building on a solid fishing foundation.

So ask yourself what more you can give fishing to get back what you deserve.