I have fished for as long as I can remember and I remember when I was really young fishing at a local lake and catching tons of gills but looked down on them as they weren't the trout we were after. I moved to Salmon and Steelhead when I got older and did alright with them but spent way more time fishing than catching! I took a few years off from fishing when I moved across the country to PA and then I moved to CO and started fishing again a few months before moving from there back to WA.
Now that I am back into it I don't know why I quit fishing for those 4 or 5 years especially after finding out all the great panfishing opportunities I missed out on in those states! Now that I am in WA its hard to find people that are into going after gills or crappie as this state's fishermen seem to favor the Salmon, Steelhead, or trout which is fine I like to fish for them as well I just prefer to fish for panfish. Fly fishing is a huge deal in my area and I am slowly getting more gear for it but I am not as interested in fishing for trout with the fly gear but I am wanting to target panfish on a fly rod. You talk about targeting gills or crappie with fly rods in the local fly shops and they look at you like you just shot their mother. They sure are interested in my micro jigs I tie though that are light enough for their trout fly rods.
Anyways, back to the point the past week I have been going back to the basics as well just a slip bobber and a worm or tight line setup with worms and have been having a great time on the perch and the occasional trout but targeting the perch. Saturday had a blast with my girlfriend's dad (my fishing partner when he has the free time) landed 100+ perch and a few trout between the two of us and never once HAD to change our gear all day (I put one of my jigs on when I cut the line on a deep hooked fish). It was a blast and it was simple as could be. When I find myself trying to think of a way to catch the fish in order to catch just one fish it takes the fun out of especially if you don't figure out what they want. Sometimes the fun is in the challenge of figuring out what they want but I would rather go out and catch and release 100% of my catch than spend the whole day trying to figure out what they want and running out of light once you do figure it out or going home skunked and grumpy cause I couldn't figure it out.
To me hitting the water for some panfish and keeping everything simple is what keeps me fishing when I can't get excited when an unexpected big fish comes along then I will quit fishing till then I will fish till can't anymore and try to keep it as simple as I can!
