Thread: panfish versus bass

i enjoy fishing period. my first choice is crappie, i love it i also enjoy catfishing, stripe fishing and some bass fishing. i don't bass fish as much anymore because of all the tornments and the attitude of a lot of the bass fisherman

I fished for gills as a kid almost every day. I got older and started bass fishing. I did the tournament thing and done good at it, but I got sick of the price of bass tackle going from 5 bucks for a crankbait to the new spro and others at 15 to 20 dollars! Stupid greed! Almost all of it is made in china too. The tournaments have gotten plain ol stupid here in east TN. On the weekends you cant even hardly find a place to park because of 10 different tournaments. And there is tons of unsportsman like guys on the water.
After buying a 5' UL a few years ago I took my canoe and went to a creek and threw a tinny beetle spin in the late spring. WOW, I caught tons of huge gills. I remembered the fishing I had done as a kid and how much fun it was. No stressing about a big limit, or if Im gonna make my entry fee back (which I almost always did) or dealing with some jerk cutting me off and going up the strech of bank in front of me forcing me to fish used water. Just peace and fun the way God intended it for me.
Now I do it all gills, crappie, bass, and even go trout fishing on occation. I love catching spotted bass on hand tied jigs in the fall, (good eating) Sometimes I wade the creeks for redeyes too. I have even taught myself to flyfish. Im more of an oppertunist nowadays. Whats bitting the best is what Im after. But gills on spinning and fly tackle and wading redeys in a creek with UL tackle is my favorite. Exept maybe when the crappies are big and hungry. Maybe your friends have never fished southern resivours, a limit of crappie is ALOT harder to catch than a limit of bass. I bet they wouldnt turn there nose up at them after a day on the water in the summer months in Tennessee, they would take there hat off. My 2 cents on the matter.