Who is a true angler? I often hear reports from people that fishing was ok, fair, or not good at all. That said, I've had many days where fishing was indeed, horrible. But I wonder how much time do people really invest in fishing. I get up early and am on the water before 6 most days and don't quit until the sun is setting or down. These times, especially during the summer, seem to yield me the most fish. I rarely see people up fishing when I'm out early or on the lake late. What say you?

I generally reserve for myself the place of 'judge' of myself as a true angler. That means I set my own standards for species, intensity, style of fishing, goals, etc.

I do, however, defer at times to the standards of others, but generally only inasmuch as it has to do with good ecological practices (for example, observing limits, not littering, etc), and common courtesy while around other fisherman. Otherwise, I have little interest in how someone else judges me.

barehook: "I generally reserve for myself the place of 'judge' of myself as a true angler. That means I set my own standards for species, intensity, style of fishing, goals, etc.

I do, however, defer at times to the standards of others, but generally only inasmuch as it has to do with good ecological practices (for example, observing limits, not littering, etc), and common courtesy while around other fisherman. Otherwise, I have little interest in how someone else judges me. "

I’m not here to judge you, but to find out what type of angler you are. That is why “true” is in quotes. How much time do you devote to fishing when you’re in the Boundary Waters? What is your expectation when fishing? Thank you.

If I am not eating or sleeping, I'm fishing........fishing is not a matter of life or death, it is more important than that...... :)

I’m a sunrise to sundown fisherman, it’s the hunt that I love the most..

I guess I’m half of a true angler…….

I’ve always wanted to get up at sunset but I like the late nights around the campfire too much. Once I’m up I fish all day and don’t pull into camp until after sunset.

Often times the horrible fishing days are saved by the last hour or two of light.

I'm a troller. Usually I start with a daredevil or sinking rap and troll while paddling. If I'm a long way from campsite I let them go. If I'm on the bay where I'm camping I may keep one or two to eat, depending on size. I usually have a small box, 4" x 6' for gear and carry along 3 poles, 1 spinning and 2 spin cast armed with different lures.

Being a true angler is a curse, as I hate climbing out of my warm, dry sleeping bag at four in the morning to don my wet pants and boots.

4-6 hrs a day and usually around dawn and dusk. I get to fish all I want at home and I enjoy other aspects of canoe tripping.

8-10 hours a day with the first half being early morning from 5:30-10:30 am. We have our big meal of the day after we come in and then spend time enjoying our base camp with swimming, fishing from shore, napping or hiking around camp. We hit it again around 4:30 pm and fish until around 9:30pm. Come in to enjoy a nice campfire and hit the hay around 11ish. We trip in June to capitalize on the long days and incredible fishing.

I have been fishing since I could hold a rod and reel, started going to Quetico in the early 90's, fished long and hard, had a blast. Took a break for a few years, now living on a great fishing lake, I fish almost every day. The fever is back and I love it, my prism as my boat and rod in hand :)

I go fishing to catch dinner. Once I catch enough to eat, I'm usually done. Sometimes we fish for fun, or to tour the lake, but there are chores at camp that need to be done and sometimes I like to sit and take in the view. I don't think of myself as any less of a fisherman or angler because of it though. I spend a great deal of time planning my gear, looking at maps to find the best fishing spots and getting everything ready. How much time you spend on the water each day doesn't change any of that.

I just don't see much reason to hook, and probably kill, more fish than I will eat. Especially when trout fishing in deep water, those don't survive the trip to the surface as often.

A1t2o: "I go fishing to catch dinner. Once I catch enough to eat, I'm usually done. Sometimes we fish for fun, or to tour the lake, but there are chores at camp that need to be done and sometimes I like to sit and take in the view. I don't think of myself as any less of a fisherman or angler because of it though. I spend a great deal of time planning my gear, looking at maps to find the best fishing spots and getting everything ready. How much time you spend on the water each day doesn't change any of that.


I just don't see much reason to hook, and probably kill, more fish than I will eat. Especially when trout fishing in deep water, those don't survive the trip to the surface as often."

I take a very similar approach. If I'm not having much luck I will spend most of my day trying. If they are biting and I get to a point where I am not going to keep any more fish I stop.

I used to be...but having kids has changed the game...if I fished the way I used to I don't think my kids would ever go with me again.

In the past though...yes...I am annoying to fish with...I fish harder and more when they aren't biting...I need to figure it out. If we are catching fish after fish that are average I want to leave...I need to find the bigger ones---there is always a better bite or a bigger fish. Many times the only way my Dad can get me to go in is to just pack everything up and drive off so I can no longer cast...:)

T

I guess I'm a true Fisher person. I've certainly fished in a lot of places and my husband complains that I never want to give up. I'm not very good at it most of the time so I guess I just enjoy the chase. I've never really gotten over that 1st fish I pulled up and started crying because the fish was hurt. I probably wouldn't fish as much if I caught lots of fish for that reason. I'm usually pretty happy if I get it up to the point I can see them good and they get off on their own, so I fish with barbless hooks. I will keep one or two a trip for a meal, but I apologize when I have to kill them. They do eat their own kind though, so they can't be too surprised.

barehook: "I generally reserve for myself the place of 'judge' of myself as a true angler. That means I set my own standards for species, intensity, style of fishing, goals, etc.


I do, however, defer at times to the standards of others, but generally only inasmuch as it has to do with good ecological practices (for example, observing limits, not littering, etc), and common courtesy while around other fisherman. Otherwise, I have little interest in how someone else judges me.


"

OK, I get it. We are base camped, seeing travel as a waste of good fishing time.
I travel enough to get to our destination and back, and that's it. I generally get up with the sun, quick breakfast, and we are out fishing. We hit it pretty intensely with occasional brief 'butt breaks', and about 1/2 hour for lunch....nuts, dried fruit, jerky, etc. Something fast and portable. Rarely troll or cast, target walleye on the deep humps in August with jigs/crawler, smallmouth and pike are scattered into the mix of what we catch. On the stained lakes we fish we have had as much success mid-day as at sunset, so after a good supper at camp we are more lackadaisical about going out again...maybe going after the shoreline/late evening topwater bite for smallmouth. This 'relaxed' approach in the evening especially comes into play if the fishing has been good during the day. But make no mistake, I am there for the outstanding fishing and I put in what for me are pretty long days with a rod in hand. I will admit that at age 68 I am slightly less intense than previously. LOL

timatkn: "I used to be...but having kids has changed the game...if I fished the way I used to I don't think my kids would ever go with me again. "

I'd say this... I fish 100% of the time I am able to with my 3 and 1 yr old in the canoe.... which doesn't amount to much time fishing... but I far more enjoy my hour of fishing with my boys than 12 hours of fishing with my buddies.

timatkn: "I used to be...but having kids has changed the game...if I fished the way I used to I don't think my kids would ever go with me again.


In the past though...yes...I am annoying to fish with...I fish harder and more when they aren't biting...I need to figure it out. If we are catching fish after fish that are average I want to leave...I need to find the bigger ones---there is always a better bite or a bigger fish. Many times the only way my Dad can get me to go in is to just pack everything up and drive off so I can no longer cast...:)


T"

Like you, T, I'm driven to solve the puzzle. My best memories are those trips where we caught little and the weather was foul and the wind howled. Then the guys got discouraged and so I'd go alone. So there I'd be, battling the wind, and experience has taught me that storms can cluster fish, moving 90% of the fish to 5% of the lake, so you just have to find that spot.

On one trip, we'd fished six gray, blustery days in a row, catching 5% of what we usually catch, but on the seventh and last day, I found that spot, caught ten in a row, and fetched the guys. After about 90 minutes, I dropped my rod and simply watched. I'd done my job.

I sometimes get discouraged and sometimes ready to quit but I keep on fishing knowing that all it takes is one fish to make my day. I’m always trying to figure it out. Most people I fish with are ready to quit within an hour if they don’t catch anything. I’ll stay until the bitter end. And sometimes that’s the case, but other times it’s when I try something different or try a few more castes or minutes trolling that I meet with success.
When fishing is good I’ll try another part of a lake or try another method to expand my repertoire of fishing techniques.

I don’t know about your title true angler. In the BWCA we get up about at 6:00 AM, fix breakfast, drink coffee, clean up camp and hit the lake by 10:00 AM. We usually fish until 3-4 PM then head back to camp and fillet fish. We normally limit out on Walleye. We don’t keep every fish but we eat about 2-3 that night. After supper is cleaned up we sit around the fire watching our lighted slip bobbers go down. If we catch any walleye we derp six them for breakfast. So during the day we fish about 9 hours. Got to leave time in the day for cribbage, whiskey and cigars too.

Savage Voyageur: "Got to leave time in the day for cribbage, whiskey and cigars too.
"

Amen

I fish pretty hard when I fish, but I don't usually bother midday or when conditions are otherwise unfavorable. I don't try to make 'em bite anymore. Instead, I wait for the traditionally productive times and spots.

I likely qualify here. Including that, in general, I find all the technology to be disgusting. Learn how to assess a lake or river and figure out where the fish are. This is a part of the deal-a BIG part of the deal.

I'm with you OTB. The "true" test is finding the fish and reading the water and land features along the shoreline. We leave the technology behind and when we share our fish stories and pics others can't believe we didn't have any help with tech gear.

papalambeau: " I'm with you OTB. The "true" test is finding the fish and reading the water and land features along the shoreline. We leave the technology behind and when we share our fish stories and pics others can't believe we didn't have any help with tech gear."

I'm pretty much with you on the technology question. I find myself surrounded by boats with LiveScopes, Sidescans, GPS, etc....and it somehow goes against my grain.

However, I did say 'pretty much with you' and here's the qualifier. How do you 'read' the water and shoreline when searching for deep water mid-lake structures? Sorry, but without a basic depth finder I'm feel defeated when out in the middle of a big lake.

The only non-technology strategy I've heard of is to troll a deep diver until you feel the bottom or get snagged, throw out a marker, and fish accordingly. That's REALLY laborious and hit and miss in a canoe and even after one encounters a hump/reef, it's STILL laborious and seems at times impossible to figure out via fishing, the exact contours of the structure.

So, given how I fish (deep structure jigging in mid-summer) I take in a basic depth finder and some markers on my BWCA trips.

Thoughts?

I hear your side of it Barehook and totally understand. We have to do our intel big time before we go by connecting on this site and with other old timers that we have made lifelong friends with because of the BW. We have a lot of maps that are marked up but that isn't to say that there have been "honey holes" that we haven't been able to find.

Sometimes the fish win-seems fair enough to me.

papalambeau: " I hear your side of it Barehook and totally understand. We have to do our intel big time before we go by connecting on this site and with other old timers that we have made lifelong friends with because of the BW. We have a lot of maps that are marked up but that isn't to say that there have been "honey holes" that we haven't been able to find."

Just to add to the BWCA challenge, the lack of distinguishing landmarks for triangulation. I grew up fishing Kansas reservoirs. Usually there was something in the distance.... a silo, a water tower, power poles, a big tree or gap in a hedge row....something that one could line up with and triangulate.

BWCA? Uh, the big tree that kind of sticks up?? Not so much.

A previous poster is right....sometimes the fish just win.

I go hard

winter time i'll be out there sunrise to well past sunset for 1 flag , and when i'm by myself i usually get rewarded ;)

I just fish at light, throw out a slip bobber when in camp, and fish until the mosquitoes come out. I don’t fish when I’m moving camp. I try to fish when the fish are biting, when ever that is?
I ice fish until the ice is getting schetchy. Don’t fish around home as there is no place close to fish. I don’t fish by myself as I don’t enjoy fishing alone.
I do own a fair amount of equipment and any one that sees me up North are probably fooled and think I’m a true angler. I personally don’t myself a true angler but people who know me would probably disagreement with that assessment.

Captn Tony: "I just fish at light, throw out a slip bobber when in camp, and fish until the mosquitoes come out. I don’t fish when I’m moving camp. I try to fish when the fish are biting, when ever that is?
I ice fish until the ice is getting schetchy. Don’t fish around home as there is no place close to fish. I don’t fish by myself as I don’t enjoy fishing alone.
I do own a fair amount of equipment and any one that sees me up North are probably fooled and think I’m a true angler. I personally don’t myself a true angler but people who know me would probably disagreement with that assessment.
"

The ability to self-assess is one of the human's greatest weaknesses. You sir are outstanding in this regard-congratulations. You are correct-you are not a true angler...and that is okay.

I can fish for hours and hours by myself. I have very little gear-people would wonder how I catch so many fish. For me, the fishing deal is between me and the fish...one on one...it has nothing to do with any party that may be accompanying-not that I do not enjoy being accompanied.

Captn Tony: "I just fish at light, throw out a slip bobber when in camp, and fish until the mosquitoes come out. I don’t fish when I’m moving camp. I try to fish when the fish are biting, when ever that is?
I ice fish until the ice is getting schetchy. Don’t fish around home as there is no place close to fish. I don’t fish by myself as I don’t enjoy fishing alone.
I do own a fair amount of equipment and any one that sees me up North are probably fooled and think I’m a true angler. I personally don’t myself a true angler but people who know me would probably disagreement with that assessment.
"

The good old double post :)

Every couple days I step out the back door and take the short walk to our little farm pond. It has a sizable population of 2 to 4 pound largemouths. I am trying to desensitize them-teach them not to be so gullible...they seem to be slow learners. Yesterday one of the big ones got away-got it 3/4 of the way in. Strangely, the big ones seldom get away-they believe they can run hard and deep and be saved by their brute strength...they seldom jump. This one finally came flying out of the water and shook the lure. I offered it congratulations.

Age has a lot to do with it. My back won’t allow me to sit in a canoe all day. I’m very careful about that as my back went out on a canoe trip a few years ago and I wasn’t sure I was going to get out. For some reason I can paddle for hours but sitting and fishing in a canoe just kills my back after a couple of hours.
Also with the equipment I have today it’s easier to find structure and fish so I don’t have to spend all day looking for them.
10 years ago was a different story.

Interesting question. I've been pretty obsessed with fish and fishing since I was a year old, which was 55 years ago. For many years it was quite an obsession, and it was all I thought about or did during the season. In recent years I have backed off quite a bit, but it is still my first love outside of God and my family. My opinion is the only requirement to be a "true angler" is that you have a deep passion and love of angling. That's it, nothing more is needed. How much equipment you own, how much you fish, how good you are at it, or the species you fish for have no bearing whatsoever. It is strictly the love of angling that makes you an angler. I have spent many thousands of dollars and many thousands of hours fishing but that is my opinion. Now if you are asking what makes a good angler, I would say knowledge through education, and then experience through time and hard work, or hard play if you prefer, and lastly good equipment. The most important part is education. If you fish 10 hours a day for 200 days a year for 100 years you would never ever get 1/10th the knowledge that you will gain through education. Not even a contest. The wise man learns from others mistakes, the Idiot learns from his own. No truer words were ever spoken. If you are not reading every article on fishing, every fishery biologists fishery studies that you can get your hands on, talking with every good angler that will talk to you, keeping this information handy and studying it to death along with many hours on the water experimenting, learning, refining, and then owning good equipment you will never be a great angler. I have a friend who fishes much harder and longer than me. He has crappy equipment, limited knowledge and only fishes for 2-3 favorite species. I catch vastly more fish and species than he does, but I consider him every bit as much of an angler as myself because he does it his way and has a deep passion for it. Passion is the answer to a person being a true angler, however that passion manifests itself.

outsidethebox: "

Captn Tony: "I just fish at light, throw out a slip bobber when in camp, and fish until the mosquitoes come out. I don’t fish when I’m moving camp. I try to fish when the fish are biting, when ever that is?
I ice fish until the ice is getting schetchy. Don’t fish around home as there is no place close to fish. I don’t fish by myself as I don’t enjoy fishing alone.
I do own a fair amount of equipment and any one that sees me up North are probably fooled and think I’m a true angler. I personally don’t myself a true angler but people who know me would probably disagreement with that assessment.
"

The good old double post :)

Every couple days I step out the back door and take the short walk to our little farm pond. It has a sizable population of 2 to 4 pound largemouths. I am trying to desensitize them-teach them not to be so gullible...they seem to be slow learners. Yesterday one of the big ones got away-got it 3/4 of the way in. Strangely, the big ones seldom get away-they believe they can run hard and deep and be saved by their brute strength...they seldom jump. This one finally came flying out of the water and shook the lure. I offered it congratulations. "

Do you have a photo of your pond? Owning a pond has been my lifelong dream, but at this point, I don't think it will ever happen.

I don't fish nearly as hard as I used to, nor nearly as often. In my 20's it was a new experiance and I was out most weekends and would stop when I hit my limit. I ate alot of fish. Today I feel as though i've had the experiances and I get out a few times a summer and give it a couple hours at each occassion. In the BW, I'll head out in the morning for a few hours and if I catch dinner, i'm done. if not, i'm back out in the evening.

missmolly, just look me (Warren Yoder) up on face book and arrow through all the pictures I post-many about life on our little 55 acres out here on the Kansas prairie. The pond shows up routinely-it's only about 100 feet wide and 100 yards long. I post a lot to keep our friends and family across the country and around the world in touch with what is happening in our lives.

I love to fish and in the Bwca I love to fish a lot. I often see the sunrise and sunset and appreciate both. If that makes me a true angler than I am . If not than I’m not .

I almost always fish sunup to sundown on my BWCA/Quetico trips with a short break in the middle of the day to have a large lunch, stretch my legs and swim if it's hot. I can sleep when I am back home, no reason not to spend every single second of a trip doing what I love...

ericinely: "I almost always fish sunup to sundown on my BWCA/Quetico trips with a short break in the middle of the day to have a large lunch, stretch my legs and swim if it's hot. I can sleep when I am back home, no reason not to spend every single second of a trip doing what I love..."

As I am sure that you have seen, I am not a fan of all the electronics-or anything that approaches shooting fish is a barrel. Truthfully, last Fall when we were sitting on that beautiful little BWCA lake and I was catching 15 to 20 inch brook trout hand over fist...I'm not sure why I kept yanking them out of there-after ten or so in very rapid succession. It soon became apparent that there was no longer a challenge to this activity. Where do you draw the line on this-what makes fishing meaningful for you???

outsidethebox: "

ericinely: "I almost always fish sunup to sundown on my BWCA/Quetico trips with a short break in the middle of the day to have a large lunch, stretch my legs and swim if it's hot. I can sleep when I am back home, no reason not to spend every single second of a trip doing what I love..."

As I am sure that you have seen, I am not a fan of all the electronics-or anything that approaches shooting fish is a barrel. Truthfully, last Fall when we were sitting on that beautiful little BWCA lake and I was catching 15 to 20 inch brook trout hand over fist...I'm not sure why I kept yanking them out of there-after ten or so in very rapid succession. It soon became apparent that there was no longer a challenge to this activity. Where do you draw the line on this-what makes fishing meaningful for you???"

That is an interesting way to look at fishing: I can't say I can relate. I have spent a lot of time fishing in the BWCA and I can't say that I have ever had a "shooting fish in a barrel" experience (either with or without electronics). Even with electronics, which I only started using about three years ago, (I use a sonar and GPS to mark spots but don't have accurate lake topography) I am constantly frustrated/challenged by fish behavior and their reactions to weather, time of year, fishing pressure, etc. I have had fantastic days of fishing like the brook trout day you are referencing, but never once did I get the feeling that there was no challenge. I guarantee if you go to that exact same lake with the exact same bait you won't have the same experience again.

Rather than your pessimistic view of those great fishing days, I live for them. I know that for every day where you seem to be "shooting fish in a barrel," you will have 10 days where the fish keep you humble, regardless of your experience level. Maybe if fishing isn't your thing, you can find another more rewarding experience in the BW.

And Eric, you are obviously blessed with some wonderful trophys.
That comes from experience, paying your dues, spending the time on the water. You my friend ate benefiting from all that experience you’ve worked hard for. Fish On!!!

I see where a lot of people get up early and fish late. In our younger years we did the same. As we have aged our fishing times have change. Now we start fishing around 9:00 to 9:30 (after breakfast) take a lunch break around 12:00 and finish fishing about 4:30 in time for a fish dinner. Our typical day consist of fishing a structure until we figure the fish out. Then we get bored move to the next piece of structure. We get more of a thrill from the hunt not the numbers although in a typical day we will catch between 50 and 75 walleyes with slow days being 25 to 50. About 2:30 in the afternoon we start keeping eater walleyes for dinner. This gives us time to be selective about what we keep. What's interesting is we have become better fisherman fishing the middle of the day and catch about the same number of fish as when we were on the water all day. Plus are trips are much more relaxing.

Eric, first of all, my view of fishing is in no way pessimistic-it is very different from yours. I am 68 so I did learn to find the fish very differently from you, too. As a youngster, our family's nearly annual trip to Rainy-and several small lake portages clearly debunk your guarantee of where the fish are and how to catch them. And even last Fall on that brook trout lake we went back the second day to see if it was real-and it was OMG real. I'm glad you enjoy fishing the way you do...and I'm pretty sure that you have a different set of purposes included with your ventures. I simply prefer a different kind of hunt/challenge.