You know you are a serious fisherman when...

1. You look out over a pasture and imagine it under water and you decide where the fish would position themselves.
2. You hear the sentence " I must be having a problem with my lower unit cause my hole-shot is not as good as it once was" and you don't laugh and you offer possible solutions because you have experienced the same problem.
3. You have set the hook on the vibration of your shirt tail in the wind hitting the butt of your rod.
4. You apologize to/ feel bad for your boat for going fishing in another man's boat.
5. You have set the hook in your sleep.
6. You have looked at a new lure moving through the water and stated " I would hit that"..

Feel free to add to the list

I do #5 a lot. My wife doesn't think it's funny anymore because I'll wake her up.

#3...I don't set the hook, but it definitely gets my attention.

#6 all the time

7. You ask your son how long his wedding is going to take because there is full moon that night.
8. You ask you wife how did she enjoy your anniversary because you had a great time at the tournament and cashed a check.
9. During the divorce you argue more over who gets the boat than over the kids.

10. You are on TFF, Bassmaster, Wired2Fish, etc. and researching all day instead of working at work.

++++

Your "no.8" is FACT for me. As well as texting my daughter happy birthday from the boat,....and having her text me "happy Father's Day".

It's crazy how devoted to this stuff I am. It's also even more impressive as to how my family supports me.

11. When pitching or flipping you hit a spot that looks so good you exclaim "that should have got me bit".
#3 gets my attention more often then I like to admit.

But....

11. You research every old "pre water/lake" map you can dig up to see what the terrain looked like BOFORE it was a lake.

12. You think of buying another rental property as a means to fund more fishing gear.

My wife is so good she asks me why I'm not fishing if I take period of time off. Then she will tell me that I had better get to the lake before she kills me. I get a little cranky when I miss more then a week.

HAHAHAHAHAH #10ing right now!

Do I work with you?

#13. When you say you need some Sweet Beavers and your wife doesn't even get mad anymore!

#14.When both of your cars are in the driveway because your boat cost more than both of them combined and it stays in the garage!

Number 11,or if I cannot find the map I will wait until a drought and walk the banks,
putting topography maps in my brain.
I am like an elephant. I never forget.

15. You apologies to your boat for not going fishing last weekend.

only one thing worse is you boat goes in the garage and it a lot cheaper then the your cars and truck lol

I tried to park mine in the garage, but my wife was going to change the locks on the house.

This is old but appropriate for the occasion....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFZr8205mX8

#1 all the time

You set the hook when you're reeling in a chalk line! Haha

So... How many of y'all did #1 on the list on your way home from work today?

When you drive two days to get to one of the best Bass lakes in the world.

When you drive by a field; notice all the cows on their feet and feeding. Then wondering if the bass are up and about and feeding as well.

When you hope and pray for rain because the lake will be less crowded, the bite will be on, plus you will get to wear your high dollar gore Tex.

The day after you place a yoog order from tackle warehouse but hit academy the next day just in case the order doesn't make it in on time.

Yoog is Trump lingo in case you're wondering.

The purple clouds roll in with thunder and rain. Lightning starts popping trees on the bank. You can actually feel the static in the air....and you can't leave because you are catching a toad on every single cast.


Stupid? yes. But it does happen.

When there is no other place in the world you would rather be than on the lake.

Not to me it doesn't

I'm about as gung-ho as they get....and I am crazy! Not stupid. I will try to live to fish another day. I have fished in 35 degrees raining, windy, and hail....lightning? Nope. Wait it out.

I do "1" every time I leave Joe Pool. I pass by the new lake they are making in Midlothian. I have even taken my jeep out there and drove around the purposed lake and marked stuff on my GPS. Getting ready for 2021. Lol.

You guys are absolutely nutz. I'm glad I'm not messed up like that. Denial is first hurdle to overcome.....work in progress!!

I've fished with you.....you are worse. Haha.

You keep fishing logs for years with pictures drawn on them and notes on how and where fish were caught how the weather was etc.
Then you go back 20 years later and read over them for FUN.
Also you are out on Fork fishing with a buddy and you point to a tree and say "Man I caught a 6 lber on a jig right on that tree!" And he says, "When was that, last week?" And you say, "No, I believe it was in 95."

spend m-f planning your s-s fishing.

When people introduce you as they're fisherman friend instead of whatever you do for a living.

you judge how nice a truck is by how good it would look pulling your boat.

you hear a bump in the night at home and the first thing you check is your boat/gear

you have ever made a normal person uncomfortable because they made the mistake of asking "so like, what to these bass things eat" by responding with a 10 minute lecture on seasonal movement, water clarity, dominant forage and seasonal movement of forage.

When you pull up to a tournament to find out your cranking battery is dead and fish the tournament anyways with just your trolling motor.

I just finished transcribing 20 years of hand written fishing logs into a 60+ page Word document. Rereading them actually brought back memories long forgotten.

Really enjoy this post. Every time I go over the list l LMAO. My wife says your quote at the bottom of your post fits me perfectly. Wants to use it when l "check out".(no time soon,l hope). Just wanted to know who gets the credit.

Go to Sugar for 3 months straight, come home to a divorce and than move to a private bass lake. Real talk...

When you tell your partner "look all your cows are laying down"

Some Great stuff here!!
Allen- that would be one heck of a fishing log to read!! Wish I could dedicate myself to keeping a good log!
pwarren- yep I've done that before!!
Mike- yep I've been introduced as "hey this is Rudy, he likes to fish"
Steez- yep that new lake should be AWESOME!! I may or may not have been saving google images of creek channels!! :-)

Mostly I relate to #1!! Every fallen down tree, a pile of rocks, anything on the side of the road that looks "fishy" if it was underwater!!

I was fishing a tournament on fork about 15 years ago and took out my big motor on a stump at about 8:30 AM. Forward was toast but reverse gear worked, so I crossed Fork in reverse to get to the cove near the Minnow Bucket(where we had launched). Dropped the trolling motor and fished the rest of the day in those coves. Ended up in second. My $100 (small club) winnings paid about 10% of the cost to repair the big motor.

Another time, first thing in the morning I spun my hub just as I got to the car bridge on Monticello. Could only slow idle. It is a very long trip to slow idle up to Smith Creek. Had to leave an hour early to make sure I got back for weigh-in on time.

I also found out the night before a tournament on Bob Sandlin that my trolling motor was toast. Still fished the tournament but did not fare well. That was harder to overcome (for fishing) than the big motor problems.

When you have more rods and reels than your wife has shoes......

Yeeuuuupp lol

When you have already told your wife which point you want your ashes displaced for your memorial..

Lol...when you designate which rod, reel and lure to be buried with in your will.

Awesome stuff here....
When you are known in your neighborhood as "The guy with the boat". Keep in mind she stays parked out back out of sight....
When you walk thru your house you pitch and flip at corners and edges imagining bass setting up......
When your hard core fishing partners (yes plural) wish they can fish half as much as you do....
When you walk into a tackle shop or boat dealer and its like Norm walking into Cheers......
When you have a truck dedicated to pulling your boat and you have a daily driver.....
When you go on a fishing trip, the crew you are with takes shifts in order to be able and keep up.....

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2013/20130624_lightningsafety.html

This is why I get off the water if lightning is seen...

My buddy actually has me in his will for all of his rods and reels because his son doesnt fish. True friends keep giving even after they are gone!

when you have a prenup that states in bold print "I get all the fishing stuff"

P.S. if you fish enough, the prenup will come in handy!

whan BassPro calles you for as order.

when you create a bass club that fishes every Thursday, but using three different formats

Debbie Downer Buzz Kill

You don't need an alarm clock to get up.

You're the first one out and the last on in!

People stop fishing with you because you "fish too hard"( I told the guy that's the only way I know how to fish)...never saw him again.

Fish while passing a kidney stone!!!

When you put you're food & drinks together for a tournament and at end of tournament you and partner hadn't even touched it .

When your future ex wife says "Its fishing in the summer and hunting in the winter, I cant compete".

True story

You have a Rage Craw hanging from your rear view mirror serving as an air freshener.

Is there something wrong with this? I thought I was being productive while missing work.......

On the job and reading these, only call I've had in office today was, yep, my fishing acquaintance wanting to know where I would end up tomorrow.

#4,5 &6 many,many times over & over.
I can see I m in darn good company

Every day I drive to work.

[quote=bronco71] [quote=John Peebles]

Fish while passing a kidney stone!!!

Is there something wrong with this? I thought I was being productive while missing work.......

Hey I had already paid the tournament entry fee!

When your confident enough to give the compliment "Nice Sack" to a complete stranger.
When you fish a tournament all day with a hook embedded in your hand, or face, or foot.
When you are excited about the first cast of the day, and sadden by the last cast of the day.
When you enjoy teaching kids.
When you think driving 300 miles to a tournament is no big deal.
When you fish a team tournament solo because your partner had to attend his own wedding.

When you agree to accompany wife to grocery store on Saturday, because there's a lake you never fished only slightly out of the way.

When you actually have nicknames for all 184 crank baits in the boat

Peace and Bent Rods

HuknBull67

To funny, this posts are to great.

That one made me chuckle too.

....when there are more pics of you with fish than with your significant other....

You get overly frustrated because waiting for safe light is causing you to miss some of the best fishing of the day...

I bought my dedicated boat puller last month!

Mine is a Black Hilldebrandt spinnerbait. Makes me remember all of those night fishing trips at Fork in the 90's especially when the windows are rolled down and that blade starts going around and around. Retired it to my rear view mirror after an especially awesome fight with an 8 lber one night.