I still fish with a cane pole on occasion!

Hey Nitro, I agree with the sentiment of your post - I can tell you that I've had many days shore fishing with one rod & reel that was versatile enough for anything I expected to catch ... crappie, sandbass, largemouth, carp or catfish. On the other hand, it's kinda fun to have several outfits on the boat rigged for topwater, slabbing, live bait etc so you can change the way you fish without stopping to retie your rig.

Really it's all just a matter of how much money you want to put into your playtime after a certain point .... try asking a golfer if he really needs ALL those different clubs ...

just my $0.02.
the "pro's" have just about ruined freshwater fishing for me and are now working on saltwater. the expense and mile long rules with nearly yearly changes , i believe are a direct result of the impact "pro's" have though their influence.
i'm 46 and remember catching black bass with my grandad and taking them home to eat, remember camping out and having fried fish with my eggs in the morning.now you have a group of influential "pro's" who seem to believe folks who do that are impacting thier chosen profession.hence complicated regulations, slot limits, and rules that change from lake to lake in the same state.
to me taking something that was fun and relaxing and turning it into a choir.it is nearly to the point you need your lawyer with you just to know whats legal where.

Nitro: how did we ever catch a fish when our poles were a solid steer rod with eyes on them, some poles cut from the local cane patch, a wooden boat you had to leave in the water or fill with water a couple days to stop the leaks, a 12 hp Sea King motor, reels with out drags, mono line? what that, no fish finder. Beside all that the guys that taught us how to and where to fish took there boat in a wagon, no motor, no boat launch. I look back at some of the pictures my grandfather took with the piles of fish they caught, how in the world did they do that.

Thanks to all of you for your responses. I have 12 rods in my boat rigged in about every configuration. I guess I feel a little intimidated by all the new equipment and baits that seem to come out everyday. It makes me feel that everything I have is now outdated and no good anymore. I guess the advice about not worrying about what I don't have and concentrating on what I do have is what I need to do. The tackle and baits I do have would catch fish in the past and they still do. I NEED TO STOP TRYING TO OVER ANALYSE THE SPORT!

Ask the "serious" golfers about the 3 or 4 thousand dollar's they spend on clubs, or the 1,000.00 driver they must to have.
A friend of mine is into bicycle's, he just spent 5,000.00 on a bike that he had to have.
So I dont' think it's just our sport---

Friends, it's called "marketing" and there's a lot of money spent on tuning into the frequency of the buyer. Once they have you pattered, it's all just sort of a Pied Pipper's dance to the cash regisater. You see, they can't keep the revinue stream flowing while selling one item to each customer. Plant that seed of doubt regarding what they currently have, offer a new and improved version, get some flashy folks to hype it all just a bit (maybe even act like it's a little secret inside info) and CHA-CHING. Works every time.

Nitro,

I love the question you raised. I don't think we are making the sport to hard but we are getting caught up to much in keeing up with the Jones. Pitching a purple worm under a bush today is the same as it was 20 years ago. The same R&R used then works just as good today. Its much more sexy to use the latest and greatest equipment but hey, I like the classics. By the way I got tired of feeling pressured into always updating my equipment all the time so i said screw it and went all the way back to my catfishing roots. Now i fish with a swim noodle, 5 foot of braided line and a treble hook and am loving every minute of it. can't get anymore basic than this.

Thats cause your a coonass . So am I .

GEAUX TIGERS!!

What has changed is the fishing pressure put on fish now days, especially in the last 20 years. What landed a lunker fairly easy back in the 60's won't necessarily work today because of the fishing pressure being put on a given lake. These days a fish see's everything from a spinner bait to a skeleton key for the old mule barn drug in front of him. It makes em just a little more weary of biting just anything that comes along than the fish of yesteryear.

Good point Gary, I never thought of that.

I just use a tree limb I busted off the neighbors tree, tore a good size length of line off the ole ladies clothes line, and tied a clothes hanger on the end of it. Took a hub cap off a 43 Packard and made one funky spinnerbait.

Just come relax on the bank with the Carp Brigade. All you need is a can of corn, a small hook and a split shot or two. Rod, reel, line... makes no difference!

First I do not consider fishing a sport. If you fish for fun and enjoyment then it is recreation. If you fish for money then it is a business. Somewhere many years back dealers and manufacturers began trying to convince us that it was very desirable and necessary to catch a fish on every cast. If this would ever happen fishing would disappear in a couple of weeks. KVD can`t catch a fish if he does not have a Merc on the back on and on.

I fish most of the time with 4 rod/reel combos that I really like, and I feel like my deck is cluttered and I'm about to kick one overboard (which I did last year - doh!!). I always find it refreshing to fish out of a buddy's boat and only take two rods and limited tackle. It always proves that it's not as difficult as we sometimes make it. Just let your experience tell you what's best for you. If you like every bait and electronic aid, great. If you like a minimalist approach, that's great too!!