Plus #1.

Depends on what you like to do, some like the experience of hanging out. I like to catch fish. When I’m crappie or sandbass fishing I know exactly what I’m doing that’s going to catch fish. If I spend 5 minutes in a spot and don’t get a bite it means the fish aren’t there or aren’t interested. To me it’s time to move on. I don’t have the patience to sit around for longer than 10 minutes and not catch a fish when I’m fishing for something that’s a numbers thing like crappie. If I want to hang out and drink beer I’ll go fish for flathead catfish, anything else and if I don’t catch something in 5-10 minutes something isn’t right and I’m moving. There just something about leaving the creek or the boat ramp with a limit of fish.

I suppose that's the difference between an angler that just hangs out with a cane pole & float vs a tournament angler that runs & guns all over the lake. In the first case there's no desire to learn more whereas the angler with something to prove needs to learn new things to be competitive - especially when it comes to racking up numbers of fish caught and fish size.

In my case it's experiencing wonder every time a fish strikes a lure - few lures looking nor moving like anything that ever lived. My gear is old bottom-of-the-line, but I can guarantee I can keep up with those that have far more expensive equipment fishing lakes I know like the back of my hand.

I suppose whatever floats your boat....

I have some twenty dollar rods from wally world and I have some high end custom rods. I use them both for different kinds of fishing. I try to never look down on anyone for their type of gear or how they use it. If they are out on the water trying as far as I am concerned they are one up on 99% of the rest of the population.

Life is too short and time on the water is too precious for me to waste it worrying about what someone else is doing or thinking.

Nothing wrong with that. It’s all about what you enjoy and what you want to get out of it. I am usually fan casting, moving, and covering water in a creek. Especially at a new place or one I’m not familiar with. I enjoy hunting them. If I know spots a, b, c and d hold fish at a place, I’ll also often go looking for e, f, and g. The goal is to catch fish, but if the end result is just me learning the water and figuring some things out, I’m fine with that most of the time. It usually pays off later at one place or another. I’ve had it burn me plenty of times too. The bite slows down and I go off on a 1/2 mile hunt and back without much to show for it other than getting tired, while a bud or someone stayed put slow and steady and they nabbed 6-8 more fish in that time.