Great pics , man.

My wife is afraid of boats,so for her sake I bank fish.At one time behind her back,I took a raft so I could take it out on my day off when she was working and deflate and store it so she wouldnt know.It backfired.Every snake in the lake wanted to hitch a ride with me.

Have purchased a tube, pontoon, and inflatable boat similar to the Zodiac stuff, and never once actually took the time to use them. When I go fishin', I just want to drive to the spot and chuck in the lines and/or walk the bank tossing artificials.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy going out in boats with buddies for a few hours, but then I start thinking how easy it would be to just pick up the gear and drive to the lake next door, or down the road to grab a quick brew and something to eat... if I were on the bank... or getting a case of the trots comes to mind.

Of course, all this changes in the dog days of summer when it becomes necessary to fish at night or get a boat just to feel a tug.

I bank fish 100% of the time because I cant afford to buy and maintain a boat.

But Im still very content. I make nice catches, enjoy the scenery, and never have to deal with the stress of towing/launching boats or having a breakdown.

By choice. Got a 19ft center console for the lake, 9ft one man pontoon and my trusty waders for the sandbass/crappie spawn.

I would say I beat the banks aobut 70% of the time im out fishing and 80% of the time I spend on the banks is fishing local ponds and what not. Rarely fish the banks at the lake cause I'd rather take the CC out. But during the sandbass and crappie spawn, you can bet yourself youll find me in a pair of waders walking around or sometimes in my toon.

A little of both. Although I could finance a boat, I'd rather spend the money on other things. The security of a boat would be nice when night fishing, because as most of us bank beaters know, we have to worry about nature. But at the same time I just love the thrill of being out in nature and never knowing what to expect.

I have a CC and I still bank it almost half the time. Boats take time to haul and launch/load and sometimes if I only have a few hrs then I will just bank it to get more fishing time in. Some of my biggest fish have been from the bank so I don't mind fishing on it

I have a boat and bank fish 95% of the time. I just find it more relaxing. Poles in the water, beer in hand, fire going, sitting in a chair.

Best part is when we catch a few, we filet'em right there and eat. Doesn't get much fresher than that.

I really should use my boat more though. I under powered it when I bought it and should have gotten a 50hp instead of the 25 base. It was my first boat. The thing only has about 40 hrs on the water.

This place had parts I could find no where else.

http://www.boatsportandtackle.com/servlet/the-MERCURY--dsh--MERCRUISER/Categories

Good Luck!

IF I HAD A BOAT AND HIGH QUALITY ELECTRONICS THE TPWD WILL BE FORCED TO LOWER DAILY BAG LIMITS

If you're pining for a boat on a budget I think you'd be just as happy with spending $500 on a kayak as you would a jon boat. I can cover lots and lots of water with the kayak and my two trolling motors are ultra reliable (left, and right).

I tried 1 man pontoons, bass busters, tubes, etc....never had as much success and ability to fish about anywhere on the lake that I want as I have with my kayak. 1 man pontoon was too slow to go far, bass buster had too much going on with batteries and sucked in the wind, tubes had the same problem as 1 man pontoons...plus I really don't like being IN the water with mr no-shoulders.

The kayak is a good compromise....covers a lot of ground, easy to fish from, takes high wind with ease (30 mph last week, white caps aren't a problem other than beating you to death).

I don't have a power boat because of the maintenance and reliability of cheap used ones (the ones I'd buy).

I did recently get a waverunner that I'm using to chase the birds/shad for sandies, since it goes 50mph...but I wouldn't have that if it hadn't been such a super deal and my wife was falling over to get one.

I hate being stuck on the bank unless it's spawn time for sandies/crappie/cats...always rather be on the water and able to hit any spot I want.

I must be insane.

I own a real nice boat, & I fish primarily from the bank now.
mostly because I like river fishing more than anything else freshwater.
Well, that & the boat's STILL in the shop.........

I'm a bank fisherman with a perfectly good 18ft fish and ski as yard art behind the house. I don't get much time to fish anymore so I'm not going to spend it all gassing up the boat, launching, paying ramp fees and screwing with mechanical failures, not that I've had too many (knock on fiberglass). I may get it in the water soon, but I'll be bank fishing before that.

I have owned boats in the past. I do not have a boat now and I don't regret getting rid of the ones I had. It got to be too much of a hassle to launch and recover the boat by myself. Now I can just drive up and unload my gear and chair and fish as long or as little as I want. With the wind around here for a lot of the year, my boat sat in the driveway way too much to justify payments equal to that of a new car.

I have a boat, but here lately I have been fishing from the bank more so than the boat. These winds have kept me out of the boat. Maybe it will die down some and I will be able to fish my good brushpiles.