Fishin' Alone

[shallowminded.too]

Please don’t be offended by what I write here. I really do prefer to be by myself when I am fishing. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the company of others; it’s not that I am trying to keep something secret; I will try to explain though. My fishing trips can sometimes be what some might describe as unorthodox. At least they seem that way to me, being that I fish alone most of the time I may just not realize that what I do is very similar to others. I fish in places that I very seldom even see other people, I am heading home many times while others are just getting started, I spend many hours with little to nothing in the way of a catch to show for it. I guess this is one big reason for not taking others with me, if I take them I feel obligated for them to be successful, I can’t guarantee that. Is it possible that others are like me? If I am not successful this trip, well that’s ok I will be on the next one, or at least that’s what I convince myself of. So when I arrive at the house I change leaders and I clean my stuff because I’ve got to be ready to go next trip.
Now some people hear of my occasional successes and they say, wow! I would love to go with you. If I agree and take them and then we can’t find any fish, or their skill set is such that they just can’t figure it out, now a different story will be told. I don’t think its arrogance or pride; I think it’s just a matter of keeping things simple the way I like it. When I fish alone I answer to me, I get frustrated with me, I tell myself I should have tied that knot a little slower and it wouldn’t have pulled out, I just smile when the automatic release occurs at the side of the boat, and if the bail closes mid cast, no worries, no one saw it happen.
Over the past year I have indeed found some people who must be a little bit like me. Not that they like to fish alone, but they seem to have the same passion for the type of fishing I enjoy. They don’t seem to be overly affected by less than pleasurable parts of an inshore fishing trip, particularly from a kayak. Things like, mud, heat, cold, wet, inhaling bugs, being bitten by bugs, bugs in general, and of course yellow flies (yellow flies are in my opinion in a league of their own separate of bugs). In fact these people enjoy what they do so much that they too begin speaking of the next outing even prior to completing the one they are on. I do not know if they prefer to fish alone as I have only been fishing with them when someone is with them, and I have never asked them if they prefer to fish alone.
Fishing alone is likely to cause some problems and likely to help in avoiding others. If you get hurt when your alone you have to take care of yourself. If you get lonely when you’re fishing by yourself you just have to deal with it. If you see an incredible eagle sitting in a dead tree when you are fishing alone you have only yourself to talk to about how majestic it is. If a shark swims close enough to you that you can reach out and touch as it goes by when your fishing alone….maybe you should think twice about this one. When you are fishing alone and you paddle over top of a huge southern stingray you don’t see how big your eyes get, but you do think of how happy you are that you are not wade fishing at that particular moment. When you are fishing alone and you came sparsely prepared in the way of food and beverage, well again, you’re just going hungry. Likely at this point you can add to the list of pros and cons of fishing alone.
In my opinion what I hear is often most enlightening while I am fishing and so this is probably one of the greatest reasons I enjoy fishing alone. While I enjoy conversation, particularly on matters of interest to me, I don’t hear as much of what’s happening around me if I am involved in conversation. I particularly enjoy the call of a mother Osprey, once I see her I always look for her young one, she is so protective and watchful. My all time favorite though, has to be when the fish are ambushing bait in shallow water, it’s the same sound when they crash our top water lure, but different in the feelings it illicit. Fish crashing bait evokes the hunt, fish crashing the lure causes a mixture of adrenaline and concentration, the wrong movement on our part may simply pull a lure from a willing participant’s mouth. Have you ever been startled by the call of a heron that is just on the other side of the grass from you? If someone had been with me and we had been talking and laughing, it probably would have departed long before we got that close. Anyway, the sounds, I do enjoy the sounds when I am fishing alone.
As I conclude this my hope is that I have not alienated myself from those that enjoy the alternative, fishing with others. I really do enjoy every moment of fishing with like-minded ones because I can get the best of worlds, camaraderie and privacy, and I know they will be ok with that. We may push off together at the landing, we may spend some time side by side, and we may go completely opposite directions, but we will meet back later and talk and laugh and show our photos, and I will tell how big the one that got away was. But quite likely the majority of my fishing trips, I will be by myself.

[Talltails]

Fishing alone is the best way to truley immerse one's self in nature and the "hunt". If you don't get it, you don't get it
I think about these same things all the time. I love fishing alone--prefer it most times. That's why I bring my camera, so I can share my day and catches with my friends--afterwards.

[cotton]

I think you just describe how everyone feels sometimes. Only the percentages are different for each kayaker. I like to fish by myself about 25% of the time. Today was one of those days, I was throwing the flyrod out of the yak for the first time, and didn't want to embarass myself.

I rarely turn anyone down, but the percentage of time I fish alone is around 75%. Perhaps that is because everyone's day to fish alone conincides with a day I wouldn't mind having a partner.

[skitterwalk]

Fishin' alone...nothing better.

[GULFCOAST]

2 thumbs up;couldn't agree more !!!

[Flint River Pirate]

I agree, it gives you time to hear yourself think.

[Littoral]

I agree, it gives you time to hear yourself think.

I answer myself less often when I'm in my kayak.
Shallowminded: I echo pretty much everything you wrote. The upside was that reading
it left me less guilty about having not fished with you already, given that we said we would.
When I do fish with other people I spend about 1% of my time with them anyway.
I like to cross paths
a few times but that's it.
A different thought for me is that when I'm out and see other people kayaking I usually want to meet them,
especially if it looks like they actually fish. I'm not real territorial because they're already in the neighborhood anyway.
I don't get the impression most people want to meet out there. Fishbaitbilly did though!

[soccerdad]

Thanks for posting this SM2. It obviously sparks folks to consider some of the zen of yak fishing. Isn't it interesting (and great) that boats designed for one person inspire so much solo time .. and fantastic that there is almost a spiritual element to be out there fishing alone.

[Flint River Pirate]

Thanks for posting this SM2. It obviously sparks folks to consider some of the zen of yak fishing. Isn't it interesting (and great) that boats designed for one person inspire so much solo time .. and fantastic that there is almost a spiritual element to be out there fishing alone.

Very poetic response! I like it.

[jsuber]

I too like to fish alone. I only fish with others when they ask me. I am not one that ask others to go fishing...well not often.

[Charles]

I too like to fish alone. I only fish with others when they ask me. I am not one that ask others to go fishing...well not often.

Bingo. That's me. Although if I run into somebody from the forum I have been known to tag along if they don't pick up a paddle and chase me away. For purely selfish reasons, of course. I might learn something about fishing.

[frank]

Glad to know I am not the only one that feels this way! I get the same peace of mind in the kayak that I do when I am up a tree pursuing Bambi. Life is much simpler when it is just you and the outdoors.

[BearsFan]

99.9% of the time I fish out of my kayak I am alone.

[BigIrish]

I almost always start alone, but I usually meet someone I already know or someone new to fish beside. But if noone shows then so be it, and if I get skunked, then I dont have to clean anything and I usually buy myself a meatball sub from Subway at 98 and Woodville HWY to celebrate.
I have never had a Pelican land on my yak, but I cherish the close encounters that I have each summer.

[fishunter]

You really hit the nail on the head. The only difference is that that is the way i feel about hunting. I hunt alone a lot. At least 90% of the time. Thats just who I am. I also believe that that is what makes me more of a social fisherman. I enjoy sharing whats so important to me with others. Most of which are much less fortunate than me. Having said this, I only take newbies, down and outs hunting, and close or new friends hunting. Thats just a whole different thing. I guess what I'm trying to say is that people like me understand and respect people like you. Good luck and tight lines! Oh, by the way your one hell of a fisherman and next time I see you I will make sure to introduce myself.