Challenges as a shore fisherman

[OldTimer]

Your waterfront park is very nice, with easy access and lots of elbow room. Nice landscaping and a great view of Joe Louis arena across the river. I've never fished there - but will do so on my next trip to the casino thats right there too.

Cheers

[Bass]

If you are scared to lose your lures and all when you are shore fishing, you can use topwaters in summer. I've used the same rapala popper for 4 years, it has no more color on it and still catches smallies, I never lose those topwaters.

[fishfight]

Advantage of using cheap lure from dollarama or from 99cents depot store, then tweak them to our advanage, (see my other post under tackle .....) More confident in our presentation and less worry of hurting our pockets.
We are less concern of losing them especially fishing on rivers such as the whirlpool, niagara, where the area is very snaggable and need to allow our lure to get closer to the bottom. Many anglers miss the opportunity of landing trout sicne they are too concern that they might lose their expensive Rapala lures, their presentation is either too fast or way too shallow.

I know couple of shore anglers that outfish some boaters weekly.
One of dollarama largest 6-7" crankbait lure is very effective in catching Musky or Salmon during the fall, hooks just need to be resharpened.

Don't be too discourage just fishing on shore . I was a convert fishing on shore within the last 3 years, I fished more on shore last year than on my boat. Fishing on shore at a river system or waters with moving current are equally productive especially on warm summer months.

The disadvantage of fishing on a boat:
1. Higher cost expense these days.
2. Moved too often and too many option. If the fish will not bite even if we tried so many spot, we end up wasting more gas and time.
3. Boat launch on weekend gets way too busy. Parking and boat launch fee had increased in the last 5 years.
4. Unpredictable weather pattern. Weatherman always wrong.
5. Lots of work before and after our fishing day. Cleaning & maintenance of the boat; fear of losing something or things getting potentially stolen; Storage concern especially during winter months; Getting ripped off by dishonest mechanics; boat propeller getting damage from hitting submerge rock.
6. Monthly payments and high insurance cost on newer boat.
7. Trailer issue such as tires, bearings, trolling batteries, and broken break light that lead to tickets.
8. Need more caution driving a trailer especially on rainy nights. Not too easy to chnage lanes on highway since most do not respect or give way to a us towing our boat.

I know couple of shore anglers that can outfish many boaters.

Being a shore angler, I will stay more focus on one spot and end up being more patient, especially on the spot that I believe would produce.
I also hike more, which is very good for the cardiovascular system. Easier to move from one body of water to the next. Unlike having a boat, we need to wait for available space on the boat ramp, put the boat on a trailer before we can drive it to another body of water.

I would not have gotten into centerpin or fly fishing if fishing on a boat has been as good as it used to be.

[shuntoo]

city is not spending much to impove shore fishing as they are spending on Cycling, they are spending millions on cycling and in return cyclist are not paying any thing to city as we are on yearly renewals. In my personal opinon we have to write to mayer or city concilors to think about shore fishing and impove conditions for anglers.

[rich_ace_G]

Ok, these challenges pointed out are all facts. 1 week before the closing of pike season, I was hauling in 4 - 6 pikes a day (approx 3hrs fishing time) armed with one suspending plug. Average 2 - 4lbs all catch n' release. Pretty good outing i must say. On the last day...started out pretty good. Arrived 8am ready to cast. I got a pike on the 2nd cast. As soon as I had my 2nd pike of the day, the guys trolling in their boat saw it and stopped 60 feet in front of where I am. That's a pretty good casting distance but now I can't...It did slowed down the pike fishing that day but I'm not the confrontational type. But that was totally a douche move in my opinion.

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(10-22-2012 12:27 AM)shuntoo Wrote:  city is not spending much to impove shore fishing as they are spending on Cycling, they are spending millions on cycling and in return cyclist are not paying any thing to city as we are on yearly renewals. In my personal opinon we have to write to mayer or city concilors to think about shore fishing and impove conditions for anglers.

+1 this will improve the fisheries and will have positive results for shore fishing to become a great sport activity.

[Dennis L. Mitchell]

I love fishing from shore but do, on occasion, envy the people with boats. I live in Sarnia, which has an AWESOME waterfront for fishing and I live only a few blocks from the river. One thing I can say in favour of shore fishing is that it is far less expensive. Also, I meet lots of friendly anglers and passersby all the time. There is a coffee shop by the river too! I have three or four favourite 'spots' by the river here. Often I just wander along the railings of the 'boardwalk', casting as I go. One challenge is that there is probably a two meter drop to the water which can make it hard to land a big fish, though investing in a large net with an extending pole has made it easier.

[smcs28]

I will have to check out the post in tackle about customizing dollarma lures. I always want to grab some, but worry they will suck.....

[Dave Bailey]

Poison ivy is a big problem with shore fishing. Never seen it growing on any boat I've ever been on.

[ST_ShoreFisher]

Lack of access to deeper water/structure....Weed/veg growth as the summer wears on, making it harder to fish/cast far enough...ants!

[MRQturbo]

Biggest challenge is finding a decent spot to fish from shore...my honey hole for shore fishing is 400 kms away..almost close to Ottawa but been going there at least once a year and its always produced quality fish...just wished it were closer so I could go there more often..