By Bob Jensen

There are lots of outstanding boats that fit household budgets.

Some friends and I gathered again recently. We talked about a lot of things. There are a lot of things to talk about these days.  But, as it always does with this group, fishing dominated the conversation. We covered a lot of bases in this fishing conversation.

A topic that always comes up in these conversations is the cost of fishing. One particular member of our group usually starts the cost conversation, and his opening comment is always the same. “It’s just too darn expensive to go fishing these days” he says. Most of us agree that fishing can be expensive, but it depends on how you go fishing.

For most in our group, fishing is still the best value out there. An angler can certainly take the “too darn expensive” route, but it’s not necessary. Following are some ways to avoid that route.

If cost is a concern, fish close to home. Most of us live near good fishing waters, many of us live near very good fishing waters, and more than a few anglers live close to outstanding fishing locations. “Close to home” is different things to different people, but many anglers live within an hour or two of good fishing.

One of the frequent objections our group’s tightwad has is boats and motors. He complains that spending a $100,000.00 on a boat/motor rig is too much. For many/most anglers, that is too much. And it’s not necessary.

Most of the time a boat like that exceeds our fishing needs. Most of us don’t need a twenty foot boat with a 250 horsepower motor. Many of us, and some very accomplished and successful anglers, catch lots of fish from a boat that fits our budgets. If you’re going to be fishing a large body of water from a smaller boat, launch the boat close to where you’ll be fishing. If it looks like wind is going to make things challenging on that larger body of water, limit your fishing to areas that won’t be as affected by the wind. Or consider going to a smaller body of water.

Wading is another fun and productive way to catch some fish. In fact, there are times of the year when wading is just as and sometimes even more productive than fishing from a boat.

Here’s the last complaint my friend has about the cost of fishing. Rods and reels and such are so much more expensive than they used to be. And while the cost of these items is more today, we need to be fair and compare today’s dollar to yesteryear’s dollar.

A dollar today doesn’t buy as much as it did several decades ago. We need to compare apples to apples, or rods to rods. A rod that cost $30.00 several decades ago and costs $100.00 today is so much better now. It’s lighter in weight but much stronger and way more sensitive. And more versatile.

A friend of mine has a nice selection of rods and reels. A couple rods are Team Lew’s Signature Series technique specific rods. When it comes to employing the technique that that rod was designed for, it’s crazy how good it is. But that friend also has several less expensive, general purpose Lew’s rods, and it’s equally impressive how well these rods perform a variety of fishing techniques.

So, with all that considered, even our overly cost conscious friend, maybe the wealthiest member of our group, agrees that when it comes right down to it, fishing, from several perspectives, is still the best way to spend our time. And money!