Fishing Budget....not sticking to it.

[BassBest]

Guys, I am not sticking to my fishing budget this winter. Given that there is a few ideal days to fish the last few months, I find myself buying in place of fishing. Although everything I am buying is needed, I didn't expect to buy it all now.
I have sank $250 in soft plastics, $40 in pignjigs, $300 in reels, $30 in line, and about $100 in miscellaneous other baits. Mainly I have stocked up for the prespawn, making sure I have everything I need for the first few tourney trips and practice sessions.
Can anyone else tell me they too have had this winter-bait-buying disease, it sure would make me feel better, I'm glad I have the stuff I need, and I have not bought anything that wasn't needed (my wife might not agree with that), but I usually buy enough to get me through the year, or close to it. I now have enough for the next 5 years in certain baits, I hope not to lose too many baits and let them pay for themselves in fish. I swore to myself today (after buying a KVD sig. series 600cx baitcaster) that I was not going to buy anything else that has to do with fishing unless I was totally out of a necessity item. Hopefully I can keep my own promise.
Take care.

[Danny]

Guys, I did not answer at first because I wanted to see how many else had the same disease.

BB, the one thing I will tell you is this, during the four years I did not have a boat, and was barely fishing, I was still collecting fishing stuff. Called it stuff because I've got so much I don't remember what much of it is.

The good news is this, after about 6 or 7 years, the disease did begin to ease up a little. This is the first year I did not go to all the WallyMarts in the area waiting for them to mark down last year's tackle. You would not believe how much terminal tackle I have gotten this way. For instance, I've always been a Gamakatsu hook man, but about three years ago, I purchased about 1,000 Owner hooks. Got them reduced of course,... 50% off. I did not use any the first year, and was even giving them away to friends that needed hooks. Last year, I tried them, and I really like them better than the Gammis. I won't buy anymore hooks for a while. However, I just realized, I should have been looking for the marked down 1/2. 3/4, and 1 ounce weights for my carolina rigs. Dang... hate that.

But, now the bad news..... I have no doubt that the disease is only in remission. Why do I say that? Welllllllll as it turns out, as I watch fishing, or think about wanting to really get myself back out fishing, I am wanting to really go spending....

LMAO

Danny

[smljaw]

For me it usually takes 2 or 3 datlight to dark trips before it goes into remission. I tend to spend more when I can't go fishin'!!!

[psprowler]

My wife put me on a 12 step program to combat this excessive winter spending. Long story short it worked - I can't take another 11 #####-beatings.

[smljaw]

Backwaters got me again today on my lunch break. I started thinking about it, and well... I bought cranks at Dick's Saturday, a spool of line at Walmart yesterday and some soft plastics & jigheads at Backwaters today. I think I have a problem. I need to wet a line!!!

[cummins1]

Dick,s Sporting Goods has all their Zoom plastics at 25% off this week. Went yesterday, spent way to much.

[smljaw]

This past Saturday Dick's at Fayette Mall had a big box of Excalibur baits @ 2.99 each. Mostly cranks and topwater... OK, that makes $10 spent at Dick's on Saturday and $5 spent at WalMart Sunday. My support group is not working.

[cummins1]

I can,t get out of backwaters without spending 20 or 30 $. I don,t know what i will do when the sportmans warehouse is opened.

[jdw174]

Like another responder here, I've gone through several new '06 catalogs and simply cannot find anything that I just have to have. Not that there aren't things that look good and I'd LIKE to try, but I absolutely refuse to pay 15-25 bucks for one lure when I've got a boatload of lures that already catch fish if you put them in the right place. However, if I happen to hit the PowerBall, rest assured that all this can and will change in a heartbeat.......

[Chubminnow]

Man...I'm glad I'm not the only one with this disease...My wife recently lost her job of 14 years and to be quite honest, even though she wasn't the bread winner in our house her income did help and the loss of it has put us in a temporary state of flux for the time being, which also means for the past month I have been putting things on hold regarding my fish spending dollars..."on hold" as much as I can stand it...I went to Bass Pro saturday and dropped 50.00 bucks, went to the Strader show yesterday and dropped 120.00 bucks...

Elnut, you're da MAN!!! haha...that's pretty cool that you weighed each individual tackle box...

Just like someone else here said about the Jim Strader show, I too didn't see a lot there...the show seems more geared towards hunting than it is fishing...although a guy from Tennessee had a booth set up and he had some Curado's for "sale", I use the word "sale" lightly...he was wanting 110.00 for last years model Curado if you bought one of his rods along with it, or 120.00 for the Curado by itself...I have heard so much about these reels although I have never fished with one much less casted one...but I had it set in my mind to purchase the newer Curado D this year if I couldn't find an old style Curado...so to make a long story short, I passed the guy's booth up once...came back to it a second time and passed it up again. I went to his booth one last time before I left the show and that's when they finally set hook on me. I ended up buying one of his Curado's...I know I'm going to like it, there's no doubt...it's a 6.2:1 right handed model even though I would have preferred a left handed model but that's ok. I know the price wasn't that great but...I was there, the reel was staring at me, I was able to pick it up and hold it. I placed it on a rod he had for sale just to get a better feel for it in my hand...and then I thought: "What the heck, even though 120.00 bucks was not a great price it's still better than spending 200.00 bucks on a new Curado D"...so somehow in my mind I'm trying to tell myself that I saved myself 80.00 bucks by buying this older style Curado, haha...

[smljaw]

I signed up for a 12 step program support group right after Christmas. It's helping a little bit but I'm not yet cured. I made a trip to Wal Mart yesterday for coffee. Of course I had to cruise by the fishing dept. Found a spool of 10 pound Berkely Vanish Transition line for $5. Had to have it!

[fishhunter]

i know what your talking about,your not the only one.ive been buying about 20-30$worth ever friday,same as you stuff ill need for the up coming season.seems to get worse when the weather turns bad, like the past couple of weeks ,when you cant get out and fish.but i have all the cranks,spinners and plastic i need,nothing but gas and time left,come on fishin weather. happy huntin the hunter