fishing alone.

I'm in the same boat as pretty much everyone else. Whenever I'm fishing with other people it's usually more relaxed and we're less serious about the catching. Fishing with my brother is an exception though as the competition can get pretty heated haha. Now WHO catches more fish when I'm fishing with others? Usually depends on the water and who's more familiar with it, but most of the time I have home field advantage ;)

Yeah, when I fish by myself I have the ability to stretch the truth, but I honestly do catch more fish. Like everyone else I concentrate more on the fishing when I'm alone.
 
It has little to do with your mindset when you catch more fish alone,
one person flailing around will spook fewer fish than groups fishing together. I do enjoy a burger and a beverage with my pals after it gets dark but stay the hell away from me when I'm on the water. I fish with an old timer up in New Hampshire, he turns 79 I think this year, and that man still fishes hard and fishes alone even when we go out together. Some of youse might know Dave Baker.
 
Fishing alone is a two edge sword.

I love fishing remote areas for brookies as well as bigger waters. To me, being alone in beautiful surroundings is beyond addicting. It's the closest to God I feel outside of church. However, like others have said, if you run into trouble a couple miles up a remote valley, you could be screwed. And now that I am older, I realize if something does happen, I probably wont make it out. Still, I do it.

That being said, some of the best times I've had fishing are the times I've shared with other fishermen. Unfortunately, my personal life is so fickle I can rarely schedule fishing with others. There have been many times I've gone with and met with PAFF board members. And there has NEVER been a time I regretted it.

 
I usually fish on weekdays - and many times, I have to go alone - or not go at all.
I choose to go alone - have been doing it for quite awhile now. I've never lived my life being afraid to do something I really enjoy, because something bad might happen.
 
everyones thoughts are pretty much the same as i had. I usually fish alone because most of my buddies dont like to go deep in the woods where i like to go. I dont ever think about the "what if", but im only 25 im sure that will change with age. The thing that gets me when fishing with someone else is, if they have a different rig than what im using i will rethink what im doing and spend more time messing around with gear than actually fishing.
 
dryflyguy wrote:
I usually fish on weekdays - and many times, I have to go alone - or not go at all.
I choose to go alone - have been doing it for quite awhile now. I've never lived my life being afraid to do something I really enjoy, because something bad might happen.
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Agree with DFG. Be careful, tell someone where and when you will be back. Like rrt wrote in another thread - when you talk to your wife, add an hour or two so you will return "early" or even stay a little later without much strife. Also, take your fully charged cell phone, have a first-aid kit in you vehicle, etc.....but most of all, enjoy your day of solitude out on the stream.
 
Agree with most of the above posts. If I’m fishing with someone it’s much less about the number of fish caught and more about enjoying time with a friends (or friends). I’ll admit there are times I want to be alone for a few hours though…after a tough week at work, etc. I do enjoy the peace and solitude of a walk in the woods, fishing a stream at times. When I’m by myself it’s still not usually about the fishing though…I like to explore new streams and areas and see what’s there. The fish are just a piece in the greater picture of spending a day outdoors and away from things.

There are some (usually steep, rugged, and remote) streams that I won’t do by myself, period. You can get hurt anywhere at any time, and that shouldn’t (and doesn’t) stop us from doing what we do, but on those types of streams if something does go wrong and you’re by yourself, the problem becomes magnified much more so than on a stream in a populated area. I usually try to save these types of outings each year to do with a fishing buddy I wouldn’t get to see much otherwise…prefer to take off of work during the week and make a day out of it…breakfast, hike/bike/float/fish, wings/beers afterward.

To answer the OP question though…yes, I think I catch more fish when fishing by myself. I think this is largely just a function of splitting the water and potential fish with your partner(s) though. I often fish with anglers who are better technical anglers and casters than me…if you total the number of fish we caught as a group in a given day when sharing the water, this is often actually more fish than I would have caught fishing the same water in the same conditions by myself. One guy in the group may have a trick cast up his sleeve for a certain tough to get to spot that the others couldn’t pull off…in the next hole another guy might know a technique that will work, etc.
 
somersetian wrote:
The thing that gets me when fishing with someone else is, if they have a different rig than what im using i will rethink what im doing and spend more time messing around with gear than actually fishing.
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Not me, if I'm catching fish I'm doing something right.
 
i fish alone all the time since im the only one out of my friends thats 100% dedicated to the fly rod....i love it...complete freedom
 
i still fish alone , did all year since the Jam . I probly shouldn't but we all gotta go sometime , i only had 2 monumental falls , that ain't bad. Is it?
 
Best take it easy Osprey. We have to get a fishing trip in at the next Jam since we missed during the last one. GG
 
I usually catch more fish when fishing alone. I spend more time fishing and less time talking! :-o
 
For me it depends. While I enjoy the solitude of fishing alone I also enjoy of the camaraderie of fishing with other people. Last spring I was fishing with my brother and nephew. I was fly fishing and they were using spin tackle. I was catching more fish which peaked my nephew's interest. I set him up with a fly rod and a couple of BH nymphs. After a few brief lessons he hooked into a couple of fish. Since that trip, he fly fished a couple more times with some success. I would not be surprised if next year if he does more fly fishing then spin fishing.

Don
 
Does anyone else notice that when fishing by yourself you catch more fish? I realized recently that every time I go out solo I always catch more fish. Any thoughts as to why?
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It's pretty simple. There are X number of fish who are hungry and likely to be caught in the stream section fished. When alone, you spook, miss, lose, or catch X number of fish. When with another person, you do the same with X/2 number of fish. With 3, it's X/3. etc.

It's more true on small streams. If you fish a given length of stream, alone, you might normally catch 30 fish. With a 2nd, assuming the other is of reasonably equal skill, that'll turn into 30 between ya. Of course, with a 2nd, you'll often cover more ground so you end up with more than 30 between you, but it won't be double the distance, nor double the fish total.

It still does fit, to a lesser extent, on larger streams. You're still generally fishing in the vicinity of the other guy, often in the same pool. Take your typical pool. Alone, when on that pool, nobody else is gonna fish that pool, you'll fish it to yourself. You'll start at the tail and pick up the catchable ones there, then move to the middle, and do the same, then the head. But with another guy, if you start at the tail, HE goes to the head, and collectively you probably spook the middle before anyone fishes it. Then you gotta move onto another pool, which may have been fished recently by someone else.

 
I tend to fish alone most of the time, and thoroughly enjoy it despite my advancing years. Still my most rewarding trip this year was fishing (guiding) a friend who fly fished but was obviously not highly skilled (not that I am....) It started with me rigging him up in a manner I knew would catch trout on White Clay Creek. The icing on the cake was him landing a nice 14"trout while I offered encouragement. He then confided that he hadn't landed a trout all season and was thinking about giving up. Sharing can certainly be rewarding but on that day I landed fewer fish cause I fished less. After late lunch my buddy bagged it due to a sore back and I returned and caught more fish in an hour or two than we both had all morning. So yes fishing alone tends to result in more fish.
 
i need to start fishing by myself.
 
Wouldn't know, I only fish alone.
Sad-forever-alone-face-only-l.png
 
When I'm alone, I average 27 fish/hour. I'm the next Frank Nale.
 
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