Getting into fishing but need a few opinions

[dirtbiker]

Hey would love to get into some serious fishing now that I have my licence and can drive to some fishing spots but I have a big question. Should I get a boat or just fish from shore.
A boat would mean I have to buy a truck which would cost a lot for gas. Also I would have to pay for boat maintainence and being a teen I dont have a lot of money. That being said if I will have a better experience on a boat and catch more fish then I wouldnt mind getting a truck and boat. My other option would be to just fish from shore. Im looking for trout, pike, walleye and bass. Im from edmonton and wouldnt mind driving throughout alberta to find good shore fishing on various lakes and rivers. Any help would be appreciated thanks.

[Jwood 456]

When it comes to fishing most of the lakes around edmonton for pike or walleye fishing, I would recommend that you get a boat. Most of the lakes are too shallow to fish from shore. If your trout fishing though, shore fishing is not too bad for the pothole lakes around Edmonton, though I think you would still get much better results with a boat. That's just my $0.02.

[bloopbloob]

fishing from a boat is WAAAAAAAY better than shore fishing. You will have much better luck and a much better time with even a cheapo $500 used boat and $150 electric motor than fishing from shore. No real maintenance cost to that. Don't need anything fancy, but the ability to move around and find fish and structure that you can't find with a cast from shore is well worth it. Generally, the only good shore fishing you will find around here is on our rivers, or small trout ponds.

Oh, and if you find some good places to catch Bass, I'd love to know where!

[aulrich]

A cheap car topper
kayak
cannoe

Are doable options without a truck, even if the cartopper needs a trailer.

Or river fishing

[bloopbloob]

Oh, don't forget inflatable, my first boat was an inflatable 4man sevylor fishhunter. Pretty heavy duty, around 800lb capacity and very portable. even able put a motor on it, got it for around $200-$250 at CTire. You could throw it in the trunk of a car and still have lots of room.

[honker_clonker]

Get a kayak. They are becoming very popular and can be used everywhere. There are kayaks with a drive mechanism called 'Mirage drive' which are big flippers that you pedal for propulsion, keeping your hands free. You can get into some skinny water and be stealthy with a yak, and you could probably trailer it with a car or put it on the roof. Not the fastest but there is relatively low maintenance and you cant run out of gas! Get a workout too