How have you adapted to fishing with Age and Medical Challenges?

RCF

RCF

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Many of us have changed our fishing approaches/techniques due to age and/or medical challenges.

I have fished near "The Merc" for decades. Walking into special holes and wading into the water getting to that special place. With balance issues, that is no longer an option. Staffs worked for awhile but no longer...

I have fished the 'Yak' a lot. Due to higher water flows, my ability to be fishing safely has been reduced. I have fished with guides more recently that understood and placed me on islands to allow me to fish with some success and have fun as well as where I could cast from islands.

As I get older, my desire has not deviated from fishing smaller creeks and streams. Never will.. But my capability has. I am fishing lakes more, for sure. An entire new approach to fishing, at least to me... Yes, just as satisfying as when the 'tug' happens, just different... There is something different from a 12" fish striking a fly in a small stream and a 20" fish, planter or not, in a lake. I am sorry, it is not the same...

I have changed my floating device from pontoon crafts to boats. As I have gotten older, from heavy boats to lighter 'plastic' crafts. At least I can continue to fish...

How have you changed your fishing approaches?
 
I quit. Loss of fishing partners, arthritic knees & bad ticker rendered fishing alone a very bad idea. So . . . I swapped outdoor pastimes. I invested in better binoculars & photo gear. When walking is compromised, I can still watch & take photos from a vehicle. As Dad said: "You gotta pick the fruit where you find the tree."

Life is still good.
 
I'm certainly more careful with foot placement when hiking in alone...and my hikes have gotten shorter. Use the wading staff more often, even out of the water to go down or up banks of rivers and streams. Can't fish sunup to sunset like I used to, don't drink beer while fishing (if I'm in a raft or drift boat, one for lunch is ok)...and talk to myself more often (not sure if that's good or bad)...and have contemplated fishing lakes with my pontoon recently, although I still prefer moving water...

Carry my Garmin InReach wherever I go now...
 
Brute said:
talk to myself more often (not sure if that's good or bad)..
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Just means that you enjoy intelligent conversation ;)
 
more guides!
more commercial trips
more wading staff use
move slower... to avoid accidents
2 hand rods and spey casting.... to wade less deep & let tools do the work
increase fishing skills....to minimize my movement
buy good gear...korkers boots with soles optimized for conditions like aluminum bars on rock bottoms
lower BMI
increase cardio
eat healthy
 
Clean Willy said:
Fishing larger flies. Couple of years ago I lost all sight in my right eye. If you think tying on a size 18 is hard now, try it with one eye closed!
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LOL! Best reason to fish salt everything is gigantic. Eyes don't work as well nor do arthritic fingers especially when cold. When young I fished light tippets tied 22 flys. I have found if I up the tippet size I loose less gear. That's better for me and better for environment. I fight a fish faster so better for the fish. I also just don't have an issue with leader shyness like I believed was an issue when younger.

I also decide how I'm going to fish instead of throwing a whole tackle box at the fish. Where it is well lit, nice and warm I'll pre-tie a couple of replacement rigs and then if I break off my rig I'll just loop to loop the replacement. Is that more compromised than the way it is supposed to be? Yes! But if you catch fish compromised isn't that even more rewarding? If we did not want the challenge we would all just throw a spin rod.
 
Since my ankle fusion two years ago , it's slowed up the wading . The surgeon told me at the time ,your wading days are over . I beg to differ . :) I still wade , with the wading stick that Herkileez builds ,and good boots I am still getting it done . Although getting close to 80 , I find myself wanting to fish the stillwater more ,and more . This past summer I did find myself getting less ,and less interested in the process of getting out in the pontoon . I fish a lot in Montana with friends in their boats , drift boats ,as well as fishing boats on the lakes . In the process of buying a good used fishing boat ,and have it ready for the spring , and the Montana trip . Sold one pontoon ,still have one if I want to do it . I will probably transition slowing away from the pontoon ,and just do a bit of wading , and lake fishing with a boat .
 
I rarely wade above mid thigh, often to knees, always a wading staff.
Downsized boats to Clearwater raft, only weighs 35 lbs empty.
learned to used fly threading tools, though tying knots is becoming more difficult.
Not as extensive blue line creeks because of blow downs, heavy brush.
Cut back amount of gear I own to minimum and specified who it goes to when I die.
 
No moving water, I don't want to go back to the food chain. But there is nothing wrong with lakes, they harbor plentiful big fish and great views. I stick with locations with a boat ramp now and don't go out much in the cold and rain. That said, I got in 49 days this year including a couple with my grandkids. All of it beat watching TV. I am closing in on 82 and still at it.
 
It is ironic that with retirement while time and funding makes it possible to fish more, physical limitations steal away so many opportunities. Twenty years of yoga may have helped with balance issues but have not made it possible to wade safely or scramble along stream banks any longer. So fishing is pretty much limited to boats. Even then there are limits. My first question to a new guide in the tropics is always “are the flats boats equipped with casting stands?” I know another whining boomer with a first world problem.
David
 
There is plenty of research to back up "Weight Training" for those of us over 70. Do the research and you will find excellent results and even reversals in bone density. Point being made that weight training and some good balance exercises can lengthen our time with the sport we all hold dear.
 
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One thing to consider if you have access are beachs. Surf fishing is awesome. I'm on SoCal beaches at least a few times a week. Technically, it can be demanding to keep your interest and there are seasonal targets to get some variety even if fishing the same spots. Beaches are an easy walk and you don't need to be any deeper than waves hitting you at the ankles and there is summer time where a lot of casting is from the dry/wet sand border. flys are big making tying easy and I can fish for the morning on just one fly. Often a fly will wear out dragging on the sand before you loose it to a break off. Casting is easy with 2 handed rods and shooting heads. You can even get out there and walk your dog as you sight fish just with a rod, fishing pliers and a back up fly...minimum effort!
 
I’ll join the Geritol generation conversation….fishing for 65 years now I don’t have to fish in crappy weather anymore. As I’ve whined before, the older I get, the colder I get! After 8 operations I haven’t been snow skiing or riding dirt bikes for 30+ years, so therefore I fly fish. I fish lakes 99% year round and a little beach fishing. Still getting out there…..
 
76 in a few weeks, managing aging with a regular mix of weights, lap swimming, spinning and floor exercises, definitely helps with strength and balance.
On the rivers wading shallower these years, staff always in hand, stay away from fast water, fish half days instead of long days, having fished much of the western states over the decades now content to fish the locals.
Stillwater now the fave, bigger fish, predictable hatches, lots of nearby lakes to explore and dial in, my boat is a hobby in itself.
The silver lining within the slow down of aging? Having the time to consciously let go of the baggage that accumulates during decades of living to find peace within, what better way to finish the journey?
 
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fatbillybob said:
One thing to consider if you have access are beachs. Surf fishing is awesome. I'm on SoCal beaches at least a few times a week. Technically, it can be demanding to keep your interest and there are seasonal targets to get some variety even if fishing the same spots. Beaches are an easy walk and you don't need to be any deeper than waves hitting you at the ankles and there is summer time where a lot of casting is from the dry/wet sand border. flys are big making tying easy and I can fish for the morning on just one fly. Often a fly will wear out dragging on the sand before you loose it to a break off. Casting is easy with 2 handed rods and shooting heads. You can even get out there and walk your dog as you sight fish just with a rod, fishing pliers and a back up fly...minimum effort!
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fave beaches? On surf trips into Baja back in the 70's, coming and going used to stay at a friends house in Sunset Cliffs, we'd catch fish flinging into the kelp beds.
 
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Now in my 70's I have finally switched to kayak scupper wheels to haul kayaks around and now only fish with Hobie Mirage pedal drive. Since the vast majority of my fishing has always been lakes I've not had to modify my flyfishing much at all...and have easily maintained my shitty flyfishing skills.
 
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More time in the canoe on lakes/ponds instead of river fishing
More "careful" wading and avoidance of really slippery locales
Less "spontaneous" trips.
No tent camping, opt for cabin if at all possible
Remember to always bring "pee" bottle for night use so I don't have to walk to bathhouse
 
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