5 Ways to Get Your Lazy Fishing Buddy Out of Bed to Go Fishing

The one thing I always forget is that not everyone is a morning person and not everyone will drop everything and sit in the pouring rain or freeze in below zero temperatures for a shot at catching a fish. Fishing is a great activity to do alone, but there’s nothing better than getting out there with a buddy and sharing those experiences with someone else who loves it as much as you do. If you’re like me and have some difficulty getting someone out on the water with you, whether it be a lazy fishing buddy or pure reluctance, here’s how to get your fishing partner off the couch and into their waders.

I’ll get this one out of the way first. Bribing people almost always works--with anglers, typically bribing with food, beer, a sick view, goodies from Postfly and the potential for some awesome fish should do the trick.

Nothing attracts people to an activity like showing them how insanely fun it can be. Whether your tactic is to tell them an intense fishing story, show them a fishing hype video, or a picture of an insanely colored-up cuttie you caught last weekend, make sure to capture their attention and get them stoked. Maybe don’t mention how the high temperature is going to be 10° or the 12-mile hike to the lake, but really hype everything else up and you're sure to pull even the most reluctant angler away from whatever else people do when they aren’t fishing.

Make it personal. If you tell people how sad/mad you’d be if they weren’t there with you, you’ll definitely get some emotion out of people. Another way to use guilt is through our old friend Blackmail—threaten to tell their spouse, parents or significant other how much they spend on fishing gear (make it believable enough that they get scared, but don’t actually do it, that definitely breaks the angler’s code of conduct).

"Fear Of Missing Out" or "Fear Of Missing Out On Fishing" as I like to call it is something that every human has and while this might sound harsh, take advantage of that. There’s no better way to use peer pressure than to make people feel like they are missing out on a good time. Remind your angler of all the action, relaxation and fun they aren’t having. Phrases like “wow, I can’t believe you didn’t see that amazing sunset from the river that we saw after we cooked some fresh brats from the local butcher that gave us the perfect fishing spot where we all caught our PB trout on mice in the middle of the day… too bad you weren’t there. I’m sure whatever ever you were doing was important though.”

As a last resort, you can always use physical force—ranging from extreme things like showing up at your friend's house and throwing them in your car or more relaxed practices like sleeping over and making sure to set the alarm clock really loudly to ensure they wake up and are ready to go.

Especially with the colder winter months, your typical fishing buddies might turn a bit soft, these tactics should help you get them out there regardless of the conditions.