Im pretty new to fishing. Was looking for something for me and my son to get involved in and always loved fishing as a kid. Now at 37 I thought I might as well take the plunge. Took him last year and grabbed him the ROCKET FISHERMAN to get his juices flowing. Piece of junk by all accounts but it did get him interested.

Bought him a Shakespearie at Walmart the other day and took him fishing to Maple Lake yesterday. He loved it!

Anyway- Yes- I use a bucket. Looking on these forums I read a lot about BucketHeads and realize I am most hated.

What is the true meaning of the term? From what I gather it is anglers who catch and keep or camp at the shoreline all day trashing everything up.

We have a small Tackle Box but after gathering what I needed to keep a 6 year old hydrated and safe and sunblocked, bug sprayed etc I realized I would have a nice small tackle box and a huge backpack.

I pulled out my Bucket Boss set up I used to use for work. Seemed to work out great for us! It was light enough to pick up and carry down the shore, held everything we needed and of course, used it as a seat when we found a spot we liked that required some patience. I even dedicated a larger pocket for trash we find along the shore. ( empty hook wrappers, etc.. bleh) We release everything we catch. Love to fish, hate to prep and prepare. Maybe one day...

In any event, apologies in advance.

That's a monster gill your son caught in the last pic!!!

A buckethead is someone trashes up where they fish and doesn't clean up. And they keep EVERYTHING they catch regardless of size, which is of course is illegal depending on the lake you're fishing and their size limits

Its just a term used to describe a certain type of peoples actions, not he equipment they carry. Kudos for taking your son out and getting back into the sport!

Fair enough!
The Bucket stays until my little guy is big enough to carry a small pack of tackle and go knee deep in the weeds with me! But by then Ill need the bucket to rest the sore joints on.....

I like your bucket. Looks like a good one for out on the ice.

Agreed, very intuitive!

Loved the report bud.

Bucketheads don't always use buckets. Many of them use plastic shopping bags these days.

and also throw spawning largemouth, smallmouth in their coolers

Nice bucket!

I use a bucket as well... to carry all my gear and for me to sit on when tired of standing. Works great. Nobody bothers me with it, but I always worry about it because someone one day will probably get the wrong idea. But if you look in my bucket, you'll find there's no room to put a fish even if I wanted to! Because of this, I also have a wheeled cooler in the car for when I do decide to keep a fish. But really, I only want to keep big salmon out of Lake Michigan.

Have fun with your son and enjoy fishing!

I dont post much on this site (mostly becuase i view it 90% of the time from my iphone) but I visit it almost everyday for some time now and I have to say that im really proud as of late of the new comers to fishing finding the site. It is the perfect place for entry level anglers to learn the best ways to fish. Not only how to fish but how to respect other anglers and the enviroment aswell. Keep up the good work members spread the word to all those new to fishing so they can learn the best ways to approach the sport. We lead by example and they learn the right way to do things from the start, and newbies to fishing please do not hesitate to ask questions there is always someone on this site excited to answer them for you. Tight lines for all!

No worries my friend - you are not a buckethead.

The term refers to people to shorefish with several lines out, taking up tons of room, making a huge mess, and most importantly - keeping any and every fish they catch in some type of container which is usually a bucket.

Shore fishing is just fine. Having 2 lines out is just fine. Using live bait is just fine. Keeping all the fish is not.

That bucket you have is awesome! Perfect for holding everything and a great seat when you need it. As one who shorefishes 95% of the time, I may need to get one of those too!