Do you go fishing for sport?

[RogerMcAllen]

Christmas, I know exactly what you are talking about with trout. Sometimes when you catch one that has been caught before you can actually see the handprint on the fish from where the previous angler grabbed him and removed part of the slime coat.

 

[LAGlocker]

I used to, but I havent been in so long I think I forgot how to, so I put down no.

 

[oscarbreeder]

FISHING?

OH YEAH!!

I love to fish and hunt.
Both awsome sports.

 

[smilla4]

I went fishing a couple of times. It's fun, but I feel bad about the damage the hook does. It's hard to believe it doesn't hurt or harm the animal (I guess Christmasfish's story proves that wrong...). I feel bad about hunting as well. I guess if you're going to eat it, it's ok.

Or if you're hunting "Mad" Deer. 8O What is the deal with feeding meat/bloodmeal to herbivores?

 

[Felf]

It's been a while since anyone replied to this thread but i'll go anyway. I'm from Hawaii and have been fishing since I can remember. Most of my experience is in deep sea fishing but I do various other forms such as skin-diving and shorecasting as well. We eat what we catch or we give it away to family and friends (sashimi AKA "raw fish" is a luxury even here so it's more than appreciated). We throw back anything that is too small which often times is enormous in comparison to the minimum size. I enjoy fishing and have participated in many deep sea fishing tournaments but I don't consider it a sport. I used to go at least once a week with my uncle on his boat but now he doesn't have time so I started surfing

 

[3Corsameal]

i fish a lot (posted some pics recently)

i always release them as i go fishing for carp and they live for years, is great when your a regular to a well maintained lake where people care about the fish, you get to know the fish in there and is really good feeling to catch one, put it back and see again a year later.

It can be a cruel hooby tho, when u go to a lake and see people fishing every 5m all the way around the lake, puts pressure on the fish, also a lot of people don't really care for the fish, or appreciate the fact that they are incredible things, not just a fishy lump that u drag onto bank and sling back.

i even treat the fish i catch with carp care products

 

[austinsdad]

Chesapeake Bay MD fishing is just about all I've ever known. Croaker/hardhead. spot, trout, & rockfish round out the list of regulars. Occasionally, I've caught flounder. Have gotten out to the ocean a couple of times for sea/black bass and ling cod (very ugly but tasty), but ocean water does something to the stomach. Funny, choppy bay water doesn't bother me a bit.

I eat everything I catch. The spot fishing can get you 5 to 100 fish a day depending on the time of year and water conditions. Family fish fries are great. And I've found out that freezing fish in a freexer bag full of water makes'm last forever it seems. I had split, whole, and filet'd fish a year and half later that was in great condition. No freezer burn.

But I never thing of food when I'm dealing with my tank full of my little friends. No trouble at all separating the two hobbies.

 

[3Corsameal]

i'd get arrested if i caught the fish i catch lol

want to go salmon fishing soon, will be able to eat them.

 

[peterp]

Yes but I have a curse on me, anytime I show up nobody on the lake or river catch anything. Sometimes for days after I have been there.
So actually my attempts at angeling is saving the fish.

 

[Toirtis]

I occasionally chuck hardware, but am most often to be found in vest and waders, up to my waist in a stream or river, flyfishing my heart out (C&R)....about 2-5 times weekly.

 

[zao]

I like to go fishing, when I get a chance mainly in the middle of the sumer months, with my grandpa, or couple of my friends when we are all out of college for the summer. But I practice catch and take a picture then release method.

 

[Kim Kipper]

Being caught must involve some pain and much stress. Although I have fished, and enjoyed it, when much yopunger, I can no longer bring myself to enjoy it any more - fun at an animal's expense.

Fishing to eat is okay.

But if you do, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE be as humane as possible....

Things I hate to see:

* Fish left to suffocate - kill them quick with a stern whack on the head
* Live fish, even worms used as bait- that has to be agonising and cruel
* Fishing for eg Marlin - just for Fun - Sick
* Use of a gaff. Must cause agony and seems so unnecessary

 

[mle421]

i fish with my brothers. it's much fun. we eat what we catch or we let it go if we don't plan on eating it. although i find that when we do catch one to eat, i end up bonding with it while it's in the bucket and by the time we get back to shore, i let the little guy go without my brothers knowing. probably why they dont like to go fishing with me much.

 

[jacktheknife]

i fish therefore i eat

 

[SGNL_5]

I dont fish, i have before i just feel too bad for the little guys. The pain of thinking there getting a sweet meal then having a hook through your mouth and pulling you to the service. I dont think its always wrong but when people are like what Kim Kipper said above i think its terrible. I also dont eat any fish crabs lobster etc either so im sure that has alot to do with how i feel about fishing.

 

[Toirtis]

* Fish left to suffocate - kill them quick with a stern whack on the head[
* Live fish, even worms used as bait- that has to be agonising and cruel
* Use of a gaff. Must cause agony and seems so unnecessary

Fortunately, where I live, these practices are illegal, with the exception of using worms, but there are very few places that you can use those.

 

[Felf]

we have to use gaffs on those larger fish such as marlin and tuna even mahimahi. i know quite a few people who got hooked because the fish literally flew around the boat and threw the hook right at them; those hooks arent small! marlin are another story...there's a charter boat that had it's 15 minutes of fame when a marlin rammed it's bill right into the hull of the boat. lol they couldnt get it out so, they fiberglassed to the hull as a souvenir. those are powerful fish and can do maximum damage with minimum effort. years of experience taught me never to underestimate any fish...but at least we're not like the longliners who leave fishing lines that are miles long with hundreds/thousands of hooks that kill anything and everything we try to kill the fish quickly to minimize unneeded stress to them and harm to us. btw we found that a 3/4" diameter ice pick is much more effective than a "stern whack on the head" because it knocks out their nervous system instantly whereas whacking them on the head just seems to make them live longer and in excrutiating pain. i hope i didnt offend anyone...

 

[Felf]

oh and about using live bait? it's better to use live bait, that way we minimize the amount of foreign objects such as plastic lures that will remain there even after we leave this earth; it may be cruel but in the long run it's better. around here clorox is far cheaper than live or dead bait. it's also not uncommon to get relic nets for little or no money. the truly "cruel" people are the ones that dont respect nature whatsoever and kill everything in their path.

 

[rubysoho]

I love fishing, I'd live on a boat if I could. Nothing beats hanging in the shade of a tree on a hot summer day. That goes for the days when I don't catch anything too

 

[Blazeherd2306]

we have to use gaffs on those larger fish such as marlin

Why would you want to kill a marlin. Around here marlin are only targeted as gamefish. Most people spend a lot of their time just trying to land one, but unless they're stupid and don't know about the greatness in preserving them, then uneducated people will continue to keep them. There was one time in which marlin were scarce. Now you must have a restricted species permit in order to keep them. I've been fishing ever since I was 6 years old. We release the same amount of fish we catch and we don't keep undersize fish unlike some people . The FWC does a great job in preserving the fish by enforcing laws that tell you how many fish of a certain species you can catch and the size they have to be to be legal. During the spring/summer months my dad's friends, my dad, and I fish many offshore tournaments some costing as much as $300 per boat to enter just so we can get the opportunity to win a good amount of money. Overall fishing is considered as a sport and to alot of fisherman it is a serious sport, but it can cost tons of money especially offshore fishing, which is why some people go on charters.

we have to use gaffs on those larger fish such as marlin

Why would you want to kill a marlin. Around here marlin are only targeted as gamefish. Most people spend a lot of their time just trying to land one, but unless they're stupid and don't know about the greatness in preserving them, then uneducated people will continue to keep them. There was one time in which marlin were scarce. Now you must have a restricted species permit in order to keep them.