When does a method become unsporting?

[Salar]

I was about to reply to Spasor's ripost on the Electronic Lures thread, when I though the "unsporting" challenge would be worth a thread all by itself. There was a time when anything other than a split-cane rod and a dry fly was considered unsporting, but now we have carbon rods, jelly lures, chemical bait additives, bite indicators, electronic fish finders - so where would YOU draw the line? Does anything go, or are there some forms of fishing that are unsporting (in your opinion?) Lets hear the views!

[chesters1]

everything is fine its just improving on the past ....well maybe not bait boats as i cannot afford one they should be outlawed untill i can ,but as this is a sea forum (whoops) i`l settle for faster boats than the one i`m on

 

[ 10. March 2003, 07:31 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]

[fisherman]

A bunch of trebles wrapped around a bread roll and trying to false hook the fish that come upto the bread.

As I have seen done in Portugal.

Now that is not fishing.

Dave

 

[ 10. March 2003, 07:51 PM: Message edited by: fisherman ]

[Norrie]

I've seen a similar method here with Mullet, a huge big treble with a lead weight cast on the top and cast over a shoal, its then "ripped " through the shoal to foul hook the fish. :mad: I said something to the guy, but left it when he said something about me going in with the fish..

[Cranfield]

Its a difficult question, as we can all see so much "tackle/method development", that has taken place, since we started fishing.

 

But ignoring "tackle", just "method" causes enough problems.

 

I don,t like the idea of trying to foulhook mullet, but I have done something similar to catch live sand eels for bait.

 

I was going to say that I wouldn,t "gorge bait", but I have set trot lines in the estuary at low tide.

 

The final insult, use a net.

Well, I have done that as well to catch livebait,in foreign climes.

 

I can definitely say, I wouldn,t hunt fish with hounds.

[spasor]

Salar. At last.

I`m glad someone took up my barb.

It seams that everything is being pointed towards the `Predator`(i.e. angler) instead of angling being a `sport`?

All of us know how to guarantee a `bag full`. Just throw a couple of grenades over the side and wait for the fish to surface.

I`ve purposely not tried the `super fish attractants`, but do use the new super soft wriggly lures.

I won`t use a mix of salmon eggs,flour plus grannies old recipe for catching trout!!

Call me old fashioned if you like. But I thought angling was about finding and out-witting the fish?

OK!! My skipper puts us over a wreck where he can see fish on the finder. But that doesn`t mean I`ll catch many. We`ve all seen the day where the fish were on the `finder` but weren`t feeding. The means to success was someone trying a rig or lure that was a little different?

When we`re faced with another war in which technology can defeat an inferior enemy. Do we really need to apply the same technologies to fishing?

Maybe it would be better to point some individuals to `Fish Sim 2`?

Like us `Oldies` keep saying. "If fishing mean`t catching", it wouldn`t be a sport!!

Paul.

[Newt]

I'd have to say for myself that any method having me trying to entice a fish to take my bait/lure so I can fight it on rod/reel strikes me as sporting.

 

And my guess is that if a method/lure/bait/tactic/technique ever comes along that is a "never fail", I'll try it until it isn't fun any more and then quit with it.

 

That being said, there are some legal methods of taking fish that don't suit me so I don't use them. But that is not to say that others should not.

 

And I've taken fish (mostly for use as bait) using methods that were not sporting. Weren't intended to be. And Cranfield, one of them did involve using a hunting dog. LOL

[spasor]

NEWT??

I`ll bet that included a pack of dead rats with trebles hanging all off the place?

You Yanks are sicccccccccckkkkkkkkk!!!

Well it takes a dead something with loads of dollars hanging off to get you friends?

Or maybe that is the post-war Irag forum?

Jessie Owen. Turn in your grave!!

[Newt]

Newt:

And I've taken fish (mostly for use as bait) using methods that were not sporting.  Weren't intended to be.  And Cranfield, one of them did involve using a hunting dog. LOL

spasor

 

- Cast net.

 

- Minnow trap - and the dog part was my lab who loved the water. I'd put him at sit upstream a little, place a trap, and then call him to me. His favorite route was thru the water and the fish swam fast to keep ahead. Small enough and they'd fit into my trap.

 

- For social gatherings where they wanted to serve fish, I've rigged a trot line (heavy line, 50 or so single hooks hanging from it, baited, and the whole rig placed just under the surface) to catch catfish to serve there. Perfectly legal and usual method to catch fish where I lived. Not a "sporting" method by any means.

 

Not sure exactly where dead rats, treble hooks, and Iraq come in to this discussion.

 

As to the Jesse Owens thing (at least I think that is who you probably meant) as the son of a sharecropper and grandson of a slave, he would certainly have understood each of the methods I mentioned.

[H Jampton]

Ask one of the local wildfowling club members what was the first thing he shot with the Thomas Wild 12 bore magnum he has carried under his arm for the last 40 years, and he will tell you it was a mullet!

Last year he caught one of nine and a quarter pound in his net. A bigger one went straight through it.