Influx in ''Pointless'' fishing gear?

[Renrag39]

I've only ever seen them in the hands of idiots who ruin other people's day by using them in ways that are antisocial, rude, and actually dangerous to fish. Making bad anglers worse.

 

Me too, hence the Air Rifle suggestion. I have no use for them as I usually fish waters that can be easily cast across or walked around if required. I suppose I might use one if I had a use for it, but I don't.

 

Renrag

[watatoad]

Don't take me too wrong, I can see a potential for serious fishing but when the range gets that far away in my opinion you are no longer an angler just a techno user.

 

Yes I have only seen them used by idiots and fools who have zero consideration for anyone nearby, I even had to explain to one user that if he sent his bait boat into my swim once more he would get very embarrassed down at the local hospital getting his remote control removed I explained the danger of potential embarrassment most sweetly as I am such a gentle person.

 

Oxford English definition of ANGLER - A person who fishes with hook and line. - So maybe I am wrong, I guess I have become a grumpy old man... :bigemo_harabe_net-163:

[jason.p]

I saw one bait boat fitted with an echo sounder thingy. The chap had a display screen on his wrist like a big watch, and he was going round the lake recording depths and spotting shoals. What a brilliant idea. Cheating? I don't know. Depends on your point of view. Some would say electronic bite alarms are cheating. Each to his own. If it's permitted and not a nuisance to others, I can't see the problem.

[Anderoo]

No more cheating than using a smartcast in my opinion.

 

It's odd, I've always hated them, but when you get in a position when you can see a specific use for one, you see them differently. I would only use it for delivering groundbait, I would still cast the fishing rods. It would be instead of 2 hours' spodding. I've really racked my brains this year trying to find a way to get all the bait out quietly and accurately, and drawn a blank.

 

I was talking to a guy who told me about one of the anglers on the Car Park lake, fishing for the carp there. He used his boat (+ echo sounder) to drop his bait precisely on the back of a small bar, then carefully manouvered it and dropped 2 small back leads around the bar, so the line followed the contour and didn't go over the top (the carp were wise to that). That's way beyond anything I'd ever think about, but I was impressed by the ingenuity of it.

 

But on small, busy waters (the only places I've ever seen them used!) I think they're too antisocial. But then so is spodding!

[Tigger]

In a case like Anderoo's where he's regularly targetting specimine bream on a large expance of water then they've gotta be worth a try.

I wonder if Steve would let you give one a go Anderoo ?

Even better fish from a boat using the slider...like John Wilson did on his secret lake ...brilliant !

[larsagi2010]

I am quite glad I brought up these BaitBoats.

 

It seems to have encouraged some very mixed responses, all of which do make a valid point. Maybe some of us are fishing on Windows 95?? While others are on Windows 7???

 

Does Windows 7 fishing really give you that edge over the windows 95 edition?? I mean I never had a problem catching fish 15 years ago, are the fish constantly getting more intelligent/wise needing complicated rigs & stealth like approaches to catch them? Or is this merely a point of fishing becoming a Business rather than a sport?

 

I always enjoyed the buzz of casting my baits out. Hooking the trees, overthrowing sweetcorn so it rains down on the Anglers on the other side of the lake Not just the ''Quantity of fish'' I see fishing as an adventure, something you should enjoy doing, and something that should need skill to do.

 

These days people actually set Bite alarms, then lie down 5 meters away and have a nap with a coffee in the armrest. They sometimes don't look at the water for over an hour! They miss the kingfisher sat in the tree opposite. I do agree with some of these modern ideas, but surely the novelty of catching a fish is better when it is worked for??

 

Angling seems to becoming a ''The more you spend the more you catch'' and while I agree that some of these ideas do have their uses (We have several good uses for a bait boat above) it seems very much like modern techniques mean we do less and less.

 

In 8 years time will we see a ''Strike and land device'' it senses when the bait has been taken using fibre optics, then strikes perfectly for the fish and then adjusts your drag perfectly when bringing it in so you have excellent pressure levels on the fish at all times????

 

Naturally in response to the 95 style fishing and windows 7 style... We will always get people who says ''Dont buy windows 7 as xp is better.... ect: And same vice-versa.

 

We will never ALL agree on a chosen method. Some prefer things others hate. Check the Pole/Feeder anglers and you will see that clearly.... So nobody take it personal, I am not trying to have cheap digs! Promise... Thats just my opinion and everyone has a right to completely disagree with it

[Tigger]

Most of my fishing is done with a bum bag full of floats/weights/hooks etc a bag of maggots around my neck a landing net and of course my rod and reel so you don't need to fish hi teck if you don't want to. In certain waters when your targeting a small group of elusive fish which are very hard to catch using other methods can help you put one in the net before you join the choir invisable ! As has already been mentioned the use of boats for baiting up etc has been going on for many years so it's no new thing. The small bait boat is a bit easier than carting a full sized boat round on your back that's all.

[Anderoo]

No use of boats or baitboats allowed where I fish. It's not that I'm desperate to use one, but if I was allowed I would probably think about it now.

 

It's a common argument that using alarms, bolt rigs and hiding in a bivvy isn't 'proper' fishing. All I will say is, try fishing for certain fish without any of that and see how you get on! Again, in a lot of circumstances it is uneccessary, in other circumstances it's all completely essential. You can't bundle it all together like that.

 

Also, the bloke hiding in a bivvy will have probably spent a long, long time carefully chosing where to fish, finding the features, baiting it all up, and casting accurately. He's probably earned a coffee break

 

I usually have my bivvy off to one side so I can't see the water. That means nothing in the swim can see me either.

[Rutilis Volaticus]

This is going to sound a bit daft, but I see bait boats as Very Long Poles. After all, all they really do is increase accuracy of bait placement and allow for subtler rigs by removing the need to cast. Okay, so that's not to say I don't think they're a bit silly, but as long as they're used in a responsible manner I don't have a problem with others using them.

 

Personally, my "Pointless" vote goes to all this camouflage gear. I can see the point of a stalking angler wearing subtler gear if they're after nervous fish that can see them, but the thought that a carp a hundred yards away under 10ft of water is going to feel more comfortable taking the bait because the occupants of a tented village have got pictures of reeds on them is, to put it mildly, bloody amusing.

[larsagi2010]

I couldn't agree more guys. Some excellent info in there and as to why they have earned a coffee break!

 

I will say though I think I do have a good explanation as to why some people will swear by baitboats and others will feel they are more a useless tool to lug around.

 

Simple: It depends where you fish. Some people will find on their local lake they cast a bolt rig out, or dust off the pole... A few handfuls of maggots or groundbait in and bingo.... The carp come rolling in.

 

I fish a lake local to me (In fact it has two and the third is under construction) and it is shocking how different the fish's habits are between the two lakes. Also the fish in the smaller lake fight much harder lb for lb.

 

I suppose if I went to a lake filled with 20+lb carp and spent 6 hours with not a single knock I too would be looking at alternate methods to increase not just catch rate, but anything at all!

 

So maybe that is what all these gadgets are about?? Not just angler preference, but meeting the requirements in order to have a reasonable chance of catching the fish. People who have an overpopulated commercial lake near them would argue a boat is pointless as they are used to just casting and catching... Why use extra gear like a bait boat if what you are doing is working perfectly?? Obviously some people find that without these gadgets their water doesn't produce the goods as good as it should do....

 

Quite an interesting, but I imagine accurate theory behind the motives for these products.

 

And of course you will get the anglers in the middle who do not need a boat at all... They just want one because they like getting every product available to them.... That I suppose is what keeps out tackle shops open