Bait Boats

[Sportsman]

I have recently been toying with the idea of getting a bait boat, principally to fish a 50 hectare lake down the road that has a very good head of large fish.

On thinking about it though I have been having second thoughts, is it sporting and is it really angling?

Over the past 25 years almost all of my fishing has been on the fly and learning to cast effectively is an integral part of being able to fish. If you can't cast well enough to reach the fish then you can't catch them.

Translating that to coarse fishing shouldn't the same apply? Using a bait boat means that anyone with minimal effort and practice can achieve a standard that it may have taken someone else many years of hard work and dedication to realise.

 

On the other hand when I was fly fishing on large lochs I would often fish from a boat or more often a float tube, which allowed me to cast to fish that I couldn't reach from the bank so isn't that the same thing?

 

There is a well presented point of view here and some interesting responses:

 

http://www.anglinglines.com/blog/carp-fish...boats-cheating/

 

What are your opinions?

[Anderoo]

At the risk of implying that some people are better anglers than others (a contentious point of view ), I think a friend summed it up perfectly - they make good anglers better and bad anglers worse.

[Sportsman]

At the risk of implying that some people are better anglers than others (a contentious point of view ), I think a friend summed it up perfectly - they make good anglers better and bad anglers worse.

 

I can see how they may make good anglers more successful rather than better.

I can also see how they might make bad anglers less likely to become proficient anglers.

[Dales]

For me it's what you use it for. If it's to get extra distance or just to get your ground bait out etc then I don't see what's wrong with using it. You might well get the distance on heavy gear anyway but it might not be as much fun to play fish. You could spod away and knacker yourself but why should you have to work that hard

 

What I don't care for is using them to drop baits in to tight spots and snags that even the most accurate caster could not. But ha no if that's what some one wants it for, that's there business.

 

I'm still not sure about the practice of ferrying a beer across the lake to a mate. That might just depend on whether I am receiving the beer or just watching others getting deliveries

Edited January 5, 2012 by Dales

[Anderoo]

I can see how they may make good anglers more successful rather than better.

I can also see how they might make bad anglers less likely to become proficient anglers.

 

Tomato, tomato

 

I haven't used one, but in some circumstances I would do to bait up. I wouldn't use one to tow rigs out. But those are just my own personal views, others would never consider using them for anything, others would use them for everything!

[Sportsman]

Yeah but we keep getting told that anyone who fishes for carp (for instance) is a Noddy because carp are too easy and don't require skill. Even more so on a commercial style fishery.

So where is the skill in learning to control a RC toy when someone else has spent 20 years learning to cast accurately.

Isn't angling meant to be a challenge?

How far do you go before it become "catch at all costs"

[Nicepix]

I have recently been toying with the idea of getting a bait boat, principally to fish a 50 hectare lake down the road that has a very good head of large fish.

On thinking about it though I have been having second thoughts, is it sporting and is it really angling?

Over the past 25 years almost all of my fishing has been on the fly and learning to cast effectively is an integral part of being able to fish. If you can't cast well enough to reach the fish then you can't catch them.

Translating that to coarse fishing shouldn't the same apply? Using a bait boat means that anyone with minimal effort and practice can achieve a standard that it may have taken someone else many years of hard work and dedication to realise.

 

On the other hand when I was fly fishing on large lochs I would often fish from a boat or more often a float tube, which allowed me to cast to fish that I couldn't reach from the bank so isn't that the same thing?

 

There is a well presented point of view here and some interesting responses:

 

http://www.anglinglines.com/blog/carp-fish...boats-cheating/

 

 

What are your opinions?

 

Interesting, because in my experience when I was on the bank I tried to throw my fly as far out as I possibly could, and when I was afloat I drifted as close to the bank as was allowed and cast towards it.

 

Forget the bait boat; fish the margins.

[Anderoo]

I don't think the skill is in controlling the boat, but in knowing where and why to drop the bait/rig.

[arbocop]

Interesting, because in my experience when I was on the bank I tried to throw my fly as far out as I possibly could, and when I was afloat I drifted as close to the bank as was allowed and cast towards it.

 

Forget the bait boat; fish the margins.

 

I agree. The noisy anglers scare the fish, so they have to chase them – be them boat anglers or bank anglers.

 

Mind you there are exceptions; the banks are noisy anyway then you've no choice, or there are some features which are fish attractors a good way out. Maybe the bankside vegetation means that you want to fish close in further down the bank where the weed beds are is but the trees don't permit a cast. Oh damn, I'm justifying their use!

 

I’ve actually never seen one used although I’ve seen them in brochures and catalogues – are they noisy or silent?

[Nicepix]

I agree. The noisy anglers scare the fish, so they have to chase them – be them boat anglers or bank anglers.

 

Mind you there are exceptions; the banks are noisy anyway then you've no choice, or there are some features which are fish attractors a good way out. Maybe the bankside vegetation means that you want to fish close in further down the bank where the weed beds are is but the trees don't permit a cast. Oh damn, I'm justifying their use!

 

I’ve actually never seen one used although I’ve seen them in brochures and catalogues – are they noisy or silent?

 

Noisy or silent, they are unnecessary IMO