at what point is using technology cheating

[John Weddup]

I have looked at this several times and decided I should not reply.

 

However i have changed my mind.

 

Fishfinders generally are not fish finders but depth finders. The castable ones only work at about 40 yards at most and very rarely find fish but for plotting depths are very good.

 

If you find fish on them when they are not feeding the information would be useless as when they are feeding they would probably be somewhere else.

 

As Emma has said on a huge water from a boat you can learn more in a few days than you could in a lifetime but you still as Anderoo has said need to apply good fishing skills to make it work.

 

As for bait boats I was undecided until I bought one.

 

It was for fishing at distance with soft baits and has a very good depth finder. No different to using one from a boat but on waters normal boats are banned.

 

Using one on small waters is madness but on big waters is very usefull. My angling mate suffers with weak arms since a few accidents and cannot spod catapult or cast more than 50 yards. The waters we fish are huge and mostly the fish hang out in the deep water at least 70 yards out.

 

Do we deny him the bream I can catch or do we allow him to use a bait boat and get his feed and rigs out there. He can cast a bomb but not a big feeder to the hot spot so its a baiting tool only.

 

Use whats allowed and for f***s sake stop posting such negative threads. We have had enough of those for a whole season.

 

John

[ayjay]

Anybody using a fixed spool reel is cheating.

[Phone]

All,

 

I agree with those who say to "cheat" is to violate rules or regulations. Improved technology has little to do with sport fishing. Actually we "limit" technology when sport fishing.

 

The question becomes what is, by definition, "sport" in the context of fishing that makes it angling.

 

IMO If a person has, above all else, integrity; sportsmanship and pride then he is NOT cheating. There will always be (follow the money) those, usually manufacturers, that take the game a little too seriously (i.e. artifically inflated fish size for whatever reason). That's business and is, in the eyes of some cheating instead of trying harder.

 

A good example of not cheating but being a cheat and paying the price later is the use of steroids by professional athletes. Society "retro" stripped integrity, sportsmanship and pride from them although at the time they used steroids they "technically" were not forbidden from the rules.

 

I think it is a stupid question. You know if - in your heart - you think you are cheating the spirit of "to angle". To say it's OK because others are doing it is BS.

 

Wasn't there a German "girl" who won a womans event in something in the '36 olympics named "Herman"?

 

Phone

For the record, I think "chumming" is cheating when fishing by myself and perfectly OK when I am attending a function where everyone chums. I wouldn't embarrase myself or others with such drivel - they are just fish. WHEN IN ROME - - - -

Edited April 17, 2012 by Phone

[Mark7]

David Hockney made a good point when challenged on using an IPad to create "art"-the idiot interviewer suggested that technology and art are not compatible. Hockney said "but a pencil is technology, and so is a paintbrush". In the same way, a reel is "technology". I dislike baitboats, but cannot say that they are a cheat, any more than a smartcast is (I use one, by the way-brilliant tool). Polaroid sunglasses would have caused Halford to have a fit, but how many anglers do not own a pair? Unless we use a stick with a gut line and hook made of bone, we all use technology. If it's used to overcome an inability to cast or perform any other normal fishing activity then it is sad, and an indication of an individuals lack of skill and determination to perfect his art. I object to "technology" when it becomes a nuisance-loud alarms, baitboats buzzing around, spods frothing the water up-usually the result of an idiot angler lacking commonsense. But these things, used sensibly, are bearable.

[Phone]

Gasp,

 

My grandchildren use calculators in higher math classes. The "101" classes still teach the theory then off to the computer they go.

 

Their grandmother is spinning in her grave.

 

Phone

[Guest Chris Perch]

My mother thinks I cheat because we have a fish finder/ echo sounder/depth finder (Garmin 140) on the boat.

Having one doesn't mean instant and predictable success, it finds the fish alright, but one still doesn't know the species, which is significant when a shoal of fish could be roach or dace...when one is after stripeys.

 

I have fished our local lake since the 60s and thought that I knew it pretty well. However since we got the Garmin I see things never imagined before, underwater cliffs, features like hills on otherwise level plains, previously undetected weedbeds even what I believe is a wreck/ sunken boat. The lake is 4 miles long and almost a mile across and would take a couple of lifetimes with a float and plummet to learn what I have about it in the last few years. Somej of it just goes in the memory, but I make notes for the charts too.

 

I belive the ulmmate and most significant piece of fishing technology is the motor vehicle, the rise in private ownership of them has opened up waters and angling possibilites like nothing has. That comes from one who grew up in a 'carless' family, we would go fishin to places we could walk, cycle or take the bus to.

 

For most I would imagine the fishing life of many would be severley restricted without wheels? Is it cheating for me to drive to waters which would otherwise be unobtainable?

 

 

Nothing wrong with a fish finder on a boat (Real Boat) but It really annoys me when people (Mainly Carp Anglers) use a remote controlled bait boat on smaller waters where they could cast to - I know it might be tricky to cast beneath a overhanging tree but its the skillfull angler that can present a bait in such places without the use of a vastly overpriced baitboat.

Also some bait boaters insist on using them even on waters where they are banned.

I have had dreams of blasting them with a 12 bore in the past But seem to manage to ignore them these days.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Chris Perch

[Dales]

If it breaks the rules of the fishery then I guess it's cheating and if its within the scope of them then its not cheating. I guess in that context the answer is sort of obvious.

 

Most waters come under some sort of rules set by the fishery/club/EA etc after that you set your own rules, standards, do's and dont's. What anyone else thinks of "your fishing" does not matter unless it is unsafe or a nuisance to other people.

 

If you want to use bait boats/smart casts or any other items, if it's in the rules then it's not cheating unless you feel it is yourself and it breaks your own set of standards and even these can change with time. I have never been a fan of bait boats but went up to Frisby Lake a few months ago and was sure the Zander where holed up out of my casting range up little spits in the islands. At dawn I could see the bait fish topping in these areas and well out of dead bait range and even a top caster could not get a live out that far. Most anglers tackle it with bait boats and it's the first time I thought they would be a good idea as a boat would have over came a problem that could not be dealt with by other means. It's bugged me since and the best I can come up with would have been fishing a chunk of eel in armo mesh but while there I did not think of this idea

 

If some one drives a boat through your swim or a little yellow duck comes floating by then get annoyed by it but if some one is playing with there toys on the far bank leave them to it. It's there choice, just sit back and feel extra smug that you are fishing in the correct way and feel superior to those "cheating anglers".

 

Lets be honest fishing is all about looking down on other anglers. Our own fishing is always so much harder, more sporting, worthy then that practiced by those Numpties, Bivy Boys, Scoundrels, Lager Louts and other random Ne'er do Wells. Others only catch because they have this or use that.

 

Use what you want and pay no attantion to those who don't like it and keep telling yourself it's not cheating. If you say it enough times you might start to believe it

 

PS: I ordered a smart cast at the weekend, so pay no attention to my ramblings.

[Dave H]

If it breaks the rules of the fishery then I guess it's cheating and if its within the scope of them then its not cheating. I guess in that context the answer is sort of obvious.

 

Most waters come under some sort of rules set by the fishery/club/EA etc after that you set your own rules, standards, do's and dont's. What anyone else thinks of "your fishing" does not matter unless it is unsafe or a nuisance to other people.

 

If you want to use bait boats/smart casts or any other items, if it's in the rules then it's not cheating unless you feel it is yourself and it breaks your own set of standards and even these can change with time. I have never been a fan of bait boats but went up to Frisby Lake a few months ago and was sure the Zander where holed up out of my casting range up little spits in the islands. At dawn I could see the bait fish topping in these areas and well out of dead bait range and even a top caster could not get a live out that far. Most anglers tackle it with bait boats and it's the first time I thought they would be a good idea as a boat would have over came a problem that could not be dealt with by other means. It's bugged me since and the best I can come up with would have been fishing a chunk of eel in armo mesh but while there I did not think of this idea

 

If some one drives a boat through your swim or a little yellow duck comes floating by then get annoyed by it but if some one is playing with there toys on the far bank leave them to it. It's there choice, just sit back and feel extra smug that you are fishing in the correct way and feel superior to those "cheating anglers".

 

Lets be honest fishing is all about looking down on other anglers. Our own fishing is always so much harder, more sporting, worthy then that practiced by those Numpties, Bivy Boys, Scoundrels, Lager Louts and other random Ne'er do Wells. Others only catch because they have this or use that.

 

Use what you want and pay no attantion to those who don't like it and keep telling yourself it's not cheating. If you say it enough times you might start to believe it

 

PS: I ordered a smart cast at the weekend, so pay no attention to my ramblings.

 

Oh Dale Dale Dale please tell me you are not going to use it for Zander. John...Step in please and save Dale...

[John Weddup]

Oh Dale Dale Dale please tell me you are not going to use it for Zander. John...Step in please and save Dale...

 

 

Sorry Dave too late.

 

the incorruptable has become corrupted.

 

I chatted with two old friends before xmas that were fishing a big res I was also fishing. They are predator anglers and were using a bait boat.

 

They were catching at distance over 100 yards and there is no way you could do that with a dead or livebait without the boat. I thought then what a good idea. It allows the presentation of delicate baits at distance.

 

It got me thinking about fishing big lobs for perch and bream at distance in these vast waters.

 

On such waters you will never interfer with anyone else so I see no problem.

 

John

[Dales]

Oh Dale Dale Dale please tell me you are not going to use it for Zander. John...Step in please and save Dale...

 

Oh yes.

 

I am undecided if it will be used for "cheating" or used proper like for pucka fishing

 

It will come in handy used in conjunction with a marker float for my pit fishing. A lot of my fishing is within the range of a smart cast and so will help with swim mapping for Tench, Carp and as I feel Bream can be caught close in for them as well.

 

I will be using it for Predator fishing, I think a smart cast will be very useful for quickly finding drop offs and features that might hold Zander and Pike.

 

I am hoping to do some cat fishing this year, well to be honest it's all I am really interested in at the moment and so the smart cast should help with finding deep water etc. I don't give a monkeys what any one else thinks about using one.