Fishing - what's the point to it?

Hi Sarah,

This is a bit of a bugbear of mine too. When I used to work in the parks, many years ago, I had to clean up around "the lake" in Platt Fields which was essentially a big playground for fishermen and model boats. I had no problem with the model boats [although it is one of many "hobbies" about that I find it difficult to comprehend people's interset in] but the fishing used to upset me so much that I took to wearing a badge that read "Fishing is a blood sport".

I was advised to remove the badge by a Supervisor and when I refused to do so I was moved away from lakeside duties.

That was when I was young and militant and cared more about things like that, or when I was niave enough to believe that I could make people like fishermen actually think about what they were doing...

Good for you Tino

Fishing IS a blood sport!

Pretty soon were only gonna be eating zucchinis and branches.

I ENJOY FISHING (in order to estbalish my position of opinion here).
People who practice catch and release fishibg are more conservation minded than I. I take my fish and cook them. Theyre delicious with cracker crumb meal or poached wit crabmeat. Sometimes we pickle them in brine and cardamon.
I especially love fresh tuna either as a sushi component or done on the barbeque with a wasabi sesame sauce.

First days of fishing seasons around the US are pretty much an ugly spectacle also, I usually wait 2 days then everybody goes home and youll rarely see any of the Izaaks out there again.
We have trout streams in Pennsylvania where, on opening day, it looks like the Bataan death March. Thousands of these "first day fishermen" all hooked together and cussing . We dont low no public drinking on opening day in PA, theres some remonstrance in the Bible , I believe, about the consumption of spiritous beverages while fishing.
Anyway, theres usually a lot of kids too. The thing with kids is that they have the spans of attention of hummingbirds so theyre always flitting around and getting into other peoples ****.
Opening day is kind of nasty. Ill let others post their opinion and maybe later we can get into the neat feeling of outsmarting a fish. I realize that fish have a brain about the size of a pencil eraser but all their information is focsed on eating, running away and spawning. You have to work on numbers 1 and 3 to catch one. (You can focus on no 2 but we call that gill netting , and its really not much of a sport, its more like plowing snow.)

I hope that clears that up.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.

Show him how to fish and he'll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Where is the harm in that?

farmerman, working on number 1 and 3, (mostly 3) is how squinney caught me. No release after 18 years and I'm STILL waiting for her to eat me

farmerman- I certainly can understand people who cook and eat the fish that they catch. They are using the fish for food. What to me is so absurd is pitting wits with a fish, and then releasing him, injured, back into the drink.

I think that some men must have a genetic memory of the primitive years, where men had to hunt and fish for their food. There must be some "instinct" that impels a man to recreate the acts of their ancestors.
Now though, 'cause we can buy perfectly good fish at the fish or super market, for many men, cleaning the fish is too much of a bother. So they throw the poor little critters back, the men feeling happy that in some small way, they have reigned supreme over the animal kingdom.

Now, it the guys really crave the superiority over the animal kingdom, they should go out and hunt sharks, or lions. Now THAT would be a challenge worthy of a hunter!

Phoenix, Im glad you brought that point up. Lions do not spend much time in water so itd be difficult using rod and reel.
catch and release fishing is usually done with hooks that dont have barbs at the end. A barb is like a reverse facing point at the hooks tip.This prevents the hook from dislodging. In catch and release, usually they use the "Barbless hooks" which also inflict little permanent damage. I have caught bass that had been caught many times before Id gotten him. That is one stupid bass so I usually remove it freom the gene pool by way of my oven or frying pan.

The only kind of fishing I find a bit weird is catching a fish and sending it to a taxidermist , where they make a resin mold so you can hang this cartoon dummy fish up on your wall. Thats just silly and I awlways poke fun at fish trophy walls.

Why dont we make resin casts of our departed loved ones? WhY? cause its weird as hell thats why. Same thing for fish.
When we go out fishing we usually only take what we can eat at a meal or two. Fish doesnt freeze well.

I fish with dynamite. Toss a few sticks in the creek and pick the fish off the surface of the water.

Now that's what I call high tech swamp technology....

I was going to make fun of Farmerman by asking what "poached wit crabmeat" is, but I lost my appetite for it when I realized it's like shooting fish in a... nevermind. I can't say it.

I can't speak for the men here, but my hubby fishes more for the fun of playing with the toys. His rods & reels are mechanical, so that's a big attraction. His tackle box is full of cool stuff he can combine in various ways. And then there are the boats!

He says, "I'm not a fisherman...I GO fishing." (Emphasis on the fun of planning the trip, getting all the gear together, and traveling to find the "right" spot.) Really, I don't think he cares much whether he actually catches any fish. That's sorta beside the point.

Thanks, this was an amusing sunday morning read!

Okay - for the female fisherwoman point of view.

First - to make sure you have a clear idea of my frame of mind.
I don't like sport hunting of any kind. That includes sport fishing.
I enjoy the outdoors and its always better near water.
I like peace, solitude, and good food.
I also like to have fun which includes some sort of excitement-I don't need to climb a mountain because its there but, I don't mind climbing if I feel there's something other than just climbing it I will get out of it.

So, yes I fish.
It's great to find a nice peaceful stream or lake to sit beside.
While I'm sitting there I might as well do something fun and exciting.
I can sit and relax and enjoy nature. Once in a while I get lucky and HEY theres something on my hook! WOOHOO. Think about the skydiver who is soaring high then jumps out of the plane. Its a rush of adrenaline.
If I'm lucky its an edible, large enough to keep fish. If not, I feel bad and get it off the hook and into the water hoping against hope I didn't hurt it so I can catch it when it grows up.
I go home and clean it, fry it and eat it. (Okay fishin usually does that cuz he's better than I am at it but, he also usually catches fish and I don't)

Now, whats so bad about getting outside, enjoying nature, getting a simple rush, and getting dinner while I'm at it? I think it's great. I like it and I like to eat a nice fat trout. It all works.

I however would not be in a tent on the side of a lake pissin in the bushes and getting drunk with my buddies either. Admittedly, I have done those items but, not all at the same time. It's all about where, when and how I suppose.

Nuthin at all!

I just don't know why 'enjoying nature' includes hurting fish - and it does hurt them, why would you want to do that?

I think if fish made a noise...

Sometimes enjoying nature involves getting dinner ingredients.

I grew up at a marina.

All fishing means to me is having both your parents get up at 3:00am and work your ass off until after dark 7 days a week from the week before Memorial Day to the week after Labor Day.

It means the word summer holds no meaning for the kids beyond pumping gas and selling and smelling bait in the hot damn sun to a bunch of people, 90% men, who have no idea what they are doing and are using this as an excuse to get sun and windburned, drunk and lecherous. It means having to make sure your house is double bolted at all times so you won't have your house broken into by the same drunken assholes.
It means every Monday morning finding rotting stinking dead fish left if bizaare places because these drunks didn't want to take their fish home, they just wanted to drink and catch them.

I love to eat fish.
I farking hate fishing and anything having to do with it.

You've never heard the scream of a dying fish?

Fish are like rabbits -- you only hear them when they are about to die.

The scream of a fish is a terrifying thing.