Recently the recreational fishing sector has come under intense scrutiny from a number of areas. While we often fight against irrational policy making, lack of funding, the commercial sector and other lobbyists, the number one opposition to our passionate pastime are the dreaded greenies. No surprises there!
Apart from critical issues such as locking us out of our valuable waterways, a recent arguement has raised a fair bit of public commentary. Is it ethical to catch & release fish purely for sport??? On face value the question seems almost illogical, yet on further inspection probably commands some further thought.
Firstly, most fishermen consider themselves to be envirnmentalists. We usually all have a love of the outdoors and do our best to keep it in prime condition. Most adhere to the stringent regulations palced on us and follow the generous bag limits imposed. There are also another band of keen anglers who purely catch fish for the sport. They release everything they catch to help protect our dwindling fish stocks for future generations of fishermen. This band of conservation-minded fishos are growing rapidly. This trend has gained momentum from the catch and release tournamnet scene flourishing across Australia.
The arguement by the 'others' is quite basic. It is cruel to catch fish purely for the sport. It is inhumane to subject fish to pain and stress purely for our enjoyment. It matters little if the philosophy of catch and release actually aides their overall outcome of increased fish biomass, simple fact is they dont want anyone fishing.
Their retort to this actually contradicts what they stand for. They would prefer we keep everything we catch, as it it more ethical to fish for consumption than sustainability. Now, what they would prefer is to abolish catch and release in favour of a more dignified approach...fillet and release!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Old school with new tricks
I have had the pleasure over the past 4 or 5 seasons to open the eyes of some very important people in my life to the allure of soft lures. These important people were the cornerstone to my whole outlook on fishing. They fuelled the fire in my infancy, taught me the basics, helped me develop the patience,and gave me the appreciation of comraderie and mateship, beyond what is known outside the sphere recreational fishing.
My dad and grandfather have taken to plastics like any angling challenge in their life. My dad now sports more specialist sp outfits than bait rigs, a hobie to fish out of for his adjacent lake and braid coming out of his ears. He has all the elements in place to be a gun lure fisho. And to be honest he already is. I think it really appeals to his meticuluos nature.
My pop on the other hand is something different all together. Where my father was open to new ideas, listened to the mistakes i made and heeded the good oil to fast track his learning, much like i did when i was in his shoes years before, my pop has really run his own show. We all gave him the basics, told him what gear to use and what lures to use and where but he rarely listens.
I'm not sure if it is part of old age, he is 80 years old now and probably can't be given advice by a snot-nosed thrity-something. He will conceed we are onto a good thing though, but not initially.
I remember our first session together on sp's. It was in Botany. We landed over 30 flatties and good variety of by-catch. I was so excited for him cause he caught his fair share of fish. I was beaming with excitement and all he could muster was "they work ok...but they only catch flathead, no good for anything else". He's is a hard man to please! What made matters worse was he snapped the tip off his new graphite stick i bought him to get into the whole concept. "bloody rods break to easy...not as good as my ugly stick".
From those humble beginings has spawed a love affair for using platics now. He still will never admit it but i know he's keen when he rings me on a wednesday to tee up a session with me for the weekend. He knows i never use bait.
But the remarkle thing is he runs his own race. He used cheap old reels that wobble like a punch drunk boxer on his last legs. His rods are his trusty glass rods that weight more than my Navara. He will not conform. No matter how much i try and talk to him. But in essence this is what i love most. He defys the odds and still from time to time teaches me a lesson or two. It burns!
Last weekend at Botany he did it to me again. He pulled out his rods that barely have enough cotton on the bindings to hold on the guides, out came the DAM reels loaded with braid, probably thick enough to use as anchor rope, a jighead large enough to use off the continental shelf and he kicked butt. Go figure.
As a side note, the bay seems to be firing again. The winter chill has evaporated and the fish are ready to play ball. There a few kings getting around but they are timid. The flatties are VERY hungry and the tailor are a good class. The trevs seem to be a good size too with fish up to a kg roaming all over the bay.
My dad and grandfather have taken to plastics like any angling challenge in their life. My dad now sports more specialist sp outfits than bait rigs, a hobie to fish out of for his adjacent lake and braid coming out of his ears. He has all the elements in place to be a gun lure fisho. And to be honest he already is. I think it really appeals to his meticuluos nature.
My pop on the other hand is something different all together. Where my father was open to new ideas, listened to the mistakes i made and heeded the good oil to fast track his learning, much like i did when i was in his shoes years before, my pop has really run his own show. We all gave him the basics, told him what gear to use and what lures to use and where but he rarely listens.
I'm not sure if it is part of old age, he is 80 years old now and probably can't be given advice by a snot-nosed thrity-something. He will conceed we are onto a good thing though, but not initially.
I remember our first session together on sp's. It was in Botany. We landed over 30 flatties and good variety of by-catch. I was so excited for him cause he caught his fair share of fish. I was beaming with excitement and all he could muster was "they work ok...but they only catch flathead, no good for anything else". He's is a hard man to please! What made matters worse was he snapped the tip off his new graphite stick i bought him to get into the whole concept. "bloody rods break to easy...not as good as my ugly stick".
From those humble beginings has spawed a love affair for using platics now. He still will never admit it but i know he's keen when he rings me on a wednesday to tee up a session with me for the weekend. He knows i never use bait.
But the remarkle thing is he runs his own race. He used cheap old reels that wobble like a punch drunk boxer on his last legs. His rods are his trusty glass rods that weight more than my Navara. He will not conform. No matter how much i try and talk to him. But in essence this is what i love most. He defys the odds and still from time to time teaches me a lesson or two. It burns!
Last weekend at Botany he did it to me again. He pulled out his rods that barely have enough cotton on the bindings to hold on the guides, out came the DAM reels loaded with braid, probably thick enough to use as anchor rope, a jighead large enough to use off the continental shelf and he kicked butt. Go figure.
As a side note, the bay seems to be firing again. The winter chill has evaporated and the fish are ready to play ball. There a few kings getting around but they are timid. The flatties are VERY hungry and the tailor are a good class. The trevs seem to be a good size too with fish up to a kg roaming all over the bay.
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