Fishing as a hobbie/sport in unethical
Go Fishing
51–60 of 101 posts
Re: Go Fishing
#52My favorite part about fishing is that it has nothing to do with catching fish. As a catch-and-release fly fisherman, the entire point of the exercise is in matching the hatch, tying a perfect fly, perfecting your cast, having the perfect presentation, and finding the exact right riffle. At that point, actually hooking a fish is just a side effect of what you are already doing.
Then why not practice without a fly - with just a pole and a line? You would not bother any fish, and you would derive as much enjoyment. (I am not into fishing so I may be missing something)
I often do basically that. I love fly fishing the pond on my parents property but the weeds and algae blooms make cleaning the hook annoying chore every few casts. So I just cut the hooks off. I have fished that pond so many years I just don't really have any need to reel in a fish there. I know exactly how big of bass and bluegill the pond supports and simply love perfecting the art and watching the fish slam the flies I learned to tie by catching the insects I have seen there growing up.
Re: Go Fishing
#53I spent a lot of time fishing as a child, as my father was an avid fisherman. Some of my best memories are of stream and lake fishing in the Sierras, tuna fishing off boats in Cabo, and bass fishing of the coast near Del Mar. And yet I can't get myself to do it as an adult, even though I have two young children who I know would love it. It's with very mixed emotion that I decide not to go. My social circle finds fish…
I grew up fishing as well with the same wonderful memories, but can't enjoy it with my kids for the same reasons you mentioned. There is something beautiful about the slow, patience of fishing that feels refreshing. I just can't imagine someone stabbing a metal hook through my cheek and dragging me out of my home. But I'd love to find an activity that feels similar to fishing without enforcing my dominance over a wild animal.
Re: Go Fishing
#54No other activity settles my mind quite like fly fishing. Contrary to popular belief, fly fishing’s primary objective is to catch fish, but I have to admit that perfecting the cast sometimes takes most of my focus. If I’m catching fish, great! If not, no matter, I’ll be enthralled with trying to gracefully land a caddis imitation 40 feet away over and over and over again. Once I picked up a fly rod I never looked bac…
If you'd like to take it to the next level, try tenkara fly fishing. Not only is your 40ft span reduced to ~15ft, but casting is even more challenging (quite a few techniques!) and you now have to account for a lot more concealment (of yourself), and fighting/landing fish is quite a challenge when you have no reel. It's extremely rewarding to lang even the smallest fish!
Re: Go Fishing
#55I like this Bay Area guy https://fishermanslife.net/
Re: Go Fishing
#56> One thing that keeps many people from fishing is the simple fact that they have never done it. Indeed, I think it is probably the only reason, apart from vegetarianism. (If you do not eat meat or otherwise object to taking the lives of gill-bearing aquatic craniates, there is always catch-and-release.) Fishing is one of the cruelest things I can imagine doing to an animal. The closest way I can put it to a human is…
Is it ok if other animals do it?
Re: Go Fishing
#57I spent a lot of time fishing as a child, as my father was an avid fisherman. Some of my best memories are of stream and lake fishing in the Sierras, tuna fishing off boats in Cabo, and bass fishing of the coast near Del Mar. And yet I can't get myself to do it as an adult, even though I have two young children who I know would love it. It's with very mixed emotion that I decide not to go. My social circle finds fish…
I feel the same way. I fished as a child and have some good memories of it. I also have some friends as an adult who I know would benefit socially from coming fishing with me.
But ethically I just can't do it.
I don't want to sound judgmental either, but I'd encourage anyone who feels this way and is still eating other animals to reconsider their positions.
Re: Go Fishing
#58> One thing that keeps many people from fishing is the simple fact that they have never done it. Indeed, I think it is probably the only reason, apart from vegetarianism. (If you do not eat meat or otherwise object to taking the lives of gill-bearing aquatic craniates, there is always catch-and-release.) Fishing is one of the cruelest things I can imagine doing to an animal. The closest way I can put it to a human is…
> The closest way I can put it to a human is... imagine thinking you're about to bite into an apple and then being yanked, naked, into outer space by a metal hook through your face.
That's nonsensical, really. It's not equivalent.
Fish don't wear clothes and they don't think the same way humans do. So they're not thinking, "Yikes, I was about to eat - while naked oddly enough - but now I'm being yanked into space".
Also hooks don't damage a fish mouth like it would a human mouth. Fish don't even bleed from getting caught, usually. That's how different it is. There are exceptions of course, they can get damaged or even killed with an unlucky hook, but in the case of a human it'd be exceptional if they didn't incur significant damage (both physically and mentally). So trying to say the experience would be that similar is pretty silly.
> It's significantly more cruel than instantly ending the life of a cow or chicken, even if you catch and release.
You mean the cows and chickens that often live their entire lives inside buildings squished together, in cages, standing in their waste, pumped up with drugs, etc?
I'd say that's much more cruel. I'd rather be a fish than a cow or chicken.
Re: Go Fishing
#59I've been fishing for a few years and learned mostly on my own by scouring forums plus lots of trial and error. I've always likened the draw to be similar to the problem solving nature of programming and engineering in general, and have always wondered if there are other engineers that enjoy fishing. From some of the comments here it looks like there are some, but not many.
I've actually created several pieces of fishing software, for personal use, such as a journal/logging app for recording outings (locations, conditions, results, etc.), a crawler/scraper that extracts EXIF location info for good fishing spots, a notifications app for ideal fishing conditions, etc.
Re: Go Fishing
#60I spent a lot of time fishing as a child, as my father was an avid fisherman. Some of my best memories are of stream and lake fishing in the Sierras, tuna fishing off boats in Cabo, and bass fishing of the coast near Del Mar. And yet I can't get myself to do it as an adult, even though I have two young children who I know would love it. It's with very mixed emotion that I decide not to go. My social circle finds fish…
I grew up fishing as well with the same wonderful memories, but can't enjoy it with my kids for the same reasons you mentioned. There is something beautiful about the slow, patience of fishing that feels refreshing. I just can't imagine someone stabbing a metal hook through my cheek and dragging me out of my home. But I'd love to find an activity that feels similar to fishing without enforcing my dominance over a wil…
Meditating.