Super User HoosierHawgs Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 I don't look down upon anglers who fish with lesser equipment, but if I see some bucket brigaders sitting on a cooler full of fish, holding their rods and reels upside down, and keeping fish at a catch and release only lake, then I am going to speak up. 4
CeeJay Posted July 23, 2015 Posted July 23, 2015 I don't look down upon anglers who fish with lesser equipment, but if I see some bucket brigaders sitting on a cooler full of fish, holding their rods and reels upside down, and keeping fish at a catch and release only lake, then I am going to speak up.  Funny you mention that. Just a bit off topic, but I occasionally see new anglers (of all ages) holding their spinning gear upside down, back reeling with the spinning reel on top Normally I'll say something like: "hello there, you might have better luck turning around your rod. It balances a bit better that way" or something like that. It's always a good feeling to help out new anglers
Super User the reel ess Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 I don't see too much of people giving the bucket brigade grief, as I see catch and release anglers getting chastised for throwing fish back. I hear it ALL THE TIME. YES! I get that from my kayak buddy. He used to get so angry at me that he couldn't just "let it go", pun intended. But he recently caught his PB while fishing with me and he wanted to release it even though I had a stringer! I think he's got the fever. Â There's a mentality out there that if you didn't eat it, you didn't catch it. My wife told me to stop bringing them home, she's sick of fish. 1
Super User J Francho Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 There's a mentality that asks why bother if you don't eat it. 3
Super User MIbassyaker Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 There's a mentality out there that if you didn't eat it, you didn't catch it. My wife told me to stop bringing them home, she's sick of fish. Yeah, my father-in-law has that. He doesn't grasp the notion of trying to catch something you won't eat. He also doesn't understand slot limits, which on at least one occasion lead to much disgruntlement about a walleye we made him throw back.  There is also mentality (not even a mentality -- just an unquestioned impulse) that, "I caught it, I'm gonna keep it" irrespective of whether you'll actually eat the thing.  Honestly, though: Please, go ahead and bug me about catch and release any time. It gives me a nice opening to explain the principle and it's purpose, and why I do it, and maybe they'll go home and think about it. 2
Super User the reel ess Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 The thing to me that makes fishing so much better than hunting is that you can "score" at fishing without killing the prey. In fact, you and others can score repeatedly with the same prey in different ways. Â You can't do that in hunting. 3
CeeJay Posted July 23, 2015 Posted July 23, 2015 There's a mentality that asks why bother if you don't eat it.  I've never really had that problem with bass. But for species like catfish, crappie, bluegill I've been asked why I don't take them home. I just say that I enjoy fishing. When I caught my PB Bluegill (1.3lbs) a small crowd gathered and some wanted me to give it to them. I released it. 1
Super User the reel ess Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 I've never really had that problem with bass. But for species like catfish, crappie, bluegill I've been asked why I don't take them home. I just say that I enjoy fishing. When I caught my PB Bluegill (1.3lbs) a small crowd gathered and some wanted me to give it to them. I released it. I tell them if they want it, catch it their @#$% self. Don't ask me for a trophy you didn't earn.  I can't even understand wanting that. Now maybe if I had a cooler full of bluegill, but not just one. 1
Super User MIbassyaker Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 I'm not sure why, but a lot of people seem to think if you throw it back you're "wasting" it, sort of like like throwing a rotisserie chicken in the garbage. It makes me wonder if they comprehend that fish are wild animals that go on back to their home habitat once released. 2
CeeJay Posted July 23, 2015 Posted July 23, 2015 I tell them if they want it, catch it their @#$% self. Don't ask me for a trophy you didn't earn.  I can't even understand wanting that. Now maybe if I had a cooler full of bluegill, but not just one.  Exactly. And also that fish was possibly the largest bluegill in that little suburban lake. Before I caught it, I always thought that I had caught many bluegill over a pound. But this one I actually put on my scale because it was a fatty, a trophy 'Gill   And like you said, there's no way I'm giving away a trophy fish that I worked hard to catch. 1
CeeJay Posted July 23, 2015 Posted July 23, 2015 I'm not sure why, but a lot of people seem to think if you throw it back you're "wasting" it, sort of like like throwing a rotisserie chicken in the garbage. It makes me wonder if they comprehend that fish are wild animals that go on back to their home habitat once released.  Yeah I honestly don't believe they do comprehend that. I take a little heat from non-angler friends for releasing fish, and sometimes they'll bring up the dreaded "torturing an animal for pleasure" argument. It can be frustrating, but often I end up explaining that fish can indeed be released safely to live and thrive and reproduce. But at other times I don't even bother trying to explain to them why I fish.
Super User MIbassyaker Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 Yeah I honestly don't believe they do comprehend that. I take a little heat from non-angler friends for releasing fish, and sometimes they'll bring up the dreaded "torturing an animal for pleasure" argument. It can be frustrating, but often I end up explaining that fish can indeed be released safely to live and thrive and reproduce. But at other times I don't even bother trying to explain to them why I fish.  Believe it or not, there is an entire academic literature in applied ethics on the question of whether the choice to engage in catch and release fishing at all is ethically justifiable. The argument against boils down to what you say here: If I do it, I cause unnecessary harm and distress to fish and I risk mortality, whereas all I gain is personal enjoyment. That is, the net benefits do not outweigh the costs. Catch and keep fishing, however, like hunting, result in a harvest in which the benefits can outweigh the mortality cost (presumably, if you harvest for food, that means there is something else you are not eating instead, which is saved). Ergo, hunting and catch and keep fishing are actually more ethically justifiable than catch and release fishing. Note, it's not an argument about what should be legal, just an argument about whether one, at the moment of decision, is ethically justified in choosing to do it, compared to not doing it, or to doing something else.  There are many possible responses to this, some of which are good and some of which are bad. But my response is simply to shrug and point out that the range of alternative activities I could do for leisure instead would impose worse costs, without any greater benefit, simply by moving around more, using up more energy, and taking up more space, potentially creating more waste, and creating more lucrative markets for resource extraction and exploitation. In the face of all the myriad things humans do natural environments and creatures within them every day, even If I accept their argument, I'm quite sure my own catch and release fishing is nowhere near the most ethically problematic thing either I or they do every day. 4
CeeJay Posted July 23, 2015 Posted July 23, 2015 Believe it or not, there is an entire academic literature in applied ethics on the question of whether the choice to engage in catch and release fishing at all is ethically justifiable. The argument against boils down to what you say here: If I do it, I cause unnecessary harm and distress to fish and I risk mortality, whereas all I gain is personal enjoyment. That is, the net benefits do not outweigh the costs. Catch and keep fishing, however, like hunting, result in a harvest in which the benefits can outweigh the mortality cost (presumably, if you harvest for food, that means there is something else you are not eating instead, which is saved). Ergo, hunting and catch and keep fishing are actually more ethically justifiable than catch and release fishing. Note, it's not an argument about what should be legal, just an argument about whether one, at the moment of decision, is ethically justified in choosing to do it, compared to not doing it, or to doing something else.  There are many possible responses to this, some of which are good and some of which are bad. But my response is simply to shrug and point out that the range of alternative activities I could do for leisure instead would impose worse costs, without any greater benefit, simply by moving around more, using up more energy, and taking up more space, potentially creating more waste, and creating more lucrative markets for resource extraction and exploitation. In the face of all the myriad things humans do natural environments and creatures within them every day, even If I accept their argument, I'm quite sure my own catch and release fishing is nowhere near the most ethically problematic thing either I or they do every day.  Thanks for sharing that, definitely food for thought. 1
Super User J Francho Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 Uh, yeah. Ethically speaking, the are much bigger fish to fry. 3
Super User buzzed bait Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 Use a heavy surfcasting combo to fish a bucket properly. Â i was told once of a really rich jerk off on a charter boat running his mouth all day...... Â the guide hooked a 5 gallon bucket on while the jerk was not paying attention and tossed into the ocean while trolling. Â Evidently they let this dude fight the bucket for over an hour until they cut if off and then talked about the big one that got away! Â he must have been using a Medium combo otherwise he would have boated that bucket.... 2
Super User the reel ess Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 "It's OK to eat fish cuz they don't have any feelings"  Nirvana  On the other hand..."It's OK to C&R fish cuz they don't have any feelings."  Me 2
CeeJay Posted July 23, 2015 Posted July 23, 2015 I remember fishing one of my favorite lakes that would stock trout every fall and again in late winter. You had to go to the park office to purchase a trout pass, which I did. Oh wow....the amount of "anglers" who crowded the bank of that lake was insane when the trout were dumped in. I've never met anglers who took so little pleasure in fishing, ever. Most of them seemed to treat the act of fishing exactly like I would treat a drive in my car to the grocery store. Like some inconvenience that has to be endured. They caught and kept their fish legally and that's great...but man I didn't see a single smile on their faces. Not one camera. No kids learning about fish and fishing. It saddened me and I ended up using my trout pass to fish for bass and bluegill and afterwards avoided fishing that lake during "trout months" entirely.  Those would seem to fit into "bucket fisherman" if any ever do.Â
Super User SirSnookalot Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 I don't care what someone does with their fish, it's theirs and it's their business and not mine. Â They can release it, they can eat it, they can mount it or have a replica made. Â I'm not interested in starting a dialogue over who has better ethics, a confrontation over a fish is something I don't need. Â I'm also not there to offer a tutorial on how to cast a rod and reel. Â I am there to be friendly and to be of assistance if asked. Â Those are the times when I stop fishing to help, I'd just as soon see "novice" catch a 5# bass as do it myself, then look at the beaming smile on his/her face, makes my day. The freshwater fishermen do not pull out any where near the numbers of the saltwater bucket guys that I see. Â I have no use for the guys that fish a chicken rig catching 2-3 at a time, then begging me for what I'm catching. Those saltwater guys don't use buckets, they take coolers and 50 fish every day isn't rare. Â The freshwater guy sitting in one spot looking to catching few fish, more than happy to give up what I catch.
Super User HoosierHawgs Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 There's a mentality that asks why bother if you don't eat it. Right, and that's not the mentality we need anymore. Back in the great depression, maybe it was a good, valid mentality, but now we do it for fun. For relaxing. To be with family and friends, its more than just frying it up. 1
Super User HoosierHawgs Posted July 23, 2015 Super User Posted July 23, 2015 The thing to me that makes fishing so much better than hunting is that you can "score" at fishing without killing the prey. In fact, you and others can score repeatedly with the same prey in different ways. Â You can't do that in hunting. Very true, never been into hunting. I just never really had the desire to go out and kill stuff... Also never had a taste for "gamey" meats....
blckshirt98 Posted July 23, 2015 Posted July 23, 2015 If people are keeping fish per law, that's their prerogative and it should be respected. If people are poaching and keeping illegal sized/counts of fish, those people can eat a d***. Â If you're not one to confront people about that, at least report it to the local Fish and Game. Â I was one surf fishing and caught a little baby lingcod, no longer than the palm of my hand. Â I let it go back into the water. Â A half hour later I looked into a bucketeer's bucket, and there it was, dead in the bucket. Â I don't understand the mentality or ignorance of people who take undersized fish or even something that small...I guess they'll get what, 2-3 bites of food for it? Â Bravo to you, d-bag.
Super User FishTank Posted July 24, 2015 Super User Posted July 24, 2015 Use a heavy surfcasting combo to fish a bucket properly.  I saw it this past weekend (seen it many times though).  It always cracks me up.  The guy I saw had a 8' foot rod with probably 25lb line, a bobber a foot long,  and a spinning reel the size of a pineapple.  He was fishing for wipers with bee moths.  He was catching them but when he set the hook, it was like watching a tug a war with a wrestler and a two year old.  Of course he had a bucket.  I would care less but the lake he was fishing was listed as a catch and release and he kept everything he caught.  He also left a mess on the bank> trash, pop cans, etc..  No respect is what the bucket means to me. 2
Super User the reel ess Posted July 24, 2015 Super User Posted July 24, 2015 I saw it this past weekend (seen it many times though).  It always cracks me up.  The guy I saw had a 8' foot rod with probably 25lb line, a bobber a foot long,  and a spinning reel the size of a pineapple.  He was fishing for wipers with bee moths.  He was catching them but when he set the hook, it was like watching a tug a war with a wrestler and a two year old.  Of course he had a bucket.  I would care less but the lake he was fishing was listed as a catch and release and he kept everything he caught.  He also left a mess on the bank> trash, pop cans, etc..  No respect is what the bucket means to me. in SC, you won't get away with that very long because there seem to be so many game wardens. And if they have any idea you're an illegal they won't let you leave until you or someone else pays the fine on the spot.  I went down the Wateree R last May or June and the stripers were off-limits (spawning run). There were some guys taking pics and releasing them. There were wardens all over the boat landing in Camden, SC. I got a written warning for not having a whistle in my kayak. I later found out it's illegal to even attempt to catch stripers with traditional striper lures during that season. Taking the pics was illegal too. I caught and released one on a craw crank.
wytstang Posted July 24, 2015 Posted July 24, 2015 Bucket fishermen are there for Brim and Crappie and the like for the most part, they may catch a bass here and there but it's been my experience they focus on smaller species. I will say this though if/when I go salt water fishing it is exclusively to catch and eat my target fish (black drun, red fish, sea trout, ect). As long as they are legal they are coming come to meet the grill/deep fryer.
Super User Lund Explorer Posted July 24, 2015 Super User Posted July 24, 2015 I saw it this past weekend (seen it many times though).  It always cracks me up.  The guy I saw had a 8' foot rod with probably 25lb line, a bobber a foot long,  and a spinning reel the size of a pineapple.  He was fishing for wipers with bee moths.  He was catching them but when he set the hook, it was like watching a tug a war with a wrestler and a two year old.  Of course he had a bucket.  I would care less but the lake he was fishing was listed as a catch and release and he kept everything he caught.  He also left a mess on the bank> trash, pop cans, etc..  No respect is what the bucket means to me.  You forgot to mention what happened when the authorities got there.
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