Is anyone here against fishing? /whooo went fishing today xD

[Jeeed]

I told my friend I went fishing, and she went off on me. Never seen her so mad, lol. Do you guys think fishing is inhumane if you're doing it just for fun? If so, why do you think that? Anyone else here like to fish?

anddd just to tell you guys about today out of boredom, i caught a bunch of huge carp, about 25-35 inches each, a few white perch, and two bass. Got a bowfin on the line but it snapped the hook off sad I also netted a few grass shrimp to stick in my aquarium. Didn't eat anything but the perch, though.  

[ladycrotalus]

I think its horrible. I used to do it before i knew much about fish, but since keeping them and researching about their care i stopped probably back in 2003. The stress on them isn't good, when you grab them to remove the hook you are removing their slimecoat and opening them up to disease. When a fish swallows the hook its death for the fish. Fish have a central nervous system and respond to negative stimuli and i feel that its painful for the fish to be hooked.  

[Moth Feathers]

Fishing is pretty much along the lines of hunting. It's not very good for the critter to kill it, obviously, but at times you need to fish in order to control invasive species, like what Jiti said, and other times you just fish to have fun (and maybe even get some food to eat). I have no issue with hunting to control invasive species, and neither do I have issues with hunting for purely recreational purposes, so on the same page I also have no issues with fishing. It is cruel to a degree, yes, but you could argue the same for hunting, trapping, and the eating of domestic animals.

However, I'd just want to note, if someone is against hunting for recreational purposes, I really do not understand how that same person could be pro- recreational fish too. Like what Lady Crotalus said, even doing catch-and-release is stressful and dangerous to the individual fish, not being too far off from just outright killing and eating it. How is killing a fish, which is a vertebrate animal, purely for fun any different than killing a deer, which is also a vertebrate animal, for fun? There is no difference to me.  

[Jeeed]

ladycrotalus

I think its horrible. I used to do it before i knew much about fish, but since keeping them and researching about their care i stopped probably back in 2003. The stress on them isn't good, when you grab them to remove the hook you are removing their slimecoat and opening them up to disease. When a fish swallows the hook its death for the fish. Fish have a central nervous system and respond to negative stimuli and i feel that its painful for the fish to be hooked.

I can see where you're coming from. I'll admit I'm not the nicest person when I fish. I rarely throw a fish back in the water... I either use it as bait and/or cut off its head to hang in the tree out front to keep the neighbors' kids from climbing it, lol. That's what I do with the carp. D: Also, I'm not sure, as I'm not a scientist (nowhere near) but I keep hearing conflicting things about fishes' ability to feel pain D:  

[Vanilla eXee]

I believe fish feel pain. They go into shock when they have significant damage to their bodies, why go into shock if you can't feel it?

I do like fishing though, and so do most of my other fish keeping friends. There are plenty of good reasons to fish besides eating them, as others have mentioned.  

[MyouMegami]

I don't mind fishing as long as you have some other benefit for doing so rather than just sport.
Not that any of that is in my mind when I fish. I'm always well aware I won't catch anything. xD It's just a time for family bonding with me.  

[Skeksis]

In general I actually feel a little uneasy about it, mostly because I was once told that you can use a chunk of meat and a large hook on a rope dangling from a tree to catch foxes...that concept disturbed me and I figured it isn't much different for the fish. I fish occasionally, generally for carp as there is no size limit on those and I don't like the whole catch and release thing...injures them too badly.

I think I'll just stick with hunting and trapping. Way more control over the variables that determine whether the animal suffers or not.

That being said, I would LOVE to learn how to tickle trout. Guess I'm just not entirely comfortable with the whole hooks thing as I wouldn't do it to a fox or rabbit.  

[Vanilla eXee]

Skeksis

That being said, I would LOVE to learn how to tickle trout.

0.0 What is?  

[Skeksis]

Vanilla eXee

Skeksis

That being said, I would LOVE to learn how to tickle trout.

0.0 What is?

An old poacher's trick; basically by carefully rubbing the belly of a trout it can be sent into a 'trance' and then easily lifted from the water by hand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trout_tickling  

[Vanilla eXee]

Skeksis

Vanilla eXee

Skeksis

That being said, I would LOVE to learn how to tickle trout.

0.0 What is?

An old poacher's trick; basically by carefully rubbing the belly of a trout it can be sent into a 'trance' and then easily lifted from the water by hand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trout_tickling

Oh my goodness, if I knew about this it would have been 10x easier to remove the bully trout from the trout tank. Thanks for sharing.  

[Kipluck]

I am not exactly AGAINST fishing or hunting, though I feel a little better about it when it is done for food than sport. And I am not personally comfortable fishing or hunting myself.  

[ladycrotalus]

If you are gonna eat everything that you catch fine. There is no way though to not catch only the invasive species, every time you fish you inevitably catch a native fish and even though you throw it back, you are still injuring it. With hunting the death to the animal is quick with a well place bullet or arrow. With fishing the poor fish is fighting for its life for sometimes a long time.