What's the attraction of fishing ?

LONG_KEELER

LONG_KEELER

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It seems to be as popular as ever.

I personally take the view that amateur fishermen probably help to maintain fish stocks for a number of reasons.

But yikes ! The smell - I want to throw up !

So what's the attraction then ?

I went fishing once and caught fish without having any idea I'd hooked yhem.

I'm talking sea fishing.
 
Oh dear. Ignorance isn't a good basis for an opinion is it? Still, it hasn't stopped any one else on here before (yes, I am including myself in that!)


I enjoy catching my own dinner - vegetable, fruit, nut, feather, fur, scales or shell. Food for free has a great attraction - it definitely tastes better for a start off.
 
What's the attraction of fishing

this maybe:D


















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As a keen fisherman who only occasionally dabbles these days I've often thought the same thing. What's the attraction? I think the answer is the excitement of not knowing quite what's down there. I have no interest in spear fishing. It's the slightly lucky dip attitude, and the challenge of course. You'll find that fishermen soon tire of predictable fishing - fishing in a shoal of dogfish for instance. To be honest I struggle a bit with the morality of hooking and playing a living creature these days too. The smell? That's the smell of nature.
 
l'escargot said:
For me it is eating really fresh fish. It always amazes me how few fishermen actually eat what they catch.
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I'll second that, the difference between fresh fish gutted then cooked within a few hours of catching is worlds apart from the grey fleshed repeatedly frozen crud they serve up in the chippy shops of Milton Keynes.
 
Dorado sushi and ceviche in the middle of the Indian Ocean, fresh mackerel off the barbecue with black pepper & lemon juice in Cornwall... beautiful. Wouldn't do it just for fun anymore though...
 
Reminds me of a Peyton cartoon.

Foul day, white caps, diagonal rain, small boat beating to windward, two drenched oilskinned figures huddled on the rail.

It's passing an anchored angling boat, tiny cuddy, pitching up about 30º on the waves, two fisherman in the cockpit, backs to the wind and rain, watching their rods.

Same voice bubble from both boats. "I just don't know what they see in it."
 
Well what an open ended question.
There is the pleasure of the food you caught
the time and effort is rewarded by some thing absolutely fresh on your plate
getting to go to nice places that you would never go to other wise
the fact that SWMBO will leave me absolutely alone for hours at a time
The take (assuming you catch)
the fight (assuming it is big enough)
and if you fly fish and tie your own flies there is that second when the line goes tight and you have made an imitation good enough to fool a wild predator.

I will admit that for what I spend on fishing tackle and lures I could buy a lot of fish but it aint the same and value for money by the hour it does work out as a cheap past time.
 
If you have an SWMBO who cooks as well as mine each meal is a "régale.." You wouldn't believe the number of different ways a mackerel can be prepared including raw mackerel in white wine...yum..!
 
I love to cook and eat fresh fish. Fresh fish does not smell fishy, if it does it's not fresh!

Someone gave us two Brill that had just been caught last year. I cleaned and gutted them and pan fried them. They were just about the best meal we had ever eaten.

I would love to be able to catch fish from the boat. We've tried but not had any luck. Lack of knowledge and experience I suppose.
 
I am a complete ignoramous when it comes to fishing. I would not have the slightest interest in sitting on a stationary boat with a line over the side for hours on end. HOWEVER, I do enjoy eating fish, and as I am going to be spending a lot of time this year on the water, perhaps I should do something about learning.

So a bit of advice please. I have a short stout fibreglass rod - what should I get to stick on the end. Voyage plans - Marseille to Ionian. I heard that the greeks use dynamite:eek:
 
Home made smoker from a cheap S/S roasting pan with a lid and grill tray. Smoked fresh mackerel made into pate with Philadelphia, creamed horseradish and some lemon juice, yum. In fact we will probably buy fresh mackerel today to make some as we are lucky enough to have fresh stuff brought here from Cornwall daily when our local ones are not around. I also do salmon fillets in the smoker and make pate out of that instead of mackerel sometimes.

On the boat we fished with rods and lines but weren't experts and really didn't do it properly as we were always on our way somewhere. We did put a mackerel line out like many people and had plenty of those plus the occasional suicidal bass on it.

Quite right fish shouldn't smell, if it does don't buy it!
 
Chris_Robb said:
I am a complete ignoramous when it comes to fishing. I would not have the slightest interest in sitting on a stationary boat with a line over the side for hours on end. HOWEVER, I do enjoy eating fish, and as I am going to be spending a lot of time this year on the water, perhaps I should do something about learning.

So a bit of advice please. I have a short stout fibreglass rod - what should I get to stick on the end. Voyage plans - Marseille to Ionian. I heard that the greeks use dynamite:eek:
Click to expand...

Who said something about stationary? I regularly tow a mackerel planck when offshore, and frankly have to stop fishing after too many fish caught. Sandwich, grilled mackerel, lemon juice, black pepper, I have to fight off the rest of the family to get a bite. And 8-year old son n° 1/2 loves it when we land a fish. Blood and guts and all.

Free fresh food is my main motivation.

It's the wake up at 0300, sail out at 0500 and come in to port when I'm about to set sail that I don't get.
 
Angling means different things to different people, but since you are afloat and fish swim in water, I'm sure there will be times when you'd really like to know what types of fish are actually beneath the waves.

My own experience began almost fifty years ago when I caught a small Perch (freshwater) on worm. The glowing colours, spiky dorsal fin and gutsy fight that little fish gave, hooked me for life! Then the search began!! Biggest of Perch; then onto other species; then Trout on the fly; then beachcasting for Cod etc. It's a 'hunter-gatherer' yearning which lasts a lifetime whether you eat what you catch or not.

For some, the passion is sated by catching a few Crabs, Mackerel or Bass (if they're lucky) and being able to sample fish at their finest, out on the waves, but I suspect most of us fish for the pleasure of surroundings and the challenge of outwitting a fish.

I would ask that if you try, but have no intention eating what you catch, just be kind to your prize whatever it is. Unhook it with care and if it's exhausted after it's fight, give it a bit of time to recover in the net before you let it swim free. Please don't roughly yank out the hook and rub scales onto dry hands or clothing. Don't drop the fish on the deck and don't just lob it or 'chuck it back' without a care in the world. Respect your quarry.
 
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