Armchair angling

[Roger Stouff]

Who watches the fishing shows? It's a favorite late winter, weekend morning ritual for me.

What do you watch? I'm partial to the great patriarch, Bill Dance. I also like Hank Parker.

Some of the shows annoy the heck outta me. Why, for instance, do some of them start yelling and screaming everytime somebody in their group hooks a fish? Even on lakes and streams, they start whooping and hollering. My dad woulda knocked me upside the head with a paddle for that, I can tell you.

The Wal-Mart FLW Tourney came to my area this week, fishing out of Morgan City (30 miles from me) and Hank's having his preview fishing show from the Atchafalaya Basin today on OLN, if anyone's interested.

Best,

R

[stan v]

Roger, I especially like the offshore fishing shows. Yea, I watch when I can. I like Jimmy Houston and Roland Martin as well.

[Bruce Taylor]

You know, Roger, if I really stretch my imagination I can see why it might be fun to trick a primitive vertebrate with an offer of food and then pull him out of his house. Lots of people I admire seem to enjoy doing it. My father in law practically lives for it...he'll pay thousands of dollars to hold a salmon for ten seconds and then toss it back. And of course, hungry people have been doing this for thousands of years, so it would be unfair of me to see it as a mean and crafty pastime.

But when I try to figure out why someone would want to watch strangers teasing the fishes on TV...my imagination just breaks down. What do you guys like about this??!! Tell me!!!

[Ian G Wright]

Originally posted by Bruce Taylor:
if I really stretch my imagination I can see why it might be fun!That was Sheila's opinion 25 years ago,,,,, "pulling those little fishes out of the river with a hook in their mouth,,,,disgusting!"
Then I had an hour or two fishing for small stuff on Barton Broad. I had hooked three small perch in quarter of an hour when I got her to 'hold' the rod while I made tea,,,,,
she caught ten that first morning, and as she pointed out, often, all but two were bigger than my three.
Next day we raided the Tackle shop at Potter Heigham,,,,,,, Sheila was a fisherman. smile.gif

IanW

[stan v]

Sir Bruce, when you witness your first Blacktip shark leap 8' from the water, spiraling, zipping 30# test off the reel, and all you can do is hang on? What a rush!

[Tar Devil]

Roger, Walkers Cay Chronicles and the Spanish Fly are my two favorites. I'm partial to saltwater light tackle.

But I watch 'em all.

Later,

Phil

[Bruce Taylor]

I had hooked three small perch in quarter of an hour when I got her to 'hold' the rod while I made teaWell there you go. A man who would deceive a fish will use guile and subterfuge to have his way with a woman.

[Tar Devil]

he'll pay thousands of dollars to hold a salmon for ten seconds and then toss it back. Nah, Bruce, he pays the money for everything that leads up to that moment... the perfect cast, the perfect drift, the rise to the fly, the silver flash just beneath the surface, the scream of the reel, the bending rod.

Then there's the elk, bear, eagles, deer, etc. all around him while he stalks his fish.

Plenty of people pay thousands of dollars just to ride some noisy vehicle around looking at all that stuff. Some of us (like your father-in-law) like to be part of it.

Later,

Phil

[Bruce Taylor]

elk, bear, eagles, deerAw, I've got all that stuff in my back yard.

I should know better than to challenge the Brotherhood of the Bendy Stick, but...wouldn't it be just as much fun to fly a kite? A kite can put up a pretty good struggle, you know...better than a perch, anyway!

[Donn]

Kite doesn't taste as good as Perch, though. :D

This'll make some of you crazy, but with the exceptions Bill Dance and Hank Parker, I've fished with all the guys you've mentioned, and other TV fishermen as well...Orlando Wilson, all the Lindners and their buddies, George Poveromo, Dan Gapen, Lefty Kreh. Flip and Jose are both pretty tough to deal with socially, but are truly fanatic and talented fishermen.

A few years ago, there was a show called Big Fish Down Under. The fishing took place on and around the barrier reef, off Lizard Island. You spent the nights on a mother ship, and went off in skiffs and deep sea sportfishermen during the day...bottom fishing the reef, and trolling for billfish beyond the reef. That was a great show, but it hasn't been back.

[stan v]

Sounds like a heck of a deal, Donn. Amazing what the pros do to catch fish, isn't it?

[NormMessinger]

How many thousands of hours of film do those dudes shoot to show the catching of one fish?

Why don't they call it catching instead of fishing?

The road to the river is a mighty long way....

[NormMessinger]

Oh as I read through this thread again, aloud for Phyllis (this is the sort of thread that makes the bilge smell good)it occured to me that the urge to kill animals and fish is probably as genetic as the human belief in the supernatural. Some of us forage in supermarkets (let someone else do the killing) and some still in the woods. Ya can't fight four million years of DNA.

[Tar Devil]

I understand from a friend of mine (engineer, ex-Venezuellan boat builder, traditional archer) that Flip Pallot is a pretty good shot with a long bow.

Later,

Phil

[Wild Dingo]

We got this mug over here called Rex Hunt does a fishing show with his mate Bushy and Steve Starling... fair trio of wakers! :D

Old Rexy goes out fishin around the country side gawd knows how many reams of film his crew goes through must be a huge amount Id reckon... anyways eventually "he" will catch one and then he will wax all gushy "aahh folks this is what fishings all about what a beauty!" tell yer all about the thing and then... THEN... the dopey yobbo KISSES the thing and SETS IT FREE!!!

Saw a show a couple of weeks ago where they were up in the Kimberlies fishin for the mighty Barra and buggar me if he doesnt land this whopper I mean this thing was flamin huge!! and I mean Ive eaten Barra and its one of the best eating fish in Aus waters in my book and whats this galah do??? HUH?? HE KISSES THE THING... yeah youd think he would kiss it and then say well heres tucker tonight wouldnt you?... NOT our Rexy!! oohhh no he kisses that big fella and lets it flamin well go!!! sheeeesh I near had kittens when I saw him do that... I mean this was some serious Barra and he lets it go??? ...THATS JUST NOT DONE!! :mad:

True fact!... ask anyone... real waker is our Rex Hunt and his mates! :D

[Bruce Taylor]

it occured to me that the urge to kill animals and fish is probably as genetic as the human belief in the supernatural. And sometimes the two urges overlap. Have you ever read Steve Callahan's Adrift? After 76+ days in a leaking rubber boat, Callahan finds he has distinctly religious feelings for the dorados that accompany him. They provide the food he needs, but he is stupefied by their perfect adaptation to the element they live in. He worships them, in a way.

My aunt-in-law knew him before and after his "experience"...says it changed him forever.