Interesting Report from Capitola Boat & Bait

I'm having a tough time deciding how I feel about this. I sort of hate the idea of catching a fish by such a crude method; it seems unsportsmanlike. But I'd dearly love to catch a big WSB one day. If I was a spearo, I'd have no qualms about shooting one, so is that hypocritical? 

I guess the difference is that with rod and reel used normally, we have to use lots of skill and craftiness to hook them spooky fish, and a spearo needs a separate set of skills, perhaps making it even more diffficult than angling. So what makes it sportsmanlike?  I suppose the element of sneaking up on a fish, or presenting a bait perfectly, coupled with the possibility of losing the fish in the battle.

I think I'll leave the snagging to someone else.

I'd snag one once and see how I felt about it.

Luckily I have caught the only two dumb ones this year. They actually ate a bait. I took a weighted treble hook into my local tackle guy to show him what was being used. He gave it to what he called a sadistic fisherman. His buddy came in the next day wanting to buy weighted treble hooks as the guy he gave it to landed a 47lb wsb. I have mixed thoughts about this too. We seldom see this many wsb around for this long and they are definately hard to catch. If the spear fisherman can shoot them point blank I find it hard not to say the snaggers are out of line. I will continue to try for them with bait and lures. I do have a weighted treble hook but will avoid using it until the day I see hundreds of fish and can not get one to bite.

the good spearfisherman generally does not miss.

the snagger will tear up a ton of fish to get the one.

so I think there is a difference.

I re-checked the regs with BAxter last night on this question.  We could not find any specific language for WSB saying no snagging, or "voluntarily etc etc"

So, looks like it is NOT illegal.  I will call DFG, though just to make sure.

Gotta do this so I can print a retraction in the Sentinel Report (to my chagrin)

White Shark at NB?  Sure, why not, they can be anywhere theywant to be.

Albacore at NB?  I still am very, very dubious on that one......


Allen

I'm having a tough time deciding how I feel about this. I sort of hate the idea of catching a fish by such a crude method; it seems unsportsmanlike. But I'd dearly love to catch a big WSB one day. If I was a spearo, I'd have no qualms about shooting one, so is that hypocritical? 

I guess the difference is that with rod and reel used normally, we have to use lots of skill and craftiness to hook them spooky fish, and a spearo needs a separate set of skills, perhaps making it even more diffficult than angling. So what makes it sportsmanlike?  I suppose the element of sneaking up on a fish, or presenting a bait perfectly, coupled with the possibility of losing the fish in the battle.

I think I'll leave the snagging to someone else.

The way I see it is that I like "fishing".  Because it is a skill, that requires; knowledge, devotion, patience, ingenuity, trial and error with no certainty of what will happen when you get out there and cast your line.  Fishing is "sporting", and not a sure thing.  It's takes mixture of technique and dedication to catch fish this way. 

I just don't think that I would enjoy snagging, or spearing because it doesn't give me the same thrill as fishing.  Its the act of fishing, not the fish them selfs, that I seem to enjoy the most. 

If all I cared about was catching fish, I would just goto a sure catch pod and get rid of the yak all together...

I find it a bit odd that spearing is being used in the same sentences as snagging.  I usually just move on to another thread when I read things like this but as the President of the MFDT  I figured I'd better stop and ask what that's about...

So am I misunderstanding something...maybe reading too much into it?   If not, please explain how you equate the two.

If not, please explain how you equate the two.

Neither require the fish to voluntarily attack a lure or bait.

in your opinion is one more ethical than the other (h&l vs spearing)?

My understanding is that "game fish" have to "take the hook". Isn't WSB a game fish??? Duh... Please let me know if I'm missing something here...

Blake

in your opinion is one more ethical than the other (h&l vs spearing)?

Can't really compare Spearing to Fishing it's apples to oranges. As far as being Ethical they all end up with a dead or injured fish.

Spearing is cool but it's not fishing it's hunting and should be regulated as such, you gotta have a lot of guts to put yourself in the food chain.

I think snagging sucks, but that's just because I am a fisherman and the take and the fight is what I think its all about.
 
I can see the how people think that if it is ok to shoot it is Ok to snag. DFG condones this attitude by allowing it. Take a trip up to the Mad River durning the winter and over half the fish caught are snagged by fly and floss fisherman using long leaders.

the snagger will tear up a ton of fish to get the one.

Now there is a sweeping generalization ... don't entirely agree with this one.

-Allen

the snagger will tear up a ton of fish to get the one.

Now there is a sweeping generalization ... don't entirely agree with this one.

-Allen

I've watched guys in mexico snag mullet. they miss a lot, often times the hook only partially takes. you can see the messed up fish swimming around. maybe the WSB thing is different, but I doubt it.

the snagging of the salmon with small hooks and flossing might not be the same, but tossing a big weighted treble past a school and ripping it through them tears up some fish, so I'm equating the WSB snagging with the mullet snagging I have watched.

I would only snag a fish as a fish eater, which I definitely am, I have to agree that it's not something a sporting fisherman would do. I would say I am 1/2 a sporting fisherman and 1/2 a meat fisherman. and 47lbs of WSB is a lot of good eating. I'm sure I would hunt and hunt happily if it was something I had ever got a chance to do.

I do think it's possible to catch those guys with lures and bait tho. but probably not by sight fishing. I'm sure it's like the kind of fishing where if you can see them, they can see you and they aren't about to eat your lure in that case except very rarely.

the snagger will tear up a ton of fish to get the one.

Now there is a sweeping generalization ... don't entirely agree with this one.

-Allen

I've watched guys in mexico snag mullet. they miss a lot, often times the hook only partially takes. you can see the messed up fish swimming around. maybe the WSB thing is different, but I doubt it.

the snagging of the salmon with small hooks and flossing might not be the same, but tossing a big weighted treble past a school and ripping it through them tears up some fish, so I'm equating the WSB snagging with the mullet snagging I have watched.

Tearing up some fish is not tearing up a ton.  John, you have to have know this response was coming from my own personal experience.     I have witnessed snag fisheries in AK (yes, treble hook snag fisheries) and I just don't see a ton of fish getting torn up, well except those going into the cooler.  Also, I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally snagged a fish and hoped it would drop off on it own ... but they didn't!

-Allen

Snagging river-run salmon in AK is not the same as snagging a resident population of rare Mo Bay white seabass. Not that anybody said they were the same; I'm just pointing out there is a huge difference.
And snagging should NEVER be compared to spearfishing. As Mike tyson would say, "that's ludicrous!" Spearing a seabass is probably harder than catching one with lure or bait. Takes a lot of skill.