What is fishing to you?

Is it a means by which you are just trying to put meat in the freezer?
Is it a sport to you, a hobby?
Is it a true passion of yours?
Or is there nothing more important to you, other than health and family?I do believe that all anglers should be able to peruse fishing as THEY see fit, so long as it does not negatively impact others on the water.The other day I got to thinking, what is fishing, really?

What started this was seeing a 4-wheeler flying over the frozen water here on Fort Peck. He was driving at top speed from tip up to tip up chasing flags, checking bait, and catching fish. I thought to myself, “to me that has little to do with fishing and more to do with harvesting”. Where is the challenge, what is the reward?  This is how tip up fishing goes. Drill a hole miles from shore, lowering a minnow down, and then travel to the next remote point, drill a hole and lower a minnow down, and repeat for a total of 6 lines. Now you wait for a flag. Haul ass over there and hand line in a fish, throw it in your bucket, lower a new minnow down. Repeat. Now, that is NOT my idea of fishing. Most ice anglers agree that it is much more fun to fight a fish on a rod rather than hand lining a tip up. BUT it may be someone else’s idea of fun. SO, as I said at the start of this whole thing. If it does not hurt anyone, to each his own!A lot of how we look at fishing comes from how we are raised. Some people had good role models and others not so much.

This is why some folks find it ok to litter and others are compelled to clean up the messes of others.I have been around. Having grown up in Kansas and Long Island, New York and having lived over 20 years in Germany working with the Army. I have traveled all over Europe and fished in tournaments in countries such as Holland, France, Italy, and the Czech Republic.I know that attitudes vary greatly between the places. For instance, in Germany it is illegal to practice catch and release fishing. Some left wing tree-huggers convinced the legislature that fish feel pain as they are caught. Thus, the only legal “reason” for fishing is to put food on one’s plate. That is not to say that all fish caught are killed. If they are under size, or out of season they must be released unharmed. There are also MANY folks who just ignore that law and release big fish on principle. Others, such as carp and catfish anglers release all their fish after a photo. BUT they cannot say that they are doing so, and if caught they face a stiff fine. In France, you MUST catch and release all carp. They have lakes over there with fish over 80 pounds because of this. They realize that these fish are a source of money which flow into the local economy. Anglers from all across Europe go to France to chase these fish. If you didn’t know already, carp fishing is big business in Europe. You can take a look at my Facebook page and see some of these massive fish. Hook into a 40 plus pound carp and fight it on the right tackle and you too may just be “hooked”. Holland has mandatory catch and release for Pike, the reasons are the same as France with their carp. Holland is a destination fishery for large pike and fish over 45 inches are not uncommon.Having spent the past 2 years in northeast Montana I have come to get an idea how most anglers here view fishing.  There is very little catch and release going on. The most common reason I hear for this is that most believe that Fort Peck is just so big that anglers can have little effect on the health of the fishery. Saying that, they are placing a lot of faith in FWP! Two anglers taking 5 breeder walleyes each over many days cannot have zero effect. I don’t thing most people realize how long it takes the fish to get to their best reproductive age, and how much a role these larger, older fish have in maintaining a productive body of water. As an example, a 20 inch smallmouth bass is most likely well over 15 years old. The 21.5 inch fish I caught last season was probably pushing 18! I understand that catch and release attitudes vary greatly in other parts of the state and amongst anglers themselves, depending on the fish they target. Just think of the fly fisherman and his attitude about the fish he catches. I cannot imagine that he is out there to put all he catches in the frying pan. And oh, the distain each group has for the other. The “worm anglers” V “stuffy, holier-than-thou fly anglers”.

Russell Johnson with a nice smallmouth bass

I myself am a catch and release guy for the most part. I just don’t love eating fish, but I will take a walleye here and there assuming it is not too small or too big. I would not consider taking a fish over 20 inches to eat, and have release several “trophy” eyes over 30 inches. If I am out with my buddy Russell in his boat and we are chasing northern I feel compelled to keep the fish I catch because he is out there for two reasons. One, to have fun, and two so that he can have fish to eat. Russell has been an inspiration to me, at over 80 he is JUST as passionate about angling as I am. Not unlike soldiers who have gone through battle together or alcoholics who have come together and found sobriety, there is a real bond between “true anglers”. We have something in our blood, or something wrong in our heads which drives us to the water. I am not sure if the addiction is genetic, or purely psychological but there is a true bond there and fishing buddies are often lifetime friends, and so it is with me and Russell. I will miss our days on the water!