They torture us, we torture them back
By KBarton10 on Jul 22, 2008 in current events, fishing
It’s both surprising and predictable, a statistical glimpse of the evolution of fishing and outdoor tradition - after a couple of decades of Ronald McDonald, over protective parents, and absent the sterile blessing of Saranwrap.
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat commission released a trout angling survey last week that has an uncommon tilt; of those surveyed only 3% confessed they fished to eat the result.
82% fished bait, 59% lures, and 40% were fly fishermen, the majority preferred bait (53%), but they also preferred to release the fish (88%) at least half the time.
That seems abnormally high - and may include small fish thrown back in favor of larger quarry, which may qualify as “half the time.”
Pennsylvania being a couple thousand miles away, California’s interpretation of this time honored practice suggests; 97% of us are neighbors of the 3% that keep fish, so we can expect freezer burned “gifts” at any moment.
EOC | Jul 22, 2008 | Reply
That survey also stated that the anglers had no problem with the state stocking over wild fish.
KBarton10 | Jul 22, 2008 | Reply
I saw that - I also saw some reference that mentioned “anglers prefer stocked fish” - but it might have been out of context.
They might have said I go to places that stock fish because I know there’s some there - rather than, “I like stocked fish better.”
Enough oddities in the responses to raise my eyebrows a couple times…