Yup. My daddy fished and hunted most of his life. We consumed it, and scraps were processed for the family dog. There's nothing like freshwater fish or venison in my book. These days we have a cottage on a lake that has developed a big bass tournament industry. The fishermen are parked right in front of our cottage every few weeks in the summer, taking all the big fish out of our local waters. The weigh-in station is some 20 miles down the lake, where they are supposed to be released. Some die, others get caught by 'sport' fishermen who wait for the release, and others just stay in their new home rather than return north.
The fishing at our end of the lake has been dropping off, per my 80+ year old neighbor. He's fished those waters for personal consumption for most of his life. He knows. You can't keep up with the stocking at the rate they're depleting the fish stocks.
The fishing pros have some very expensive rigs and with the electronics of fish finding, it doesn't seem sporting to me anymore. When my daddy fished in a new place, he'd pay a guide to teach him the area. After a few years he knew it well enough to find his own way around, but it was always based on his knowledge of the fish, its eating habits, movement within the waterways, etc. There was a lot of knowledge and skill. To me that's a true sport. What we see today with these fishing tournaments is huge money, expensive sponsored rigs, and a race to find and catch all the biggest fish using the latest electronics. I find it pretty unappealing but money talks.
“The fishing pros have some very expensive rigs and with the electronics of fish finding, it doesn’t seem sporting to me anymore”
Yeah. those retards are just an embarrassment with boats fitted with enough electronics for a Navy destroyer, their matching Under Armor team uniforms and matching Oakley shades, they way they treat locals who dare to be on the lake the day of their tournament, and last but not least their utterly insanely violent hook setting techniques.
Bunch of idiots.