spear -vs- angle

[dcmusky]

Originally Posted By: drakerebel

thanks merk,

i get a kick out of how people make a stink about how spearers affect the harvest and how it's not fair and regarded as "cheating".

The fact is that most of these people do not spear, and quite a few of them have never darkhouse speared.

The truth of the matter is that the sportsman determines to harvest the pike or not. He does this via catch and release or look and release.

Spears or hooks do not kill northern pike anymore than guns kill people. The person chooses to kill the pike not the spear or hook.

So whenever you hear "I used to darkhouse spear but gave it up because it was too easy"... it is just a crock. No one forces anyone to harvest a northern pike. No one forces anyone to throw the spear, just as no one forces anyone to keep a fish that is caught via angling.

Practice catch and release if angling and look and release if darkhouse spearing.

And if you want to take a northern pike take one. Let the big ones go and take the smaller ones, only take what you need, and use everything you take.

At the end of the day it is ok to eat northern pike. If we as sportsmen say it isn't ok to eat fish then we are in fact saying we only fish (and in some people’s eyes, harm the fish) for the fun of it. That line of thought will only bring us closer to eliminating all fishing.

Think of all the ways that a fish can die before it is eaten. When you really look at it; a well placed kill shot though the spine with a darkhouse spear results in a death just as humane as the many other methods that fish are killed by to be eaten.

No mater what; we all need to work together to make sure no ones legal method of enjoying the sport is taken away.

I'll agree 100%

[Laska]

agree 100% too!

[Muskiefool]

There's plenty of people working on angles to stop Hunting and Fishing, I have tried to look at everything from both sides even tried to understand my niece the vegetarian (gawd does that make for a messy Christmas Dinner LOL), I think what happens is we implode into ourselves and shut out everything else to reason. For instance there are allot of people that have never Pheasant hunted because they don't have, want or like dogs; but Ive tried to do what I can if they are willing to go out and have a day of it, one decided dogs maybe weren't as filthy as he thought after he ate dinner that night .

The feeling I get when I hear sportsmen pit against other sportsmen leaves me with hole in the belly.

I agree with you all the way Merk, still there are days it sure would be nice if Ducks ate Deer so we could sit back and enjoy that together and laugh LOL.

Good Luck on the ice men and stay safe.

[Gordie]

still there are days it sure would be nice if Ducks ate Deer so we could sit back and enjoy that together and laugh LOL.

wonder what size shot I'll need for those kind of ducks and I'm glad I bought a 10 ga

there will always be disagreements with everything that has a discision to be made. its up to us as sportsman to be the stewards of sportsmanship and resolve them peacefully and with alot of laughter. If everyone would laugh at the same time no one would be mad