Bait Boats.

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

I am putting this in the general section because bait boats are not just used for carp fishing these days.

In another thread, Jim Gibbinson says that the use of bait boats take away some of the traditional skills of angling such as casting.

Personally I have never used a bait boat in my life and have up to now never felt the need of one. However what do you think?

Are bait boats taking away some of the aesthetics of our sport?

Will these devices, coupled with the increasing use of poles, result in a section of anglers to whom the skills of casting will be lost for ever?

 

[Ian Whittaker 1]

You've still got to know where to steer you're boat too. I prefer to see boats used for accurate positioning rather than leaving miscast tackle festooned on snags.
Perhaps a smaller version would be handy for fly fishing .....
Imagine using the long pole for fly fishing.....

 

[Ken Loades]

Never used a bait boat and doubt that I ever will. I think there are 2 distinct categories of anglers today:

1: Those who use all the latest technologies to catch the BIGGEST fish

2: Those who enjoy catching fish by out smarting them in a one on one situation i.e. your skill against their wiles

You will never see an angler using a bait boat and not having his 3 rods and enough electonics to launch the sapce shuttle! I could be wrong, we will see.

Casting will suffer I am sure with the use of poles. I spent a lot of time when I was younger fishing with a rod and reel and as a result when i started fly fishing casting wasn't as hard as I thought it would be as I had been used to handling a rod and knowing when it has the best bend and subsequently most power. I am sure a lot of this is through all the practice casts I used to do after catching nothing all day and needed to get rid of some frustration by seeing how far I could cast with a lead (Only if there was no one else fishing nearby!).

 

[si]

i do not own a bait boat but i dont see the problem with people useing them if it means less tackle lost in trees

some tight swims need boats to reach them and i would much rather see a novice or kid useing one to get the bait in to the spot they want it rather than casting into a tree or bush and leaving line and leads hanging there

i dont think poles will make much impact on casting abilties i fished rod and line for years before switching to the pole and i got some right tangles until i learnt how to ship out/in
try shipping out a bloodworm rig to sixteen meters !!
its the same skill just applied differently

anyway if you want to present a bait on the float further than sixteen meters your gonna have to get the waggler out anyway!!

 

[GrahamM]

Of course baitboats take away some of the traditional skills.

Like swimfeeders took away the skill of feeding with a catapult.

And catapults took away the skill of feeding by hand.

As rowing boats and driftfloats take away the skill of casting.

And so on.

Baitboats have lots of good points when not used thoughtlessly. But that applies to all kinds of tackle.

But I do understand the misgivings of some.

 

[Frothey]

i think all of those drifting the big trout ressies for trout and pike are cheating.....

 

[GrahamM]

Oohhhh Frothey, you being naughty again? There's always somebody who has to turn it into a scrap.

It started with, "Do bait boats take away some of the traditional skills of angling such as casting?"

And Ron asked, "Are bait boats taking away some of the aesthetics of our sport?"

Nobody mentioned cheating until now.

 

[Bob Roberts]

I own one but have rarely used it in the past three seasons due to the waters and species I've focussed on.

However, using a boat can make all the difference between going fishing and going catching.

Some anglers just like to go fishing and go about making catching as difficult for themselves as they can. Cane rods, centrepins, par-boilied potatoes, floats and floppy hats, you know, the usual stuff. They'd love to ban hemp, bolt rigs, method feeders, night fishing, two rods, etc.

Yet I love to see 'em and I love it even more if I ever see them catch anything.

Unfortunately they are not happy with their own lot, they want everyone to struggle like they do and get insanely jealous when some young kid with his cap on backwards turns up next to them and empties the place on bolt rigs, boilies and that unholy of unholies, a bait boat.

Fishing is a hobby. Being skilled in it counts for very little. After all you can't take university degrees in casting or gain long service awards for swim hogging.

If using a boat gets a kid interested in fishing because it means he'll get his string pulled that's fine by me. Live and let live. Let him enjoy his fishing.

However, I would object if they were made compulsory...

 

[si]

"Are bait boats taking away some of the aesthetics of our sport?"

i take it ron is refering to the bait boat actuly being in the water i.e going out and then coming back in how long could that take ??

or would you rather see these peoples line in trees bush ect

i know witch would would spoil the aesthetics more for me

 

[Frothey]

but by implying that they remove skill/watercraft/ability thats where the argument always goes Graham.

like you've said, theres a time and a place for them, and its not the use, its the mis-use that cause the problems.

 

[alan]

"Fishing is a hobby. Being skilled in it counts for very little. After all you can't take university degrees in casting or gain long service awards for swim hogging"
tell that the england angling team, you now the people who won gold medals, or the casting team, again people who won gold medals.


if i could use a bait boat in the sea to get baits out to 200+ yards i probably would get one.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

By the way if anyone thinks I'm anti-bait boat, I'm not.

I posed a question that I think may be worthy of debate.

Some time ago I fished a lake in Yorkshire that is very popular with carp anglers. Bait boats are banned on this water, or they were then.

I watched as two carp anglers took umpteen casts to get their rigs as close as possible to the island in the lake, a distance of about 80 yards I would guess.

Several of their rigs went into the trees on the island. They had to pull for a break leaving rigs with boilies up in the trees.

The consequences of this does not bare thinking about.

Maybe if bait boats had been allowed, this sort of thing would not have happened.

 

[GrahamM]

Frothey said, "but by implying that they remove skill/watercraft/ability thats where the argument always goes."

Not if you read the origination of the thread properly. The implication is that by using a baitboat you will lose the ability (or not learn it in the first place) to cast. That's not saying the angler has no skill, which is grounds for an argument. And it's not about cheating in any way whatsoever.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

And I would like to know in detail from Frothey why fishing from a drifting boat in a large lake is cheating?

 

[Bob Roberts]

Alan,

You either misread my post or you're pulling my leg here.

A gold medal isn't a degree and it won't get you a job so I don't follow. Due respect to those anglers who achieve gold at the highest level in any of the disciplines but the point I made was that angling is not about careers, qualifications or being at the very pinacle of competition.

For a tiny, tiny minority out of a couple of million anglers, it is. For the rest it's a hobby. That's all.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

There are pros and cons relating to the use of Bait Boats that are noted quite well above.

My view is that; yes, I think that they can be defined as being "sporting" inasmuch as there is still no firm guarantee that a benefit will be derived.
Given that these boats are readily available, and anyone who wants one can obtain one, then that can hardly be condemned as cheating, can it?

I also agree with Bob Roberts that if their use stimulates a newcomer's interest then that surely has to be agood thing. Although, other parts of Bob's contribution I find over simplified as well as being a sweeping generalisation.

I don't own a bait boat as my fishing these days does not call for its use, however, I would buy and use one if I ever returned to Carp fishing for appropriate venues.

 

[Frothey]

because ron they've got access to water that others haven't got access to, it costs more, and people who cant use them are jealous.

therefore cheating.

a bit like baitboats.....

 

[Frothey]

i had read the origional properly graham, but this thread will be the first ever (and hat's off to ron if it does) thread on baitboats that didnt get around to the "cheating" or "unsporting" argument in the history of baitboat threads. maybe rons just cried wolf too often

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

Sorry you haven't explained why fishing from a boat is cheating.

Having an advantage and being able to cover more water yes. And in some lakes I ahve fished in my life it's the only way to catch anything.

But cheating!!

Try again, why is it cheating?

 

[alan]

Bob, you put "Being skilled in it counts for very little" but to some people being skilled means a great deal.