Going "maggot free"?

[Olly]

Gentle - men or not!

I do find it weird that you are quite prepared to stick a hook - barbed or not - into a fish - - but not into something of "a lesser order".

[PershoreHarrier]

Gentle - men or not!

I do find it weird that you are quite prepared to stick a hook - barbed or not - into a fish - - but not into something of "a lesser order".

I think the difference is when you stick a hook in a maggot or worm you cast it out intending for the creature to meet its doom - when you hook a fish and yes I use barbless hooks and land it you use all your endeavours to ensure the fish is treated with every possible care before being carefully returned to resume its life in its natural environment.

[Olly]

Until caught again - with a hook!

Should we not follow the foreign example - "if you stick a hook in it - you cannot return it!"

I believe their theory/idea is that it is injured and no longer able to survive - another weird theory!

Just playing Devil's Advocate for those who believe angling is a blood sport.

[Marmelade]

Perfectly reasonable views could get very complicated.

I would not use fish as live bait, although I remember all those minnows and the goldfish used as a kid- ,both live and transferred illegally.

But worms , maggots and things are within my acceptable limits.

Is this wrong?

It`s an interesting question. Where do fish go to eat if they can? usually some form of food is available. If a maggot is available they will eat it so naturally it`s part of the food chain. We tend to feed maggots in. Only a few actually get hooked. Minus fishing that maggot probably will fail to be around in my honest opinion. Hence fishing gives it something..and nothing. I use maggots now but would happily use bread or corn too.

[Ian.R.McDonald]

Those days of my youth! Walking down to the Roding and walking back 3 miles with a bucket of minnows to catch perch in the Eagle pond.

Definitely outside my acceptable levels now and breaking moving fish rules as well. Just as well I wouldn't do it now as the old school on the opposite bank is now a Crown Court.

Good that as we get older, our care for fish and the rest of environment improves

[Olly]

Live bait - minnows (see EA Rod Licence Regs) and other fish are allowed to be used as livebait.

Even some species allowed to be taken - for food - etc.

[Marmelade]

Live baiting`s not very nice. Poor fish have sensory adaptation so will understand they`re in pain and trouble. Simple maggot might have problems too.

[Ian.R.McDonald]

Live baiting is outside my acceptable level. Other lower levels of baiting are acceptable to me but I respect anyone who wants to move away from live baits.

As I get older the fun is in the being there, enjoying the place- and the actual catching is #3 at best

Certainly one thing I don't miss ( and wouldn't attempt) is a 3 mile walk carrying a bucket of water!

[Robert P]

For me, it's not so much a question of ethics. I'm sure if the tackle shop was walking distance and I had my own bait fridge I'd probably get the maggots occasionally - but then they do stink and are pretty gross when you're sitting on the bank having a cuppa.
I have tried hookable pellets and although not "traditional", they don't require any special keeping and are always ready to go in my bag in case the weather and work coincide to allow me some hours by the bank at short notice. And they catch.

[GregF]

I always feel sorry for worms when I put one on my hook. The way they wriggle and writhe suggests they don't like it much. But then neither does a fish when I catch one (and yes, I feel a bit sorry for them too). It doesn't stop me doing it though. BB once said something quite interesting (I thought) about this. Discussing his passion for wildfowling, his remark was along the lines of "those who think it is cruel probably will hate me, but that's alright. I hate myself sometimes." I feel similarly about livebaiting for perch and pike. It's not something I often do but when I do, I feel a certain amount of guilt. And yet never enough to prevent me from doing it again. At the end of the day, it's our own conscience we have to live with. The way I justify it to myself is to think that even living free, that worm, rudd or minnow is probably going to get chomped at some point anyway.