Have we gone to far.....???

[rocksberg6]

Sitting in the boat the other day sorting stuff out,cleaning gear and havin a few beers, when my young 6 year old nephew turned up and asked if he could give me a hand.:) After talking about the normal 6 year stuff (School,XBOX,WII,Skateboards ect) for a while he turned his attention to the gear in the boat and asked, "why do you have so much stuff? Grandad does'nt have this much, either does Poppy?" Then i started going through the gear with him trying to explain what everything was used for.(And after awhile trying to justify it all to myself):-/ :-/ :-[ Then came the comment that really blew me away! "Uncle Troy,all this gear must cost alot of money, and you say it helps you catch the fish, but how come Grandad & Poppy catch lots of fish and they don't have much money or gear!,I help grandad catch the bait and Nanna makes us lunch and we just go fishin!" Well I just sat there after he left looking at the boat and gear and wondering whether we have all gone to far, and lost sight of the big picture.
Out of the mouths of babes!;) ;D

[FNQCairns]

It's true!!!but I still struggle to think of a piece I probably will never need:)

cheers fnq

[PinHead]

you got it..we all have much more than those of previous generations and do we catch many more fish because of it? I will leave that one to you to answer.

[Noelm]

funny this should come up, I was remembering some things my Father told me about Fishing in the "olden days" he would tell me that while it was still dark they would have a bit of a look at the sky and see which way the wind was likely to blow later on, if it was from the South, then they would head South, so they could put up the old sail and come home ,they rowed anywhere they went in an old wooden Boat with a double set of oars!! if there was some new ground to be explored, they had a lead Bell sort of thing made up that was filled with soap (sunlight of course) and it was lowered to the bottom and "donged" a bit, then pulled up and the Soap was examined, if it was all dented, it was rock, if it had sand in it, then they where on sand, this would go on for ages while they "mapped" out the area, then some exact landmarks would be taken and jotted down in a book (I still have it), they would then kick me off the bags in the front that contained all the tackle and bait, this consisited of a couple of Wooden spools with heavy line, and a jar of salted Bait. kind of puts things in a whole new light when we have every conceivable electronic device, and will not go out unless a dozen weather sites and reports where studied, a mountain of gear and tackle boxes loaded in, $200 of fuel, enough rods to start a tackle store, and still only usually barely manage a feed at best!

[Jeremy]

it is all about having fun. Whatever rocks your boat - who cares?

Jeremy

[webby]

There's always room for a Bundy or two

[Peter4]

it is all about having fun. Whatever rocks your boat - who cares?



You got that right!!

If we sat down and tallied up the dollars spent on tackle, fuel, boat bits etc we would all gasp in surprise and admonish our spendthrift nature.......

Except me - I don't give a bugger 'cause I enjoy fishing, no matter what the cost!

Pete

[dogsbody]

Maybe a touch to far.

But we are in the spend now, pay later generation.


Dave.

[Freeeedom]

There's always room for a Bundy or two


or three, or four

Cheers Freeeedom

[Vindicator]

The way I look at it is my wife loves clothes and shoes and I just love fishing.

Cheers
Kezza

[sharkymark2]

I am 54 now and catch much more fish out of the same areas I fished when I was 17. Part of it I put down to is I think out of the square. The other part is ;) that darn depth sounder makes it very easy :). I do have a fair bit of tackle but then I sometimes fish shallow , fish moderately deep and other times off the beach. So if you want to catch more fish then you might have to spend a bit more money ;).

[sid_fishes]

a spend now pay later, mate if i dont have the money i dont have what i want, i just work abit longer and harder to get it. which is why i,m now deaf, blind and very dumb. maybe i should be like my grandad and just use handlines

[Haji-Baba]

Have a look in your laundary cupboard or your workshop at all the sprays and detergents, oils etc.

We are all the same, might need that some day to loosen a "wing-wong" on a goose's bridle.

Have Fun Haji-Baba

[CHAPPY]

Remember, old aussie proverb. "Fishing lures catch more fishermen than fish."

Chappy.

[Leighton]

I dont drink, I dont smoke, I dont gamble...I fish
Not that there is anything wrong with any of the above.

[breamnut]

you got it..we all have much more than those of previous generations and do we catch many more fish because of it? I will leave that one to you to answer.
no because the previous generations caught hundreds of fish and kept them! no mater whether if it was a breeder or what

[dnej]

Hey MOD 5,Webby is here( LOL)
David

[Greg P]

Dont invite that kid back if he keeps asking the hard questions ;D;D;D:P;D

[tunaticer]

If i had invested the money I have spent on fishing and hunting over the past 30 yrs I would own the house i live in and a renter for certain. Hazzarding a not too generous estimate it would account for 250 000 or so. Mind you I would be brain dead bored shitless and probably psychotic.

Jack.

[Tangles]

Well,

i never fished with a sounder until i got one 6 months ago on the new boat, I see a lot of blokes doing circles over an area peering at sounders trying to figure them out, my old man reckons its like fishing with dynamite, they help me but I still reckon some places look fishy if that makes sense. How would we all go if we didnt have sounders today? a bloody big screaming mess I reckon, its our security blanket.

Breamnut, the old man is in his 80,s now as a boy he was a gun fisho or so he tells me::) if there where 10 guys on a jetty he'd be the guy catching the fish, herring, whiting sanpper etc, and a fish was a fish back then and it all went on the table especially during the war didn't matter, any fish was a feed for the family etc,

even now when i take him surf fishing he stills looks at just under size whiting and almost cries when I make him throw it back, old habits die hard but he begrudgingly complies ( probably just to be an grumpy old bugger), but hey I didnt live through the wars/ go to war etc, things where different back then.

Too easy to pass judgement on what happened in the past, be grateful you can still throw a line, and yes we are a far more educated and conditioned bunch today and lifes moved on, but i sort of figure life was a bit simpler back then and an alvey was a real reel.

Its a bit like the history of weapons,, clubs to knives to pikes to rifles to cannons to bombs to nukes,,, fishing technology is the same,, give it 20 years mate and we will all be old school and technology will have something that will make the fish finder look like an cane rod does today and you'll be whimsically looking back at your adventures today saying it was so much simpler when i was a boy.

cheers
mike

[Blueroo]

The fun is in the doing.
Not how you do it but just doin it. Never lose sight of the famous old Aussie saying :-
" The worst day's fishing is better than the best day's work". ;)

Catching a fish is a bonus.

Stue

[Michael D]

Dont think about the money we spend! Think of the enjoyment we have ...
Happy fishin

[sandbankmagnet]

Aaah crap... I drink, gamble and fish!

I remember when I was younger playing cricket. $300 bats, $100 pads, $50 gloves, $100 shoes, whites, thigh pads, boxes, registration fees, weekly umpire fees, sunscreen, hats, sunnies............... at least I bring a fish or two home these days.

[mamu]

I dont drink, I dont smoke, I dont gamble...I fish
Not that there is anything wrong with any of the above.

But man, you made some great porno's;D

[PinHead]

no because the previous generations caught hundreds of fish and kept them! no mater whether if it was a breeder or what

and you have never killed a fish of breeding age ???

and all the fish were consumed...at least where I was they were.

[NAGG]

Nope ..... you can never have too much gear!

Good old pop .... still probably uses persimmon woods when he goes out for a game of golf:)

Nagg

[TonyM]

The fun is in the doing.
Not how you do it but just doin it. Never lose sight of the famous old Aussie saying :-
" The worst day's fishing is better than the best day's work". ;)

Catching a fish is a bonus.

Stue

Well said!

To add another couple of good clichés

- It's not what we've got but what we do in life that really matters!

- We're here for a good time not a long time!

Having said that I love having nice gear, although there are times when it stays at home and I take some of the old stuff so I can relax and enjoy the time out rather than stress about the kids or a clumsy mate who goes fishing once a year stepping on a graphite rod or dropping an expensive outfit in the drink ;D

How lucky are we that we have so little to worry us that we can debate stuff like this? 8-) (beats watching american sitcoms)

[PaulMark]

Now then Nagg if you want a money drain look no further than your nearest golf club,at least at present you can fish on a budget,bit difficult on the golf course.

[Xahn1960]

What my grandfather didn't know about fishing probably wasn't worth knowing, he would no doubt call my setup the lazy mans way, and he would be right..... I don't have the luxury of years to learn the things he knew. So I buy that knowledge in the form of lures, tracker, sounder, etc..... Why not...... If your going to have a hobby, may as well enjoy it from day 1.

Bill.

[rocksberg6]

Thanks guys for your replies,comments and debates. Is'nt it great how kids cut through the crap,and tell it how it is! The main point of the post was to let us all think back to when we started out fishin as little takkers, proberly with your fathers or grandfathers and remember how simple and inoccent it use to be.
I just hope all of our children can look back in years to come with the same fond memories my nephew obviously has.

[breamnut]

and you have never killed a fish of breeding age ???

and all the fish were consumed...at least where I was they were.
nope!;D
will take a feed of fish every now and then espesually if i go outside fishing.
but i will only take what i need for that night
from the old pics i have seen in fishing clubs a hell of alot were waisted.
dont want to raise an aguement though

[michael_mad_fisho]

i ask myself all the time how did those 3 combos cost me over 2gz :) :) scary

[Gilli]

If i added up all the costs of all my fishing trips up over the years, i would have one hell of a bill but i aint worried about that. Its the smell of the ocean breeze whilst on the water, the smell of the 2 stroke when she first fires up on those cold winter mornings when you are heading out a far for those big elusive fish.

It is the thrill of catching something elusive yet attainable:P.
Nothing beats a fish and a few beers on a hot summers day or a fish and then cook up your feed on a cold winters morning.

cheers,
Gilli