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Thread: Bow fishing
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06-11-2017, 16:19 #11
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Re: Bow fishing
I reckon the problem is. If you angle and fish is under size or spawning you can un hook and throw back.
When your looking from boat into water the fish might appear bigger. You shoot it with bow. And pull it up. To realize its under size. Or spawning. Cant throw it back. Since the arrow has just made a nice hole through it.
Might be the reasons conservation people dont like the idea.
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06-11-2017, 16:24 #12
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- Oct 2017
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- Western Cape
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Re: Bow fishing
I know quite a few farmers down here who are OK with bow fishing for Carp since it is invasive and they breed worse than rats.
The locals love the free meals and it helps with problem control.
Indigenous fish I can see the potential issue since a lot of species are becoming rare.
As for the legality, I really do not know, I am talking about private property only.
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06-11-2017, 21:33 #13
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- Pretoria
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07-11-2017, 21:19 #14
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- Feb 2013
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- JHB South Africa
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Re: Bow fishing
A Very VERY contentious issue on SA waters.
I doubt you will be making making many friends
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08-11-2017, 08:07 #15
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08-11-2017, 08:38 #16
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Re: Bow fishing
Not a good statement to make on a forum, just remember the other guys might also have their EDC.
The problem with bow fishing is that some of the fishermen shoots at everything and don't care what they shoot. Couple of year ago bow fishermen where fishing, no sorry shooting, on Rust de Winter dam, couple of days later 2 crocs where found dead, 1 with a arrow in it. They shot plenty of fish and left the fish on the side of the dam
Also there where pics posted on the net of guys shooting over 40 fish, plenty where carp, but they where spawning and spawning fish is extremely easy to shoot, the locals use garden forks to stab them. These guys also just dumped the fish. If a person is going to use the fish, to eat it, fine, but from the stories I saw and read about, most just dumped their fish.
^^^^This^^^
I am a carp angler, or a specimen carp anger, so I go to dams to try and catch the biggest carp and safely release them, for the next person to catch, yes carp are invasive, but in a million years we will not get rid of them, they are here to stay.
Rather take the smaller carp out, when one goes fishing and want to take fish home, so that the bigger fish can get even bigger.
So I am against bow fishing, as bow fishermen, shoots at any fish that they see, and in most cases they waste the fish
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08-11-2017, 09:18 #17
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- Springs
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Re: Bow fishing
Boerboel, I agree with you whole wholeheartedly on all points. You know me, I am pro fishcare, pro catch and release and would also like my sport to be available to my children. I just think that sometimes bow fishers bear the grunt of the attention (deservedly or not) while more serious issues go unchecked. How many competition bankanglers still keep fish in overfull nets for extended periods til weigh in time, how many fish still goes home in the freezer just to be given away after six months to the gardener, the "harvesting" of spawning fish with garden forks, improper handling of fish outside of the water, gill netting of masses of fish, pollution of habitat and such?
Bow fishing gets a bad rep because of the actions of the few, but just as in ethical hunting there may be ethical bow fishing. Proper education may be better that an outright shunning.
Yea, I still dislike the idea of killing the fish because for me catch and release is a better option, but I also don't like to impose my norm of what is ethical on someone else. If we can establish a code of ethics for bow fishers like hunters try to do, then maybe we as anglers could live with bow fishing, weed out the bad practices and use our combined energy in continued working against the more damaging issues.
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08-11-2017, 11:51 #18
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- Jan 2013
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- Alberton
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Re: Bow fishing
We feel the same, just didn't want to talk about all the other problems, If it can be done ethically, good,
and yes I might sound like GFSA towards bow fishermen.
I am an hunter and I will shoot problem animals, but because I am a hunter I would want to shoot the biggest trophy, and for bow fishermen the same thing applies, they would like to shoot the biggest specimen, be it carp, barbel, yellowfish. The thing is most other fishermen practices catch and release, where with bow hunting we can't.
But like I said if they are going to use the fish, even if they give it away for human consumption, I am ok with that. That's why I said use the smaller fish.
But yes, I do agree with you
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