Gone Fishing, With a Firearm: A Cherished Sport in Vermont

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/11/national/11FISH.html?pagewanted=all&position=

Gone Fishing, With a Firearm: A Cherished Sport in Vermont

By PAM BELLUCK

Published: May 11, 2004

ST. ALBANS BAY, Vt. — The hunter's prey darted into the shadows, just out of reach of Henry Demar's gun.

"Come on, stand up and be counted," Mr. Demar whispered excitedly. "There was a ripple that came out of the weeds. There's something out there."

Dressed in camouflage, gripping his .357 Magnum, Mr. Demar was primed to shoot. But this time, no such luck. With a flick of its tail, his quarry — a slick silvery fish — was gone.

Fish shooting is a sport in Vermont, and every spring, hunters break out their artillery — high-caliber pistols, shotguns, even AK-47's — and head to the marshes to exercise their right to bear arms against fish.

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:-)

Is it as entertaining as it sounds?

But I have never heard of firearm fishing.

A real sport, you have to be quick after you drop a couple in a pond. You need to jump in and grab them. As soon fish tend to recover quickly after the explosion stuns them.

Old Joe was a great Fishing Man, brought home a lot of Fish every time he went out. One day his Friend asked to go with him. Old Joe said OK. Old Joe paddle the boat to the middle of the River reached into his fishing bag and pulled out a stick of Dynamite, lite it and throw it into the river. His Friend yelled out "That's illegal", old Joe reached into his bag pulled out another stick. lite it and gave it to his friend and said "So? Are you going to complain or Fish?"

An old joke but I had to repeat it.

GOOD JOKE

doesn't stop the "season".

I do love Vermont!

:-)

You shoot just ahead of the fish so you don't tear up all the meat.

There's still an issue of a lake full of lead.

Even the 8mm Mauser mentioned in the article isn't going to throw more than a 200 grain or so projectile and not all of that is lead. Besides, that's more a question of federal regulations on what bullets are made out of.

when your own article mentions shotguns, AK-47s, etc, besides the lead in shotgun shells, isn't the concept of shooting in front of the fish moot?

Keep blasting lead into your lakes, your kids will wave their thanks with all three arms.

As for shotguns, as I understand it, there are already regulations in place dealing with lead shot and hunting. I don't know the details since I'm not a hunter.

most places require you to use steel shot, not lead shot.

If you're fishing with a rifle, odds are excellent that you'd be using a FMJ round, which would bury itself deeply in the silt at the bottom. FMJ rounds, when surrounded by mud, don't generally leak lead, since the lead is completely encapsulated in the jacketing material.

I do. I've NEVER bought or seen a FMJ projectile that was open in the back. If it's open anywhere, it's a "jacketed" projectile, and NOT a FMJ.

I remember when I went fishing with my dad as a child that we always used lead weights on our fishing lines, like almost every other hobby fisherman around. I lost a few here and there, as I'm sure happenned to everyone occaisionally.

we've become such an embarrassment. :puke:

nuff said.

of the United States and I have never heard of "Shooting" Fish I have always been against spearing fish which I believe is "NOT" a sport but this is new to me. RIDICULOUS

Being a fisherman, I do not approve of this method of fishing, but it is a relative thing. To a fly fisherman, a worm fisherman is cheating by giving trout what they might naturally eat.

I don't approve of fishing with high power rifles, etc., but I suppose it's better than fishing with dynamite.

I was bush walking in Tasmania once, when I crossed a piece of land owned by a rancher who told of his family picnics where the kids had great fun shooting trout in his stream with a 22, but only one day a year.

I don't approve of horses using the same hiking trails as I am in National Parks out West, but I wouldn't think of telling a horseman that being from down East myself.

Every place has their own culture and rules.

No equipment is used ... unless you consider your hands tackle.. They call it noodling, I call it nuts


Out There: A baptism! Noodling for catfish Noodling is the most ancient form of catting. No equipment is used ... unless you consider your hands tackle.

By Keith "Catfish" Sutton

<snip>

The first (and last) time I went noodling for catfish, when my companions urged me to insert my hand in a dark underwater hole to feel for a catfish, I felt like that tourist. Like an idiot, I had volunteered for this mess, and my pride said, "You have to stick your hand in now, or you'll look like a wussy. So stick it in, stupid."

So what did ol' Stupid do? He took a deep breath, dove beneath the water and reached into the hole.

At this point in your first noodling excursion, many questions muddle your mind. How did I get myself into this? Will there be a cottonmouth in this hole, or a beaver, or a snapping turtle? Do alligators live in these parts? If a catfish is home, will it really bite hard like they say? How bad will it hurt? They say big cats will swallow your entire hand, start spinning and rip the skin off your arm. What will that feel like? How did my noodling instructors get the nicknames Nubbins and Three-Fingered Jack?

Noodling is the most ancient form of catting. No equipment is used. No hooks, no lines, no poles or reels. No tackle of any sort ... unless you consider your hands tackle.

It's an extreme sport by anyone's definition, ranking right up there with bull fighting, skiing Mount Everest, parachuting off waterfalls and walking tightropes stretched between city skyscrapers. Some call it foolish. Others label it idiotic. None would deny, however, that those who catch catfish bare-handed are a special breed.
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http://espn.go.com/outdoors/general/columns/sutton_keith/1336494.html

If this doesn't prove the idiocy of gun enthusiasts or hunters I don't know what does.

Shooting into a lake to kill a fish.

God that's just lazy and pathetic. I bet all these people have really small weenies too. :)

Be a man, get a rod and reel. Only pussies use guns.

My husband's been a sportsman all his life, and he has become very careful where he goes and what company he keeps. He went to a wild boar hunt in Tennessee, and one idiot said, "I wasn't sure what to bring, so I brought this." He pulled out an AK-47.

especially when a second or third or thirtieth shot may be required. No shit, it's quite legal to hunt deer with a semi-automatic AK clone here, as long as you use a 5 round magazine, which comes with most guns.

If I was hunting dangerous game (like a bear), the AK would be my second choice among all of my guns. My first choice would be my legally owned belt-fed MG-34 machinegun, but it's illegal to hunt with it. It's heavy, it's cumbersome, and it's outrageously expensive (like $17K in today's market) but nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can stop something big and angry from getting closer to you like it can. Hell, it can literally stop any non-armored vehicle at high speed. Occasionally, we shoot "junker" cars with it. In half an hour of frequent firing, you can't even tell it was a car, all that's left of it is small pieces.

Of course, I don't hunt. That's probably a GOOD thing. ;)

Where the heck do you live?

the 7.62x39mm round used in an AK is ballistically similar (almost identical, in fact) with the .30-30 round, which is the most popular deer round in the country. As long as you use a 5 round magazine, it's perfectly legal here (and most places) to hunt deer with a semi-automatic AK.

I had no idea that anyone really did that. (In the same MP sketch, they go after a mosquito with a tank or something. "There's nothing more dangerous than a wounded mosquito.")

with guns. Of course, in the movie it's played for laughs.

Or they wouldn't be printing anything like this. I know people in Indiana that does this. It's not a big deal in the hunting/fishing circles.

Dean must be getting ready to do something big, so the press is printing "anti-VT" shit before he does.

He never heard of it...yet it is considered issue enough to make the front page of the NYTimes?

Enough to make you wonder.