Speed Fishing AKA NASCAR fishing

Is it just me or is there a trend starting to develope among some fishermen to have some sort of unofficial contest to see who can get there limit catch of perch/walleye the fastest?
I am noticing more posts stating how quickly they were able to get OFF the water and END the fishing trip with a limit of perch/walleye.
Maybe I am old school but I measure my fishing success by a stress free day on the water without keeping track of how little time I "HAD" to spend fishing, but how much time I "WAS" able to stay on the water fishing. I get my limit of perch now and then and even get a limit of walleye now and then but find it uneccessary to keep track of the numbers and time. I was loading my boat the other day at Walnut Creek and had a short conversation with a guy when I asked if he has seen any walleye being caught and his reply was " why would you fish for walleye when the perch are biting so well?" I was silent for a minute trying to figure out why this guy was not smiling at a nice day spent on the lake fishing, then my reply was: " Just curious because after 1/2 a day of perch fishing I tried walleye fishing for a couple hours with no success and that was the reason for my question. He looked like an old guy who misplaced his Viagra prescription when he replied " we got our limit of perch in 1 1/2 hours! wow..I feel sorry for this guy. Maybe I am just getting older and slowing a bit but I see more and more guys old and young reporting limits and how little time they had to "WORK" to get them..LOL We all see it at the ramps lately, loading and unloading as fast as possible as if in some nascar fishing race only to see drain plugs left out, arguing  etc..  Maybe if we could all just take this fishing thing with a bit of a relaxed attitude you might find it can be a very rewarding day on the lake even without counting numbers, after all don't we fish for relaxation? Leave the speed fishing to the bass fishing nascar boat guys on TV and slow down and look to see what you have been missing.. Have fun and be safe on the water...

Absolutely buddy! No matter where I go to fish, how long it takes me to get there, how many fish I catch (or don't) or how fast I catch them (or don't) - the hours fly by too quickly.

Now granted, some people referring to how quickly they caught a "limit" may just be a measuring stick on how well the fish are biting that day - not necessarily how fast they completed the task of "fishing". But for some, maybe...

Nice to meet you!

Would you feel better if I put some blood on it? That soothes you out a little, right?

What if I had...




Free Candy!!!!

LOL!

Don't worry, when this year class of walleye are done and walleye fishing goes back to what it was in the 90's you won't have to worry about those guys anymore.  Of corse most of them probably don't remember what that was like, fishing all day and coming in with a handfull of fish.  True, they'll just go fish for perch, but that'll make my walleye fishing that much easier.
 
I see fishing heading more towards how waterfowl hunting has become.  The guys that get there first, have the most gear, get done the fastest and brag the most are king s!!t of turd mountain.  I gave up waterfowl hunting because it became a competative sport, and the days of me going out with my meager gear and getting a few were over.  We may have gotten rid of the commercial fishing, but we've replaced it with a shear number of boat, pulling so much gear, that I would venture to say we probably take as many fish now as the commercial boats used to.

In fact, I'm one of those "one last cast" guys 


+1

ORIGINAL: Bogeyjoker

keep a few,
  I'm with you....Although it's nice to take a limit from time to time, I'm in it for the relaxation.  As a small business owner I have enough stress in my life, so I don't feel compelled to put pressure on my fishing buddies or myself to "get done" as quickly as possible.  Quite frankly, I don't want to get done.  In fact, I'm one of those "one last cast" guys .  The more time I can spend on the water the happier I am.  If a limit is involved then that's just icing on the cake. 

 
 
If I didn't know better, I would think I wrote that myself.
 
I fish for relaxation, I don't stress about getting to the launch at a certain time and I won't go if I have to be home at a certain time. I want to get there when I get there and come home when I feel like it. If I happen to catch fish, limit or not, that's just a plus to a day spent with my son on the water RELAXING...... errrrr, I mean relaxing.

I'm 100% with ya. I enjoy every part of fishing. I enjoy the trip to the sportsore the night before, picking out ammo for the next day. I enjoy cleaning my rods and respooling my reels in anticipation of things to come. I savor the feeling of restlessness, not being able to sleep the night before a day of fishing. I have never minded waking up at 4 to fish after waking up at 6 all week for work. I take pride in the fact that I'm always the first guy at the hole, watching the sun break the trees. While I do enjoy whakin fish, I enjoy a day of being skunked almost equally.

For me, It ain't about how many I stuck...or how long it took me to stick em'. I've never fished a competition, never rushed to fill the box, and weighed only a handfull of fish in my life. To me it's not a sport, it's a zen way of life.

ORIGINAL: Mr.Slickfish

I'm 100% with ya. I enjoy every part of fishing. I enjoy the trip to the sportsore the night before, picking out ammo for the next day. I enjoy cleaning my rods and respooling my reels in anticipation of things to come. I savor the feeling of restlessness, not being able to sleep the night before a day of fishing. I have never minded waking up at 4 to fish after waking up at 6 all week for work. I take pride in the fact that I'm always the first guy at the hole, watching the sun break the trees. While I do enjoy whakin fish, I enjoy a day of being skunked almost equally.

For me, It ain't about how many I stuck...or how long it took me to stick em'. I've never fished a competition, never rushed to fill the box, and weighed only a handfull of fish in my life. To me it's not a sport, it's a zen way of life.

Ditto!!! Especially the first part...

ORIGINAL: Split Shot

You might have a point there keep a few! When I think about it as long as you have the time, it would be more fun to limit in 4 hrs. than 1and a half. Take your time and enjoy the day. Myself, I only use one rod with 1 hook for perch. And i don't like the perch setup's with the wire and 2 hooks. Just seems more like harvesting than fishing. Just my thing. to each his own. Of course some of the guy's getting their limit in 2 hrs. are coming back out in the afternoon and taking another limit. Makes me sick!

 
Not a competition, but when they come two and three at a time what are you suppose to do??? I fully agree that a day on the water is totally relaxing, But any time fishing is relaxing to me.....I live equal distance from Conneaut and Walnut. So if I get my limit out of either one, I go to the other one and get my limit there....Nothing illegal about that...Have licenses in both states....

woo kaRes                                                                           
                                                                                  cArpEt muNchR

ORIGINAL: just keep a few

I never said any of the NASCAR fishermen were doing anything illegal in fact I said the way they are fishing is completely legal. If you choose to fish two different states and get your limit of perch in both thats fine...completely legal. Perhaps you should read the starting post to see what this thread is all about before you start defending your overfishing strategies. But since you brought it up I personally have heard and I'm sure others have as well about the guy that goes out day after day keeping limits of walleye (completely legal of course) only to find hinmself with about 80 lbs of frozen fish in February never to be eaten and usually thrown out. Completely legal mind you but also completely unethical and wasteful. Now not everybody does this ...don't take me wrong...but it only takes a small percentage of these types of fisherman to impact a fishery. Maybe not the walleye on lake Erie as there are soooo many to replace the ones wasted ...but then again...one can only wonder if this type of fishing is what lead to the demise of the Blue Pike??  Something to think about..

 
Wasn't defending your original statement...Was defending the one that split posted...I must say...By February...All my fish is gone...Have family get togethers for fish fries and it doesn't last long....I don't view it as unethical at all...I usually get the unethical comments when I say that I kill gobies (An invasive species) that pose a threat to our lake erie fishery...

So if you get two limits of perch from two different states... what happens if you get checked in PA with a **** load of fish? You can't really prove that you caught them in two different states can you? Doesn't seem worth it.

From a different point of view, I know what your saying from the "relaxation" standpoint and I wish I was there in that point of my life but, with 2 young kids (3 yrs. and 14 mos), a house and pool to take care of, vehicles that need serviced, travel for work, helping my parent's out at their camp and house, all kinds of things to do through the summer for the kids, my opportunities to fish and hunt are limited.  When I get out, I like to be successful and successful quickly, to make the wife and kids happy.  I don't want to give up what I like but to compromise and to just be a good father/husband, I can't spend the amount of time I would like to doing my hobbies.  So, when I get out, I'd like to get a limit in a couple hrs and get home to play with the kids or make progress on the ever expanding honey do list.  It is a juggling act, for sure.  And lets be honest, it can get pretty boring out there trolling for hours on end with no hits (I started fishing Erie in the 80's and first mated in the early 90's, when fishing was SLOW).   
 
Of course, the kids and the wife devour what fish I do bring home but never seem want me to be away to go catch it!  Kids are still too young to enjoy all day or even half day outings on any boat, much less out on Erie but my future plans include an Erie capable boat to take out the family on a regular basis.