Already have bait boats with fish finders, swim mapping, GPS and now people using drones to view the water for fish.
Whatever happened to watercraft, learning a venue over time, observing where the fish will be in certain conditions and seasons. Then escaping the rat race and modern world for peace and quiet alongside nature?
Next we will have GPS guided bait boats being sent to coordinates beamed to them from a hovering drone equipped with sonar and radar. With AI the “angler” will be able to sit back with his mates and not even look at the lake.
Whatever happened to watercraft, learning a venue over time, observing where the fish will be in certain conditions and seasons. Then escaping the rat race and modern world for peace and quiet alongside nature?
Next we will have GPS guided bait boats being sent to coordinates beamed to them from a hovering drone equipped with sonar and radar. With AI the “angler” will be able to sit back with his mates and not even look at the lake.
61 yrs of age
Started aged 5,fifth generation coarse/sea angling heritage..
Lifetime of various aspects of angling ,junior schools match champion is one such aspect ..passionate about all countryside and angling issues...
Run my own fishery last 40 yrs..
Can't see me angling with any enthusiasm for much longer,apps ,bait boats ,drones..I pity the poor souls who try and justify there actions using overt tech,unless you are disabled in some way..especially the 'you have to move with the times or get left behind 'brigade...poor,poor Herbert's they be..!
You might as well stay at home,playing fishing on a screen,where by you are divorced,and desensitised from all of the wonderful nature and wildlife going on around you....
Just remember,you are deluding yourself that you can angle ,and have caught a big fish or PB,you have not ,all captures are pretty pointless and null and void..there is a cut off point,that point is drones ,and bait boats.....
I don't care who you are,where you fish,or what your phone pics show ,you are cheating ,it's simple as that ...
Started aged 5,fifth generation coarse/sea angling heritage..
Lifetime of various aspects of angling ,junior schools match champion is one such aspect ..passionate about all countryside and angling issues...
Run my own fishery last 40 yrs..
Can't see me angling with any enthusiasm for much longer,apps ,bait boats ,drones..I pity the poor souls who try and justify there actions using overt tech,unless you are disabled in some way..especially the 'you have to move with the times or get left behind 'brigade...poor,poor Herbert's they be..!
You might as well stay at home,playing fishing on a screen,where by you are divorced,and desensitised from all of the wonderful nature and wildlife going on around you....
Just remember,you are deluding yourself that you can angle ,and have caught a big fish or PB,you have not ,all captures are pretty pointless and null and void..there is a cut off point,that point is drones ,and bait boats.....
I don't care who you are,where you fish,or what your phone pics show ,you are cheating ,it's simple as that ...
In reply to Post #5
My thoughts exactly on this subject. I've lost count of the videos I've watched where somebody rows a bloody great boat right across the lake, drops his rig and then chucks 10 or 15kg of (usually free) bait all over it - don't suppose that has any negative effects on anybody elses fishing?
You can probably tell I am a bait boat user where allowed and where appropriate, not got a problem with that, but then I am a responsible rule abiding angler. I maintain it is the most stealthy way to place rigs and bait up and I would sooner be on a lake with responsible bait boat users than watch blokes cast 5oz leads then stick 20 spombs of bait all over the job.
My thoughts exactly on this subject. I've lost count of the videos I've watched where somebody rows a bloody great boat right across the lake, drops his rig and then chucks 10 or 15kg of (usually free) bait all over it - don't suppose that has any negative effects on anybody elses fishing?
You can probably tell I am a bait boat user where allowed and where appropriate, not got a problem with that, but then I am a responsible rule abiding angler. I maintain it is the most stealthy way to place rigs and bait up and I would sooner be on a lake with responsible bait boat users than watch blokes cast 5oz leads then stick 20 spombs of bait all over the job.
In reply to Post #8
Your analogy doesn't hold up whatsoever.
Hitting a ball with a racket is still hitting a ball with a racket.
Driving a remote controlled boat to a spot is not casting.
Your analogy doesn't hold up whatsoever.
Hitting a ball with a racket is still hitting a ball with a racket.
Driving a remote controlled boat to a spot is not casting.
I’m just back from a 3 day session and a 13.8 mirror saved the day,would I have blanked without my boat absolutely it allowed me to put the bait further to where they showing,do I think it’s cheating well no it’s just an extra item of tech in my fishing that’s helped me put more fish in the bank this year than I normally do
The only sport analogies can be.. if instead of using a racket, or a bat, or a club to hit the ball a robot took the ball and placed it exactly where you wanted it.
The issue is that in all those sports that would be seen as a ludicrous and totally illegal thing to do. In fishing it is different?
A rod is a tool for a job, a reel is a tool for a job, you still have to apply skill to use those tools. The bait boat does the job for you, that’s the difference.
Why do bait boaters never seem to want to just come out and say it.. I use a bait boat to catch fish because it makes it easy.
The issue is that in all those sports that would be seen as a ludicrous and totally illegal thing to do. In fishing it is different?
A rod is a tool for a job, a reel is a tool for a job, you still have to apply skill to use those tools. The bait boat does the job for you, that’s the difference.
Why do bait boaters never seem to want to just come out and say it.. I use a bait boat to catch fish because it makes it easy.
On one hand.... its just one skill in the jigsaw of the many others needed to catch fish.
I don't necessarily think that bait boating, or boating in general, makes catching fish easy.
There's timing, location, swim choice, spot choice, presentation choice, bait choice, application of bait choice still to go...... not just the casting skill.
That said, if your casting skill is poor, it does remove that from the equation.... so certainly "easier" for many folk or removes developing that skill for newcomers if they go boat only.
Misuse of bait boats is a different matter and those misuers deserve the disrespect.
I guess its down to the many different reasons why people might go fishing. If the aquisition, development and refinement of skills like casting is the pinnacale and most important factor, i can see that boats are frustrating.
Technology wise - i think phones and social media/content generation and virtue signalling/success signalling/must catch is a bigger threat to fishing than bait boats...
I've said before..... my Dad used to say that bite alarms and using 3 - 4 rods would be the end of fishing and ruined the skill of bite detection and crowding the water with too many lines 😀
That said, no doubt that accurate and range casting is a real skill, and an integral part of fishing. I do think many venues should be casting only and really preserve that. Shame to hear that an iconic venue like Wraysbury is maybe taking a different approach with the boats.
Room for all sorts IMO. ❤️
Time and a place for everything imo
Never forget Terry Hearn used one when needed, prime example is his time on Cranwells targeting The Parrot, if you ever fished there you’d realise why.
Scott Lloyd used one on Burghfield to catch the Common, taking advantage of a rule change.
Two of the finest anglers in the country I would say, but needs must.
I’ve personally seen both Tom Stokes and Darrel Peck use them when necessary, again…..
One of the reasons Laney hates them so much is that every time he’s ever tried to use one it’s either sunk or died on him, particularly in the middle of Burghfield again.
Never forget Terry Hearn used one when needed, prime example is his time on Cranwells targeting The Parrot, if you ever fished there you’d realise why.
Scott Lloyd used one on Burghfield to catch the Common, taking advantage of a rule change.
Two of the finest anglers in the country I would say, but needs must.
I’ve personally seen both Tom Stokes and Darrel Peck use them when necessary, again…..
One of the reasons Laney hates them so much is that every time he’s ever tried to use one it’s either sunk or died on him, particularly in the middle of Burghfield again.
Dare say we've all seen shocking antics with just rod & line, baiting poles etc it's the users that spoil it with very little thought to what they are doing.
I'm not a bait boat user but If they are allowed then so be it, if you don't like it then off you go.
Many things condition the fish.
I'm not a bait boat user but If they are allowed then so be it, if you don't like it then off you go.
Many things condition the fish.
I’m not a fan at all. There is mitigation and I have used one on a very weedy year on a syndicate lake when everyone had them as any presentation was a s nightmare, I didn’t catch from its use and the only fish I caught that year were within 20 yards of the bank. Happily they are banned on all but one of the waters I fish now.
Forgetting disability they:
Allow you to fish a ranges not possible with natural ability
Allow you to place baits in places that would be impossible to cast to
They allow a stealth type approach that is impossible with lead and line
They are the brutal facts - even if you don’t use your boat for these purposes others do.
I used one to ‘keep up with the Jones’ and also on a holiday where getting out a quantity of bait at 120 yards seemed too much work on a holiday trip, but both these are excuses and personally for me devalue any captures - but each to their own.
The problem for me with this type of tech is that it is a massive shortcut to hard work (especially above in my crap spodding excuse). There is no doubt that they can make a poor angler a better one simply by ££s. Add a camera, echo and gps and suddenly a newbie can get amongst fish with any half sensible bait and rig. Most of us agree location is the no1 skill and a boat means there is nowhere for them to hide.
Bite alarms, bivvys, Bedchairs, sharpened hooks, and better baits make us fish more effectively but bait boats with all the bells and whistles or even without is purchasing a skill for me that isn’t learnt. Do I care? Not really, as I say they are banned on most the venues I fish, does it impact me? On occasions when you speak to someone who’s mate had a 40 and has this boat he paid £4k for and assumes you are birds of.a feather - but in general not overly bothered.
I love a bit of ingenious rule bending, or innovation to overcome certain problems - but personally they are not for me and I dislike their use - I pay more credence to fish caught without their use, and accept nobody gives a flying fig about that nor should they - fishing is a hobby. Cheating is probably too strong a word - unethical for me, but we all live by different ones
Forgetting disability they:
Allow you to fish a ranges not possible with natural ability
Allow you to place baits in places that would be impossible to cast to
They allow a stealth type approach that is impossible with lead and line
They are the brutal facts - even if you don’t use your boat for these purposes others do.
I used one to ‘keep up with the Jones’ and also on a holiday where getting out a quantity of bait at 120 yards seemed too much work on a holiday trip, but both these are excuses and personally for me devalue any captures - but each to their own.
The problem for me with this type of tech is that it is a massive shortcut to hard work (especially above in my crap spodding excuse). There is no doubt that they can make a poor angler a better one simply by ££s. Add a camera, echo and gps and suddenly a newbie can get amongst fish with any half sensible bait and rig. Most of us agree location is the no1 skill and a boat means there is nowhere for them to hide.
Bite alarms, bivvys, Bedchairs, sharpened hooks, and better baits make us fish more effectively but bait boats with all the bells and whistles or even without is purchasing a skill for me that isn’t learnt. Do I care? Not really, as I say they are banned on most the venues I fish, does it impact me? On occasions when you speak to someone who’s mate had a 40 and has this boat he paid £4k for and assumes you are birds of.a feather - but in general not overly bothered.
I love a bit of ingenious rule bending, or innovation to overcome certain problems - but personally they are not for me and I dislike their use - I pay more credence to fish caught without their use, and accept nobody gives a flying fig about that nor should they - fishing is a hobby. Cheating is probably too strong a word - unethical for me, but we all live by different ones
I take my adult son to France fishing with me, it's the only time he fishes and he wouldn't call himself a fisherman.
I do his rigs and with a baitboat, he catches just as many as me as the skill element has largely gone.
Means he has a fun week so I don't mind.
Lakes have got harder over the last few years for sure and I do put that down to baitboats
I do his rigs and with a baitboat, he catches just as many as me as the skill element has largely gone.
Means he has a fun week so I don't mind.
Lakes have got harder over the last few years for sure and I do put that down to baitboats
I have a bait boat and i use it as much as i can.
So there.
So there.
In reply to Post #27
Yeah I’ve got a Deeper Quest waiting for its maiden launch when my club lake reopens in September. I’ve used boats on the likes of Rainbow and baiting poles on intimate ponds, and it’s taken me a long time to personally accept the morals of a baitboat. Watching the likes of Terry Hearn and Scott Lloyd certainly qualmed any niggles though. If Laney doesn’t have the necessary skills to use them then that’s a chink in his armoury, nowt to do with me, Tel and Eggy Lid, noddy muppet 🤣🤣
Yeah I’ve got a Deeper Quest waiting for its maiden launch when my club lake reopens in September. I’ve used boats on the likes of Rainbow and baiting poles on intimate ponds, and it’s taken me a long time to personally accept the morals of a baitboat. Watching the likes of Terry Hearn and Scott Lloyd certainly qualmed any niggles though. If Laney doesn’t have the necessary skills to use them then that’s a chink in his armoury, nowt to do with me, Tel and Eggy Lid, noddy muppet 🤣🤣
Still tons of venues and clubs out there that don’t permit bait boats - fish those places if it’s a problem. Fairly simple solution really
In reply to Post #28
Brilliant boat mate. You wont be disappointed. Done me well in France recently finding spots in a fairly weedy lake.
Brilliant boat mate. You wont be disappointed. Done me well in France recently finding spots in a fairly weedy lake.