Hey, since everyone's arguing about ethics and C&R and all that, I thought I'd tell you about what it takes to fly fish in Germany. This information comes from a discussion on an international fly fishing board, and the requirements vary a bit from state to state, but here is an example.
First of all, forget about taking your son or daughter out to the creek for some angling -- children cannot fish. There is a law in Germany that prevents children from killing vertabrate animals.
"But can't they just release it?"
Actually, no, because catch and release is illegal in Germany. The prevailing morality is that if you're going to fish, there should be a reason (food) other than "sport". So all fishing is catch and keep.
Also, you need a license (no surprise). In order to obtain a license, simply follow these steps:
1. Have a current, valid first-aid certification.
2. Have a favorable police record.
3. Take a mandatory 36 hours of classroom instruction in ecology, fish behavior, handling, anatomy, how to kill humanely, water chemistry, fishing law, etc. etc.
4. Take a 100 question multiple choice exam (written). This exam is only offered in German, so if you don't speak the language, it'll be real hard to pass. Oh, and you're only allowed to miss 5 questions total, but no more than two in any particular subject. The results are not published and the test is not public.
5. Meet minimum gear handling requirements. This means you have to go to a local fishing club on a Saturday and demonstrate to a government official that you can handle your equipment/hit a target.
5a. If you want to bait fish, you have to demonstrate a bit of accuracy or something.
5b. If you want to spinfish, you have to demonstrate some more accuracy I guess.
5c. If you want to fly fish, you have to have already passed the spinfishing test and take two additional classes (one about 8 hours of classroom instruction, another one for fly casting, and length of study depends on your casting experience).
Phew! Now you have your license. Want to fish on a river somewhere in Germany? You have to join a fishing club. You pay them, gain access to the water, and the money is used for conservation.
So there are the draconian fishing laws in a nutshell. Perhaps we should impliment this here -- this way, no more arguing over proper release methods (all of the fish will be bonked) and the fishery will be protected because hardly anyone will go through the trouble to get a license and fish! Oh, and don't worry about the Russians at that lake we were complaining about earlier -- maybe they don't speak English too well and we can word the multiple choice test in a complicated way.
:TONGUE :TONGUE :TONGUE :TONGUE
First of all, forget about taking your son or daughter out to the creek for some angling -- children cannot fish. There is a law in Germany that prevents children from killing vertabrate animals.
"But can't they just release it?"
Actually, no, because catch and release is illegal in Germany. The prevailing morality is that if you're going to fish, there should be a reason (food) other than "sport". So all fishing is catch and keep.
Also, you need a license (no surprise). In order to obtain a license, simply follow these steps:
1. Have a current, valid first-aid certification.
2. Have a favorable police record.
3. Take a mandatory 36 hours of classroom instruction in ecology, fish behavior, handling, anatomy, how to kill humanely, water chemistry, fishing law, etc. etc.
4. Take a 100 question multiple choice exam (written). This exam is only offered in German, so if you don't speak the language, it'll be real hard to pass. Oh, and you're only allowed to miss 5 questions total, but no more than two in any particular subject. The results are not published and the test is not public.
5. Meet minimum gear handling requirements. This means you have to go to a local fishing club on a Saturday and demonstrate to a government official that you can handle your equipment/hit a target.
5a. If you want to bait fish, you have to demonstrate a bit of accuracy or something.
5b. If you want to spinfish, you have to demonstrate some more accuracy I guess.
5c. If you want to fly fish, you have to have already passed the spinfishing test and take two additional classes (one about 8 hours of classroom instruction, another one for fly casting, and length of study depends on your casting experience).
Phew! Now you have your license. Want to fish on a river somewhere in Germany? You have to join a fishing club. You pay them, gain access to the water, and the money is used for conservation.
So there are the draconian fishing laws in a nutshell. Perhaps we should impliment this here -- this way, no more arguing over proper release methods (all of the fish will be bonked) and the fishery will be protected because hardly anyone will go through the trouble to get a license and fish! Oh, and don't worry about the Russians at that lake we were complaining about earlier -- maybe they don't speak English too well and we can word the multiple choice test in a complicated way.
:TONGUE :TONGUE :TONGUE :TONGUE