Gimme your thoughts

[Sore thumb]

I have been fishing for a long time with various buddies. Over the years I have tried to stay open minded about the various techniques of catching fish. Initially I threw out artificial lures and was having decent success. I then went with this guy who didn't own very many lures. You see, his mission was to "catch fish" as opposed to wearing his arm out. He would bring a bucket of night crawlers with him as well as the usual stuff. While I beat the water to death and would catch the occassional bass, he would bring fish in left and right, allbeit they may be crappie, bass, or blue gill. He used a night crawler on a smaller hook and would rig it Texas style. No sinker, and no bobber. When his line would twitch or move he simply set the hook.
Now, to my situation. While I love being on the lake, I also love "catching" fish. I have incorporated this technique into my fishing and I have much more success in bring home the bacon (so to speak). I am not a tourny fisherman and don't pretend to be. But I do catch a lot of fish which is the mission at hand.
My buddy (Shawn) thinks that I am cheating. When we go fishing together he claims I'm not fishing but rather cheating. He tells me I might as well throw some dynamite in the water. We have had disagreements about it in the past. I'm thinking, if you go Deer hunting, you mask your smell, wear camo, and do whatever you have to in order to get that trophy. But it's cheating when it comes to fishing? By the way, I have caught a number of trophy bass, one of which was a 9 lb beauty two years ago is a pond in Charlestown, In. from a jon boat. I caught it while fishing for crappie using minnows. Was that cheating? Should I not have taken a picture of it before I put it back? Gimme your thoughts.

[Sore Thumb II]

Sore Thumb, Do you owe this (Shawn) guy any money for some side bets when you to go fishing Big Fish,Most Fish often buddies brag on how good they are until you ask them how much money he or she has lost or won in fishing tourneys

[Sore thumb]

Sore Thumb II (how original)

I'm trying to read the response to my thread you left but alas, the grammar and punctuations leave me to wonder what is being said/written.
NEED A TRANSLATOR HERE !!!!!!!!!!

[Sore Thumb II]

OOOOOOOpppppppssssssss I must made him mad at me

[Sore thumb]

No, not at all. And I certainly didn't mean to imply that you were a short, bald, non fishing, can't spell, sore loosing, fisherman at all. I simply struggled to read your ragged, goat smell'n, half written, attempt at a quick response, to my thread.

[Col Forbin]

I don't think it is cheating - especially when it comes to crappie (everyone uses minnows), and catching the occasional bass while doing that. However, I do think that most of the "sport" of bass fishing is to get them to take an artificial lure using your skills of creating action with the lure and presentation. As long as it is catch and release for bass, I don't see what it is hurting. It would be a different story if you were always catching your limit of bass on nightcrawlers and fileting them all. Then again, I gues I would be just as against keeping your limit of bass for filets, that were caught on any lure (artificial or not).

[stoner]

My guess is that sore thumb I and sore thumb II are of some relation!?! If not at least aquaintences, fishn' buddies, or club rivals. Live bait will out fish artificial, and if I were stranded and in survival mode I would much prefer the live worm over the plastic worm, for one thing I ccould eat the live worm even if it doesn't catch the fish.
Stoner

[Sore thumb]

Stoner
You are so observant.

[Cajun78]

I think live bait is a cheap way to catch fish and its unsporting. Now, if Im taking my little girl fishing, its great, cause she wants to catch some fish. She is not at the age where she can cast and retrieve, so nitecrawlers make sense.

Thats the way people who fish to eat do it, but it certainly isnt sporting. Like someone said above, the entire 'sport' of fishing is to get the bass to take a lure you bring to life. With live bait, presentation, skill and technique go out the window.

[Bonefish]

I do not fish touranments so I do not know the rules. Can you use livebait in tournaments? Since I do not eat bass, I don't fish with livebait unless it is for crappie, bluegill and walleye. I hate to gut hook fish so I use circle hooks when fishing with live bait. It seems to me the bluegill would drive you crazy using a Texas rigged live worm. Just one note about fishing with live bait in rivers. When I was young, I would bank fished with my uncle who would never fished more than 15 feet from the bank, and mostly with a cane pole. I would use spinning equipment and fish as far out in the river as possible. Guess what? He always caught 3 to my one because if you graph fish in a river they will travel within 15 to 20 feet from the bank to avoid currents. But, back in that day everyone pretty much ate the fish they caught.

[CTFSHWHISKER]

i just wish i was good enough to be accused of cheating...are sore thumb and sore thumbII married?If you are friends or whatever i'd say it won't last long....

[DJD]

I do not fish touranments so I do not know the rules. Can you use livebait in tournaments? Since I do not eat bass, I don't fish with livebait unless it is for crappie, bluegill and walleye. I hate to gut hook fish so I use circle hooks when fishing with live bait. It seems to me the bluegill would drive you crazy using a Texas rigged live worm. Just one note about fishing with live bait in rivers. When I was young, I would bank fished with my uncle who would never fished more than 15 feet from the bank, and mostly with a cane pole. I would use spinning equipment and fish as far out in the river as possible. Guess what? He always caught 3 to my one because if you graph fish in a river they will travel within 15 to 20 feet from the bank to avoid currents. But, back in that day everyone pretty much ate the fish they caught.

Naw, no live bait in Bass Tournaments. It would be to easy most of the time.