So, I've decided to not look into this at all, but my understanding is that you're scored by like, size and weight of the best fish or added up fish total by the end of some fishing time limit. So like...isn't this mostly up to the fish? This meta feels VERY rng driven and hardly suitable to competitive play. 
, but it came to kind and I'm curious how the fuck anyone gets credit here. If anything it should be whoever can catch any fish first.
one thing that really fucks me up about fishing today is that fish were much larger (and older) back in the day. even shellfish were big as fuck; oysters were the size of steaks. and these days the fish are so much smaller, even the Tuna. it takes a long long time to grow a 1400lb Tuna...
cw: seafood for links in this post
This was because they actually had a chance to grow. There wasn't much demand for oysters before we had the technology to can them or ship them by train.
100% it's the same shit with forests you gotta give things fucking time to grow
They had Krakens and Leviathans and Cthulhus way back. Fisherman were zany. Imagine reeling in Poseidon.
"oh hey Poseidon, sorry about that. Actually before I catch and release ya, a little birdie told me Laomedon wasn't planning on skipping out on your fee for that little construction job you did.
Holy shit, that's what Cracked.com looks like now? It looks like any generic buzzfeed ripoff with 0 soul or personality. I'm surprised it's still around.
more surprising that they're putting out articles in 2024
Different size fish hang out in somewhat different parts of the lake, and eat different things. You can use a physically larger lure to prevent yourself from catching small fish (but might catch nothing). Knowing what fish are biting when and where for the given time of year and day and weather is a skill.
But honestly I think it's mostly cheating.
I don’t know but they had the most unhinged cheating scandal in competitive sports ever. The top fisher was found to be cheating by putting lead weights into his catches.
The video of when they were caught is extremely worth watching (CW: dead fish)
as soon as I saw "competitive fishing" in the title, I thought of this video and hoped someone would post it
Iirc, that dude had been on a winning streak, which is why this was a Big Fucking Deal to all the onlookers in the video.
Did they?? I had stopped following. But iirc they basically defrauded the competitions out of hundreds of thousands of dollars of prizes
idk its fun lemme just like throw a hook in the water and go eepy in my girlchair
Poker has quite a bit of random chance in it too and it's also very successful for competitions
Poker isn't entirely chance and there's calculated risk. Not guessing what's under the water you're casting at is alive and big but also hungry
Yeah and there's different lures and baits and fishing tactics too
Not trying to defend the integrity of a sport centered around harming and terrifying animals for fun, just saying there are factors the fisherman can affect
Sure but poker pits the players against each other, not animals just doing their thing. Though in both cases the fish are gonna get their shit rocked
Fish plays worst hand of poker ever, asked to leave lake/casino
"GG lads, I win this round"
plays hand consisting exclusively of the two of clubs
"Please leave"
I have a modest proposal for this issue: People who harm animals as a hobby can please gargle my nuts.
It's inverse waterboarding by any other name, this isn't really ambiguous.
It is ambiguous because fish are not humans. You are anthropomorphizing the experience of the fish.
That being said, I do not fish and it appears very cruel.
you stab the fish in the mouth, forcefully pull them out of their oxygenated environment, do a little dance with them or whyever you decided this would be "fun" and then mercifully let them go instead of killing them
They can't really remember being caught a lot of the time (depends on the species). You can catch the same fish on the same lure in a short timespan which indicates they either don't remember the lure or they don't have a lasting negative sensation from being caught.
why are you arguing with me bro what'd i do
i just say it was beginning i didn't sign up for participation
edit: but fr why'd you fire that off with me I was just waiting for the fun to start lay off me dude
I've noticed issues here and elsewhere eith me being excessively confrontational.
I'm not sure how I can stop being so tightly wound, but it's clear to me that you deserve an apology.
I am sorry.
It's on the level of golfing as a bourgeois "sport" imo
i don't fish and couldn't imagine being invested in it as a competition, but i think the notion is that bigger fish are older and have more guile from being longer lived.
personally, i don't need an excuse or an invitation to sit on the side of a waterbody and zone out.
