Fishing /Angling is it a sport ?

dartfordgent

Have put under not sport as well is it or not......drive past fishing lakes/ponds on the way to Greenhithe ASDA and the guys just seem to be in tents drinking beer and sunbathing now i know thats broadbrush........it looks great life......listening to cricket ......chilling... alas other half would see it as glorified loafing.......so i guess its a hobby....?

The Red Robin

Can't be a sport can it? Mind you, I would say that Darts and F1 are not sports either.

Valley_floyd_red

It's more popular than football.

Chizz

The best definition to use when working out whether a passtime is a sport or not is: can you smoke while doing it?

So fishing is not a sport. Neither are darts, pool, chess or golf.

Valley_floyd_red

I have to disagree with Golf. You can smoke while watching it, there's no way you could smoke and play at the same time.

Salad

it's a hobby, pastime, passion etc. but not a sport imho
shopping is probably more of a sport! (not the enjoyable sort though)

Algarveaddick

IMHO a sport is a contest between two apparently equal foes, therefore man against fish/bull/fox is not a sport.

And fishing is mind numbingly boring too.

Rodex

Only the worm has the answer,so ask it.

McLovin

[cite]Posted By: Valley_floyd_red[/cite]It's more popular than football.

So's wanking, but it ain't a sport

Robbo on the wing

I think it is inhumane and cruel and can cause great distress to swans/geese when they become entangled in discarded fishing line.
Trawling on the other hand is far more humane, and only smashes up the rocks creating more sand for our beaches, and therefore preventing decay of our coastline.

paulbaconsarnie

[cite]Posted By: Algarveaddick[/cite]IMHO a sport is a contest between two apparently equal foes, therefore man against fish/bull/fox is not a sport.

And fishing is mind numbingly boring too.

isn't it man vs man?
ie, match fishing being the man that catches the most weight of fish?

Shag

I know someone who listens to fishing on the radio

Algarveaddick

[cite]Posted By: paulbaconsarnie[/cite]

[cite]Posted By: Algarveaddick[/cite]IMHO a sport is a contest between two apparently equal foes, therefore man against fish/bull/fox is not a sport.

And fishing is mind numbingly boring too.

isn't it man vs man?
ie, match fishing being the man that catches the most weight of fish?

No, it's just dull PBS...

Rodex

One or two anglers in the UK might just argue with that.

charltonkeston

[cite]Posted By: Valley_floyd_red[/cite]I have to disagree with Golf. You can smoke while watching it, there's no way you could smoke and play at the same time.

Seen Laura Davis practice with a fag on.

dansmudge

I've recently started fly fishing and it's a totally different experience to course fishing.
I would say it's much closer to being a sport than course fishing.

You're constantly on the move and the skill of casting is as hard to master as the golf swing.

I have to say that I've become totally immersed in it as a past time and already know it's something that i will do for the rest of my life.
I read this the other day in a magazine and it totally summed up why I love fishing, it's the ultimate escapism from every day London life...

Testament of a Fisherman:

I fish because I love to; because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful
and I hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly;

because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape;

because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate,
my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion;

because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power,
but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience;

because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time,
and I for one don't want to waste the trip;

because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness;

because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there;

because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid;

and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important
but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant - and not nearly so much fun.

(From Anatomy of a Fisherman by Robert Traver)

Stu_of_Kunming

[cite]Posted By: McLovin[/cite]

[cite]Posted By: Valley_floyd_red[/cite]It's more popular than football.

So's wanking, but it ain't a sport

PMSL

Best post I've seen on here in ages.