Gone fishin'
 

Okay, we're going to settle this once and for all.

I just got back from a weekend fishing trip to Lake Champlain in the Adirondack region of upstate NY. All in all we caught enough bass and trout to make the trip worth it, but no vacation is without drama.

Here's the deal. We all came to an agreement that a fish is not to be determined as "caught" until it is "inside the boat". Me, my dad, and his friends all went in seperate boats in groups of two. One of the boats had a canopy. At one point during the day, one of the men in the boat with the canopy felt a fish hit his line, so he yanked back hard to set the hook. The yank was so hard that the fish went airborne, came off the hook and landed on the top of the canopy. It was up there for about a minute until it finally flapped off the side back into the lake.

So, does that constitute a catch?

(Also, we can use this thread to discuss favorite fishing points, baits, and such.)

I am going to say no, because he didn't intend for it to go into the canopy, nor did he have control over letting the fish go back into the water, but rather, the fish flailed back into the water.

If a bird lands on your roof, is it inside your house?

Not a catch. To catch a fish you need subtlety and control which was lacking here.

You sir have obviously never seen drunken red-necks fish with dynamite and hunting rifles.

Great, now "There coming right at us" is going to be stuck in my head all day thanks to you!

Since when do people yank on the rod when fishing?

I used to all the time. It's what I did to make sure the fish was hooked and not just nibbling on my bait.

All I needed to do was give it a quick tug, not a yank though. I consider a yank a little bit to much force.

A quick tug is a yank......it's just a semantics thing.

EDIT: Maybe he was surprised and put a little more force into the pull than he thought?

Ah, well thanks for clearing that up. But to pull with enough force to launch a fish seems to be more then surprise. I would say alcohol had a factor in it