The World’s Smallest Game Fish

We all know anglers that seek the largest fish they can catch, but have you ever met those who try to catch the smallest fish they can, on a hook and line? Here in Japan, I have done so, and been lucky enough to indulge this particular variety of fishing.

Not unreasonably, most sport anglers want to catch trophy fish; the bigger the better (indeed, we all know anglers whose catches continue to grow in size long after the event, growing bigger with each recounting of the story of the fishing trip). However, this is Japan, where miniaturization pervades all aspects of life, in gardening, art, computers, electronics; we all have seen the clichéd ‘capsule’ hotels and bonsai pine trees you can pick up with two fingers. This also applies to sport fishing, in one of the oldest angling traditions in this country: tanago fishing.

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Obama Is NOT Banning Fishing, So STFU!

Yes, believe it or not this story was reported to me by several sources as true. No Obama is NOT banning sportfishing! Geez, with all the problems in the world, not to mention all the problems in the US right now, you’d think that people could focus on progress, the platform their legally elected president ran under.

Apparently, the story was started by an opinion piece on ESPN Outdoors which then caused a massive uproar in conservative bloggers and spread like a virus of stupidity across the internet. Such as, Obama’s Latest Assault on Freedom– New Regulations Will Ban Sport Fishing.

The only problem is that these “regulations” don’t exist. What Montgomery was writing about is the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force that has been charged by the White House with developing a comprehensive federal policy for managing the nation’s waterways. Yes, they are interested in conservation and they are interested in setting new guidelines for fishing policies—commercial fishing policies that are threatening to deplete our food supply. Except they haven’t even gotten that far yet. All they’ve released is an interim report [PDF] that discusses what their goals are, none of which involve a ban on fishing. In fact, from what I can tell it’s completely generic legalese that contains no actionable policy recommendations in it all. It says zip about recreational fishing, never mind any sort of plan to curtail it.

No longer accepting input doesn’t mean it’s being banned. I saw how the recent input (read: filibuster) on healthcare went, and if I were Obama I’d be tired of hearing other peoples input. Heck, as an American citizen I’m tired of watching him listen! For once someone needs to stand up and make the right choices for America, not just the popular ones.

via Dead Spin

Update: March 11th, 2010

The Obama administration is trying to dash rumors that it planned to ban recreational fishing in marine waters and the Great Lakes in the wake of a series of Internet posts warning that such a prohibition was imminent.

But with rumors flying yesterday, Reps. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Pa.) both expressed concern about the issue in a House Science Committee hearing. They asked the NOAA chief if the administration is considering a ban on recreational fishing.

“Will you please reassure me and the angling public, whether commercial or recreational that their issues are going to be taken into consideration?” Broun asked.

“Both commercial and recreational fishing are vitally important to this nation,” Lubchenco said. “We are not proposing any blanket ban on recreational fishing. I would strongly oppose that, and it is not in the works.”

ESPN outdoors editor Steve Bowman issued an apology yesterday afternoon, saying the article should have been clearly identified as commentary, not news, and should have had more balance. The Web site has since altered the article and added a header identifying it as an opinion piece.

via NY Times

National Fishing Week In Canada

If you are Canada, this is a great week to go fishing. There are several derbies and events being held to promote our great sport.

“National Fishing Week is a coast-to-coast-to coast awareness program that has been declared Canada’s week to explore the magic lure of fresh and saltwater sport fishing.”

Find out more about National Fishing Week in Canada at CatchFishing.com. Take a look at the events page for events in your area!

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