Fishing, hunting, trapping, and the like are not exactly sports, although tournament fishing can be, but this is as good a place for it as any. When I was a child, I hated most kinds of fishing. Sometimes my cousins, particularly my cousin Jerry, would want to go fishing, and I'd hate it if I couldn't talk them out of it. Standing on the shores of a lake or river with a fishing pole was so boring, particularly with Jerry, because he was so into it that everyone was supposed to be quiet and concentrate on fishing. I didn't have a fishing pole of my own (because, duh, I didn't like to fish), so he lent me one of his when he insisted on the two of us going fishing. The fishing went on and on and on, and finally, when I couldn't talk him into stopping, I threw his pole in the river.
At that time, either kids didn't need fishing licenses or the local game wardens didn't enforce fishing laws on kids, except for the smelt season. For some reason, that was highly regulated and enforced. I knew that adults were supposed to have licenses, but I also knew plenty of adults who didn't bother to get one unless they were fishing on a very public lake or river.
I liked smelt fishing because it was done with a net, and I could get two buckets of smelt in about five minutes, or so it seemed. Sucker (red horse) fishing was okay too, because they were speared, which was a far more interesting way to fish, but suckers didn't taste good unless they were smoked, and we didn't have a smoker. An uncle did, but no one wanted to bother him with smoking fish unless we had a bunch of them.
I also like ice fishing because my dad had an ice fishing shack that he would put out, usually on Lake Michigan, with a wood stove in it, so any fish you could cook up and eat before the game warden came by didn't count against your limit. I'm sure the rules didn't read that way, but those were the effective rules. Plus, the scraps from cooking fish could be dumped back into the hole to attract more fish. Nothing is fresher than a fish that was swimming around a few minutes before you ate it.
Since I didn't do much pole fishing, I don't know for sure, but I think live bait was what most people used, though lures were a thing.
Now that I'm older, standing on the shores of a lake or river with a fishing rod sounds like something that might be fun, but Maine's fishing laws are so convoluted, I'd probably end up doing prison time, especially given that I can't tell one fish from another, for the most part.
At that time, either kids didn't need fishing licenses or the local game wardens didn't enforce fishing laws on kids, except for the smelt season. For some reason, that was highly regulated and enforced. I knew that adults were supposed to have licenses, but I also knew plenty of adults who didn't bother to get one unless they were fishing on a very public lake or river.
I liked smelt fishing because it was done with a net, and I could get two buckets of smelt in about five minutes, or so it seemed. Sucker (red horse) fishing was okay too, because they were speared, which was a far more interesting way to fish, but suckers didn't taste good unless they were smoked, and we didn't have a smoker. An uncle did, but no one wanted to bother him with smoking fish unless we had a bunch of them.
I also like ice fishing because my dad had an ice fishing shack that he would put out, usually on Lake Michigan, with a wood stove in it, so any fish you could cook up and eat before the game warden came by didn't count against your limit. I'm sure the rules didn't read that way, but those were the effective rules. Plus, the scraps from cooking fish could be dumped back into the hole to attract more fish. Nothing is fresher than a fish that was swimming around a few minutes before you ate it.
Since I didn't do much pole fishing, I don't know for sure, but I think live bait was what most people used, though lures were a thing.
Now that I'm older, standing on the shores of a lake or river with a fishing rod sounds like something that might be fun, but Maine's fishing laws are so convoluted, I'd probably end up doing prison time, especially given that I can't tell one fish from another, for the most part.