Marty, all that counts is having fun in a way that YOU enjoy, and not
lousing up the environment at the same time. My point is that the "purist"
concept is a personal thing that differs with each of us, so why worry about
it.

Bob
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"Marty" wrote in message
...
I never use live bait, not because I look down on it, but because I don't
enjoy it. Apparently my goal is not to catch bass by whatever means
available, but to catch them while using artificials. I don't know if that
makes me a "purist" or not, but I never criticize anyone who enjoys using
bait. However, based on many years of shore fishing at many different
locations, it is apparent that bait fishermen are much, much more likely to
violate regulations concerning size and creel limits, as well as closed
seasons. But I have no problem with responsible bait fishermen and I have a
major problem with those lure anglers who violate the regs or legally hurt
the fishery.

As far as purists using such stuff as Yum and Gulp, I'm not sure what to
say. It's still a huge leap from a live creature to this kind of lure. And
I haven't seen any evidence (yet) that lures with processed live bait
and/or simulated substitutes are more effective than ordinary soft
plastics. Where would a purist have to draw the line in order to maintain
her purist status?


"Bob Rickard" wrote in message
m...
As an ardent angler since age 4, for 61 years I have seen fishing go full
circle with respect to live bait fishing.

Being different from most people in most ways, my "fishing thing" has
always been to experiment & observe both fish & other anglers.
Fortunately for me, I never really cared that much about actually
catching fish. Often I could learn more by trying to find out what my
prey would not hit during a heavy feed. I mainly fished artificials, but
I never had any qualms about using live bait in appropriate situations;
live bait does not make success automatic... I've frequently seen great
anglers catch zilch on live bait.

Today, we have definitely come full circle. I've been laughing for some
time at the self-appointed "purists" who, while demeaning the users of
live bait, would spend all their time fishing little other than modern
chemical plastic clones like Yum, Gulp & all the others on the market
today, many of which actually contain processed live bait or simulated
substitutes. Regardless what you choose to call that stuff, folks, you
ain't no purist any more!

Bob Rickard
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