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As a Photographer who is in constant need of proper titles for my photos the question of whether fishing is really a sport comes up from time to time. For me, and for the fisherman I work alongside, the answer to this question is absolute: Fishing Is A Sport!
"An athlete is a “person trained or skilled in exercise, sports or games requiring physical strength, agility or stamina”
Sure, you won’t find as much beer on a basketball court as you will a tournament fishing boat, but that doesn’t make fishing any less of a sport. For me I look for these aspects of an activity in defining whether it can truly be labeled a sport:
If you have ever been part of a tournament fishing team you know one thing is for sure: You are going fishing. 8ft seas= Fishing. Raining all day= Fishing. While your typical “Athlete” is resting up the night before, the fisherman is bait fishing and then waking up at 4am to prep. So yes- Fishing is physically demanding.
Fishing tournaments can have prize packages anywhere from a few thousand dollars up to over a million with teams and sponsors investing tens of thousands of dollars. So yes- Fishing is competitive!
If a weekend warrior with a cooler and a few rods raises doubt about fishing being a sport, then what does Flag Football do to the NFL? The obvious answer is- Nothing. Just because more people treat fishing as something they do recreationally vs other major sports doesn’t take anything away from those who fish professionally.
For one big comparison: Most fisherman on a tournament fishing team have been fishing since childhood, just like your average professional athlete. For the pro, fishing is a skill they have developed over the years from a combination of practice and training from more skilled anglers, or people other sports might refer to as coaches!
So yes, fishing does take talent (And a necessary amount of luck).
This may come as a surprise to you, but fishing absolutely has a Fishing Hall Of Fame!
For me, when I compare what I see through my lens while shooting football vs fishing, I don’t see any reason that Fishing hasn’t earned its place as a legitimate sport. I’ll tell oyu this much, it’s a hell of a lot harder to shoot, and I have to get on that damn boat as early as the rest of the anglers!
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