Microfishing, by Kevin Bryan

     Fishing has been a large part of many cultures around the world for an extremely long time. People have fished to provide food for their families, to sell to others, and for recreational reasons since the dawn of civilization. According to Fedler, the “two highest ranked reasons that United States anglers go fishing is for relaxation and to be outdoors”, which anglers can achieve through both traditional fishing for large fish as well as through Micro Fishing. However, fishing is not as simple as it used to be, Micro Fishing is a nontraditional form of fishing that has been gaining traction in the United States in the past few years. When performing the art of Micro Fishing, anglers do not target the largest fish, but instead aim to catch the most species. My understanding is that the person that has caught the most species of fish has the greatest bragging rights. I believe that as more people become involved in this hobby, it will increase successful conservation efforts with the general public, especially of those species that are more rare and hard to catch. Personally, I believe that this will help many fish species as it becomes common among the public, and not only biologists and conservationists.

 

Rosyside Dace Clinostomus funduloides caught and photographed by Ben Cantrell.  https://bencantrellfish.blogspot.com/

         Micro Fishing is a growing hobby among today’s American anglers because it encourages people to go outdoors and hike to remote places so they can target rare species of fish. This sport can tell an educated angler things such as the well-being of the ecosystem they are fishing in. To keep track of these changes, some anglers keep a record of the species of fish that they catch and where they catch them. Many Micro Fishing anglers are enthusiastic with the ability to catch multitudes of fish in a small area, instead of targeting the largest fish in grander bodies of water, these anglers are focused on catching fish in general. Currently, anglers who are Micro Fishing are not partaking in any type of official tournament, so they are likely more comfortable than anglers who are fishing in tournaments.

 

Hooks for microfishing. Photo by Hallock McNielsen.

            Popular micro fishing environments are just about everywhere that there are fish. Specifically, the most popular places for anglers to Micro Fish are those that are more remote, because these are often the most beautiful and undisturbed by civilization. Micro Fishing is specifically popular in areas of high biodiversity, where anglers can go to catch a wide diversity of species. Micro Fishing is most popular during the seasons of spring and summer, when temperatures are warm enough for anglers to hike to the more remote destinations. Many people Micro Fish in areas where the water is shallow enough to wade and sight fish instead of practicing blind casting or fishing from a boat.

Since many Micro Fisherman choose to sight fish, instead of fish from a boat, they require many different tackle and accessories. Another very economic reason for many people to start Micro Fishing is that it does not require expensive electronics. The typical micro fisherman uses very light rods with extremely light line. They also must use much smaller hooks, baits, and/or lures. The light line is used so that the fish cannot see the line in the water, and the light rod is so that they can feel when the fish bites the lure. The purpose of the small lures is due to the much smaller size of the fish mouth. Micro Fisherman typically want to have gear that allows them to hike to remote locations where they can target the rarer species, so they want to have good quality gear that is light to carry. Some individuals will even use only hook and line, eliminating their rod. When using this style of fishing, Micro Fishermen will typically use a mask and snorkel to target their fish and observe them in their natural habitat. This may be more enjoyable to some individuals because it is very compelling to observe fish and document what they have learned.

 

Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) caught and photographed by Ben Cantrell.  Photo from https://bencantrellfish.blogspot.com/

            There are many imaginable benefits to this new sport, many of which include benefits to the scientific and conservation communities. The greater number of people that become involved in this hobby potentially leads to more people keeping records on the species that they catch and where they catch them. If these anglers want to help make a difference, they could send their records to researchers who could use them for various purposes. These people would be keeping their own records for fun, which correlates that they would not be getting paid to keep these records. However, since these people would not be paid or hired, they might not keep as detailed notes about their catches as would be ideal. The other potential problem is that, if the angler is not educated or lacks proper training in fish identification, then there is a good chance that they could miss identify many species of fish, especially the species that look extremely similar. However, taking photos of the fish caught would help this, and any data would be more helpful than no data.

            In conclusion, there are many differences that Micro Fishing possesses from traditional fishing for large fish. Micro Fishing opens the door for anglers to target fish in new areas that anglers would not have been searching for target fish before. Micro Fishing also has many potential benefits to the public communities as well as the scientific communities.

References

Martinez, Sebastián. “Little Fish Tales: Micro Fishers Focus On The Species, Not Size.” NPR, NPR, 27 Oct. 2016, www.npr.org/2016/10/27/498406364/little-fish-tales-micro-fishers-focus-on-the-species-not-size.

“Micro Fishing.” Tenkara Bum, www.tenkarabum.com/micro-fishing.html.

Fedler, A.J., and R.B. Ditton, 1994. Understanding angler motivations in fisheries management. Fisheries 19(4):6-13

McNeilus, Miciah, and Bryce Hallock. “Getting Started.” MicroFishing.com, 22 Apr. 2018, microfishing.com/tackle/.

Cantrell, Ben. “Freshwater and Saltwater Microfishing in Japan.” MicroFishing.com, Microfisherman, 19 Sept. 2014, microfishing.com/.