Hi All,

I went out to an old flooded quarry about half an hour away from my house the other night. I mostly just wanted to be by myself in the woods, but I brought my sling with me. I noticed that there were quite a few large sunfish all throughout the water, so I decided to try to peg one when it got close to the surface. I had quite a few failed attempts, but right as I was about to give up I nailed one of the fish with a big flat jagged rock while it came up to eat an insect. I killed it on impact and the poor little guy floated right the surface of the water. I wanted to fetch him for dinner, but he was so far out in the water that I didn't feel like stripping and swimming out to get him. I feel partially guilty and partially very pleased with myself.

Anybody else ever tried this? I feel like 95% of the time the water would slow the velocity of a sling stone too much to make it an effective fishing tool, but when a fish is only about 1" or so beneath the surface it is apparently possible.

That would take one heck of a shot.  I don't have the accuracy to make that an effective method.   At least you said you felt guilty about killing the fish and not eating it so I won't harp on that. I wonder if fishing that way with a metal dart would get deeper fish.  It would be doubly difficult because you'd not only have to make the shot, but you'd have to do so accounting for the angle of refraction.  

It may not take quite as much accuracy as you would think. I seem to remember the 'Fish in a Barrel' myth from Mythbusters where they discovered that it does not always have to be a direct hit in order to kill the fish, rather the shockwave of the impact and the projectile moving through the water can have enough power to kill the fish. In fact, it seems as if that almost would be the better option if you're looking to eat the fish as there is less chance f damaging the flesh that you would want to eat. I have never tried this, but perhaps someone who has the opportunity to do so can test this theory and give a ruling one way or the other.

I might do that, it seems easier than fishing...

Next weekend I have a date where we are supposed to go fishing. This just may make it a bit more interesting.  ;)

ilovepancakes wrote on Jul 19^th, 2009 at 4:43pm:

Next weekend I have a date where we are supposed to go fishing. This just may make it a bit more interesting.  ;)

Don't forget that fishing is a form of hunting; and a responsible hunter does not take a shot unless he is confident that it will be a kill shot, and not maim the prey instead.  That's the reason I do not condone "sling fishing."

peacefuljeffrey wrote on Jul 19^th, 2009 at 5:06pm:

ilovepancakes wrote on Jul 19th, 2009 at 4:43pm: Next weekend I have a date where we are supposed to go fishing. This just may make it a bit more interesting.  ;) Don't forget that fishing is a form of hunting; and a responsible hunter does not take a shot unless he is confident that it will be a kill shot, and not maim the prey instead.  That's the reason I do not condone "sling fishing."

PJ,
My response was a joke. I have a hard time getting my meaning across a keyboard. I will be engaged in what I hope to be interesting conversation. I don't think even if I was of the mind to sling fish I would have the opprotunity. I have been trying to see this girl out of the office for the better part of a year so I will need to be on my best behavior. ;)

i had an idea.i havent tried it out yet though.or maybe others have already thought of it before me.

ive fished with cane poles before and theres somthing nice about useing simpler tools when your outdoors but its hard to cast your line out with just a cane pole.

so my idea was...at the end of the pole where the line ties on, what if you had a small basket or cup to put your bait and sinker in. then you could wind back and sling it like a staff sling to make your line go farther.

If someone was going to go fishing with a sling, I think an easy way to do it would be to use some marble sized ammo and shoot a few at a time. throwing some sort of floating food for them might make them easier to get. It still seems like it would be hard to kill the fish though.

Et Cetera wrote on Jul 20^th, 2009 at 4:42pm:

If someone was going to go fishing with a sling, I think an easy way to do it would be to use some marble sized ammo and shoot a few at a time. throwing some sort of floating food for them might make them easier to get. It still seems like it would be hard to kill the fish though.

Just to be clear, I'm not claiming any incredible skill for the fish I killed. It was pure dumb luck that I hit it as well as a did. In earnest, I  was very surprised by the shot. I agree that it is probably the most impractical way to go fishing, I was just curious if anyone else had tried it.

I've done this before, in very shallow water. The fish were decently sized, and only a few inches below the surface, maybe 10 feet away. An awkward shot, but an easy one. Although I can't say I managed to cook the thing very well.

It wasn't quite slinging though. Same basic motion, dart on a fiber, let go, hit the fish, pull it in. Without shredding the inside of the things mouth.