To sack or not to sack...that is the question?

[Shine]

Carp-Talk Xtra 125


I've never sacked a carp and at the moment can not see me doing so in the future.

It would however be interesting to know the right and wrong way to do this.

 

[Frothey]

pretty much what the article said. i wouldn't have a problem with it this time of year and in the conditions he mentioned, doing it in 3ft of weedy water in a high pressure weather situation mid summer i would have a problem with it.

saying that, the fish often sit in shallow weedy water mid summer anyway lol!

too many evangelists around these days; I'm all for fish care, but carp are far hardier fish than some people seem to think.....

 

[Nathan]

I've sacked fish but only on rare occasions & only for a short amount of time. When i caught my new PB this year I sacked the fish for about 45mins but purely becuase I was so over whelmed and needed a bit of time to get myself together, rest the fish & then get a few pics done. The light was fading at the time so i knew the pics wouldn't be great. I called the owner of the lake to inform him i'd had a 30lber (they like to know these things) and asked him what he wanted me to do. He wanted to see the fish but couldn't get down until the morning & said if i thought it was ok i could sack the fish until he arrived in the morning. I wasn't comfortable with this as i've never held a fish in the sack for over an hour let alone overnight so i let it go after a few snaps had been taken.
I think as long as the person doing it is doing it is a responsible angler & thinks of the fishes safety first then i dont see what the problem is.

 

[noknot]

I to have sacked Carp and have never had a problem, as stated in the link, deeper water is better, more so in the summer, and check the fish reguarly to make sure it is OK, However I have never sacked a Carp for more than a few hours and certainly not for 13! A carp sacked that long would surely go Ape **** on the mat? I think 13 hrs is way too long just for a day light shot?

 

[Shine]

Apart from wanting to have a pic done or there is apparent problem with the carp is there any other reason for sacking?

If you caught the first 100lb carp, say in Britian, I'm sure the majority of people would want to show it off. But why a 50lb+ carp that been caught before?

I wouldn't sack a carp because I wouldn't know if it was safe or not... Hope I don't get the 100+ in my local puddle (well, 10lb+ in that puddle would be nice lol)

 

[Frothey]

so if you caught Heather at 50+, and your camera was dead, you'd slip her back without a pic as she's been caught before (assuming Cemex relaxed the "no sacks" rule lol!)

but you're right, if you aren't confident don't do it.

 

[Jeff Woodhouse]

Two points, if I may.

1. Why are all carp and captor shots the same, isn't it B-O-R-I-N-G-?

2. If carpers are willing to spend so much on rods and reels and bivvies and pods and alarms, why the hell can't they invest in a good camera and some decent flash equipment and then he would have had to sack it at all?

 

[Frothey]

1.same for pretty much all "captor shots", whatever the species. Plus they are normally bigger/heavier/harder to control.

2.because artificial light isn't a substitute for natural light? and I don't really want to carry around a suitcase full of camera equipment just to take a pic at night.....

then he would have had to sack it at all?

i think you mean "wouldn't"

 

[geoffmaynard]

I never sack fish nor would I. Leaving it in the landing net for a short while is one thing but sacking is a no-no. They ought to be banned. Not so much for the low oxygen/warm-water scenario (carp seem to survive this for ages) but because I've seen a couple of fish swim off with the sack, whilst still in it! The next time you see them they are black stinking gas-filled balls in the middle of the pads.

 

[Frothey]

i bet more fish have been tethered by safety leaders than lost in sacks....

 

[noknot]

Wow Geoff,

Thats shocking and to the point!

As I have said I have used them many times in the past with no problems at all, and it may be worth adding, to sack Carp you need the right equipment to do this safely, If you are not confident or are not experienced in this, then please don't do it! If I lost a sacked Carp, then I think that would be the end of my Carp angling!

However I must add that today I do not now own a sack.

 

[Ben Haigh]

As with all things in angling, if common sense is applied, there is nothing wrong with using a sack. i've only ever sacked a few fish, PB's, but i tether the sack to 2 banksticks, and have never had a problem with the carp getting away in the sack. for what its worth, i've only ever seen fish pretty much lie there and do sod all while in the sack, they don't seem to kick up much of a fuss?

 

[geoffmaynard]

i bet more fish have been tethered by safety leaders than lost in sacks....

I bet they have too. But I also bet a lot of them have escaped or been freed to live out their lives. I once was on a work party that cleared a swim with three tethered fish on a snag. You'd have thought there ought to be dozens, the amount of fish that were lost to that snag. The tackle we got from there was amazing. I never bought a lead for about 3 years!

Some risks are acceptable, some are not. For me, fishing to a snag is acceptable but sacks are not.

---------- Post added at 17:31 ---------- Previous post was at 17:21 ----------

As with all things in angling, if common sense is applied, there is nothing wrong with using a sack. i've only ever sacked a few fish, PB's, but i tether the sack to 2 banksticks, and have never had a problem with the carp getting away in the sack. for what its worth, i've only ever seen fish pretty much lie there and do sod all while in the sack, they don't seem to kick up much of a fuss?

This happened on a syndicate water near me where only very experienced anglers fish. A cord was rotten and the angler never noticed, and that's all it took. I also saw it once in France, where I had to free the corpse from pads and remove and bury it, the smell was so bad - and have heard of it happening elsewhere. The thing is, a long-stay trip can at times leave even the best of anglers tired to the point of occasional carelessness - and that's how this kind of thing can happen. I'm no angel, I've made loads of mistakes that have been costly but this is one I don't ever plan on happening to me.

 

[Shine]

so if you caught Heather at 50+, and your camera was dead, you'd slip her back without a pic as she's been caught before (assuming Cemex relaxed the "no sacks" rule lol!)

but you're right, if you aren't confident don't do it.

If I caught a 50+ I'd probably cr*p myself lol

Why are all carp and captor shots the same, isn't it B-O-R-I-N-G-?

Not all woody

But I must admit, when catching a really big one then the normal shot always looks good

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On a serious note, like I said I wouldn't sack because I don't know how.
If you have sacked carp before how did you learn what to do? Did someone teach you? I'm sure it's not a case of trial and error!!
In the link, the guy had it for many hours. How does he/you know the fish would be comfortable for that length of time?

I don't know if it's right or wrong but I'm interested to learn what's what.