Eating freshwater fish

[S-Kippy]

I'd forgotten about eels. I wouldnt take one now because of how the population has crashed but I've had the odd one in the past ( from running water) and every one was extremely tasty if a little difficult to deal with.

 

[barbelboi]

It seems that the decline in popularity of eating freshwater fish coincided with the modernisation of transport/access so that people away from the sea could also eat reasonably priced sea fish.............

 

[steve2]

Like many on here I have eaten pike, perch, trout, carp, grayling, eels. I have eaten other fish in Chinese and Indian restaurants so I may have eaten any number of other freshwater fish.
Enjoy eating what is known as Basa but is in fact Vietnamese catfish.

 

[Keith M]

I’ve been fishing matches since the late 50s when I was a junior, and we nearly always carried our fish to the scales in water filled canvas buckets. If they were too big to fit into a canvas bucket; they could then be weighed in on the bankside.

Fish were only weighed in if they were bigger than the minimum sizes and these minimum sizes differed slightly depending on the area of the country you fished.
I still have my aluminium measuring ruler for the Thames region in my shed, with all the minimum lengths for each species marked on it.

All fish caught in any of our matches were returned alive to the water and none of the fish were intentionally killed. The only fish that I have seen killed for the pot were the occasional eel, Pike, Trout and Grayling.

Although the killing of fish may have happened in matches held in other countries I’m fairly sure that this wasn’t common practice in the UK. Although the water authorities allowed anglers in general to remove fish for the pot if they were of a certain size.

I myself have eaten a couple of smallish Pike and Carp which were cooked by a mate of mine who was a naval Chef in the RN, plus a few Eels which my mother in law turned into jellied eels. Plus quite a few wild brown trout which I regularly used to catch on worm when I lived in Cornwall for a few years back in the 70s.

Unless I were starving I certainly wouldn’t cross the road to eat any of our ‘coarse’ fish as I think they are quite bland and muddy tasting.

I do remember reading that the Perch is tastier than most of our sea fish, however there are not enough of them of an eatable size in this country to make them worth catching for the table.

Keith

 

[barbelboi]

Yes Keith, I fished the LAA river matches of the 60's and the procedure was much the same as your post. All fish were returned to the river alive and the steel rule 'rule' applied where only fish of a certain size could be retained in the keep net for weigh in. You could have a fun day trotting the Kennet catching 40-50 fish and end up with not much more than half a dozen in the net...........................

 

[nottskev]

I've eaten pike in Russia, and carp and tench in Lithuania. But only because that's what there was to eat.
The dishes were bland and amorphous - the fish seem watery and tasteless - and as an angler I feel no more tempted to eat the fish I catch than ornithologists do to eat the birds they watch.

I think think whoever told Mike that fish were killed in matches here until twenty years ago could get a job - there are usually a few vacancies - in the Trump administration. Abroad, or abroad in some matches, it may have been a different matter. I've lost my copy, but if you look at the cover of Kevin Ashurst's "World Class Match Fishing", there's a picture of Kevin, in a foreign location - forget where - fishing an urban reservoir, and next to him, on the bank, not in the water, is a big plastic bag, held up by a kind of waste-bin stand, containing what he's caught so far. It's a shock to see it, and was even back then, and I always thought it was a misguided choice of cover pic on the part of the publishers.

 

[xenon]

whilst we are on the subject, does anyone know what the law is on killing and removing coarse fish? I fish a lot on the Thames at Kingston bridge and get a lot of our east european friends asking if I am fishing for the pot-I tell them firmly no and furthermore it is illegal to do so (if not then it should be-stocks would be wiped out in a season or two if not). So, question is-what is the actual law on this?

 

[bracket]

To augment what has already said. I attended my first match, as a dogsbody for my Grandfather, when I was ten years old and keepnets were certainly being used then. That was in the midlands 67 years ago. I think the size limit rules used in the South, leading to fish being streched to qualify is "goers" may have led to some fatalities but I doubt there was a deliberate policy requiring fish to be dispatched before weighing. In fact in all the matches I have fished, since my first one at the age of 14, the rules always stated the dead fish would not be weighed in. Pete

 

[Keith M]

whilst we are on the subject, does anyone know what the law is on killing and removing coarse fish? I fish a lot on the Thames at Kingston bridge and get a lot of our east european friends asking if I am fishing for the pot-I tell them firmly no and furthermore it is illegal to do so (if not then it should be-stocks would be wiped out in a season or two if not). So, question is-what is the actual law on this?

Heres the current laws for taking fish for the table, however this can be subject to different bylaws and rules set by private fishery and land owners so you need to read these too.

Freshwater rod fishing rules: Fish size and catch limits - GOV.UK

Note: You can be fined if you remove fish from privately-owned waters without written permission from the owner.

Keith

 

[sam vimes]

whilst we are on the subject, does anyone know what the law is on killing and removing coarse fish? I fish a lot on the Thames at Kingston bridge and get a lot of our east european friends asking if I am fishing for the pot-I tell them firmly no and furthermore it is illegal to do so (if not then it should be-stocks would be wiped out in a season or two if not). So, question is-what is the actual law on this?

The laws in the following link apply to "free water". However, just about every club or riparian owner enforces stricter rules. Taking fish without the permission is theft when it's from a stillwater. However, from privately owned flowing water it only constitutes rule breaking. The club/owner is entitled to ban an angler breaking the rules, but, technically, no law has been broken, provided the fish taken are in the correct number and size.

Freshwater rod fishing rules: Fish size and catch limits - GOV.UK

 

[mikench]

My recollection of the article based on legends of the past in the AT was clearly inaccurate as to timing! However the article some weeks ago clearly showed rows of dead fish at the weigh in at some important match! It may have been a world championship at which one of the legends of the sport participated! I no longer have the edition of the magazine to be definitive but whilst I may be losing the plot, the recollection of dead fish being weighed in was correct!

Having said all that ,I wasn't being perjorative or trying to be controversial! There is no good reason other than those referred to above, why we do not eat coarse fish which is what this post is about! My comment was an aside and neither merits nor requires a defensive riposte!! I prefer Haddock, hake and a Bangladeshi freshwater fish prepared in a spicy curry sauce

 

[steve2]

I am sure that in the World Angling Championship many year ago no keepnets were used and the fish were put in to trays. The match winner was decided on points per fish not weight unless there was a drawer.
Not sure what the law is on the lower Thames but you can remove up to 15 fish a day dependent on size limits and fishery rules.

 

[john step]

The fish in world champs were killed I can recall. However I can go back to the late 50s and fish were not killed in matches I fished as a junior.
Down South we used to have roving matches as has been said already . Everyone carried a aluminium rule with an upturned end with the various permitted lengths marked on it for the different species. Anything less than this was put back. In fact illegal to retain fish of less length.

Everyone carried a canvas collapsible water bucket to carry the fish to the weigh in point.
Not good I know but thats what happened.

Weights were never too big for the bucket due to the stringent size limits. I recall catching 11 inch chub by the shedload on the Gt. Ouse and blanking. The size limit was 12 inches.

From memory....
bleak 4 inches
gudgeon 5 inches
dace 6 inches
roach 8 inches reduced in the 70s to 7 inches
Perch cannot remember due to their rarity after the 70s wipeout
chub 12 inches
bream 12 inches
carp 24 inches??
barbel 24 inches??
pike 24 inches ??

Times change!

 

[barbelboi]

I remember in the early 60's on an LAA Kennet match after catching dozens of fish trotting I could only weigh in two (due to the said size limits) . Thankfully one was my only 3lb plus roach and the other was a chub slightly smaller.........................

 

[morston1]

I've eaten pike in Russia, and carp and tench in Lithuania. But only because that's what there was to eat.
The dishes were bland and amorphous - the fish seem watery and tasteless - and as an angler I feel no more tempted to eat the fish I catch than ornithologists do to eat the birds they watch.

I think think whoever told Mike that fish were killed in matches here until twenty years ago could get a job - there are usually a few vacancies - in the Trump administration. Abroad, or abroad in some matches, it may have been a different matter. I've lost my copy, but if you look at the cover of Kevin Ashurst's "World Class Match Fishing", there's a picture of Kevin, in a foreign location - forget where - fishing an urban reservoir, and next to him, on the bank, not in the water, is a big plastic bag, held up by a kind of waste-bin stand, containing what he's caught so far. It's a shock to see it, and was even back then, and I always thought it was a misguided choice of cover pic on the part of the publishers.

There is a picture in Ivan Marks’ book on Match fishing showing Ivan fishing on an urban reservoir in 1973 and he has a plastic bag by his side which he was putting his fish in.

There is a picture of Marcel van den Eynde ( recognise the name?), in Kevin Ashurst book of pole fishing, also using a plastic bag in the same match in 1973.

Perhaps you are thinking of one of these?

Regardless....al fish used to be killed in World championship matches...and in many matches in Europe.....in fact it is still illegal to return coarse fish to the water in some countries.

 

[Mark Wintle]

Keepnets had been introduced in World Championships by 1977. I don't think they were used in 1976.

 

[nottskev]

There is a picture in Ivan Marks’ book on Match fishing showing Ivan fishing on an urban reservoir in 1973 and he has a plastic bag by his side which he was putting his fish in.

There is a picture of Marcel van den Eynde ( recognise the name?), in Kevin Ashurst book of pole fishing, also using a plastic bag in the same match in 1973.

Perhaps you are thinking of one of these?

Regardless....al fish used to be killed in World championship matches...and in many matches in Europe.....in fact it is still illegal to return coarse fish to the water in some countries.

I'm sure you're right about those - but so am I about Ashurst's book. Just google the book, then look at the images option - you'll see the book's cover and the fish in the bag are plain to see. I had the book for decades, so I'm not confusing it with anything else.

 

[morston1]

I'm sure you're right about those - but so am I about Ashurst's book. Just google the book, then look at the images option - you'll see the book's cover and the fish in the bag are plain to see. I had the book for decades, so I'm not confusing it with anything else.

I am not familiar with the book you mention....there are obviously several pictures around showing anglers using plastic bags to retain their catch.

I did not realise just how long ago it was!

Looking at the picture you mention it seems that all the pictures were from the same match

 

[terry m]

We regularly eat trout, but from a fishmonger.

I often eat Zander when visiting either Germany, Romania or Hungary, it is extremely tasty.

 

[john step]

I am not sure what is being got at here. If there is a colour picture of a British angler with his catch in a bag and not a keepnet it would not be in the UK but either a World Champs or other foreign match.
Coarse Fish were not killed for weighing in matches as late as the 70s.in UK

Morston 1 Just a thought though. To many of us on here those pictures do not seem that long ago mg: How time flies.