How do you treat your catch

[seth49]

One of the clubs I’m in has a rule for carp to use either a high sided unhooking mat or a cradle, I bought a cradle and find it very handy as I don’t have to bend my poor old back as much when unhooking fish whilst knelt down, also there’s a rule to have some carp care product as well, I’ve used this on various fish not just carp, when folded the cradle holds my towels, small landing net, and weigh sling, so it is handy.

 

[no-one in particular]

Because the largest issue with Salmonids is oxygen starvation, so the best practice is to keep them out the water for as brief a time as possible. Flicking the hook out in the net, in the water and sending them on their way is preferable to marching them to the bank and popping them on a mat, then back to the water.

That makes sense to someone with half a brain. I think I was working along the lines of catching 20 fish instead of 40 and taking the time to take more care of them especially wild brown trout which must be at a premium, more valuable than carp and rarer as well but, I see your reasoning, it does make sense.

 

[bullet]

I think it's important to get fish in as quickly as possible and not prolong playing them.
Obviously using the correct tackle for the species you are targeting is a must.
I see a lot of anglers who faff about when playing fish, it's almost like they're scared to get a decent bend in the rod.

 

[Philip]

A more germane question might be why don't some carp anglers show the same theatrical levels of fish care to species they affect to despise as nuisance fish ?

Oh dear. Sure we have been here before. Do you have any actual example you care to share of that ?

I can count the number of Carp anglers I have seen outwardly treat other species with despise on one hand and that’s over several decades of Carp angling where I suspect I rubbed shoulders with a lot more Carp anglers than you ever have or ever will.

To the contrary I come across anglers who fish for other species literally every week who are very vocal about their despise of Carp -you being one of them- so the reality is actually the pole opposite of what your saying.

IMO your view smacks of an angler who has formed an opinion about a branch of angling he actually knows very little about based on hearsay rather than direct experience.

A little less fluff chucking & a little more proper angling sat behind buzzers in a tent with a beer should put you right .

 

[John Aston]

Calm down - angling is a broad church and in fact I've been carp fishing today .Unsuccessfully.

I caught my first double (when that counted) in 1975 and I do have a passing acquaintance with the sport. Dropping names would be crass but I've known more than a handful of 'name' carpers including one former record holder and a well known Redmire addict.

I know and highly respect some very good carp anglers- I'm a mere dilettante these days .

Good carp anglers don't despise other species but I have seen first hand just how badly some anglers who profess to be carp guys treat by- catch.

I make disparaging remarks ( often with my tongue firmly wedged in my cheek ) about carp because of their ubiquity , and the fact that their presence has ruined many decent silverfish waters . I actually enjoy catching them by design (as I do every other fish ) but my patience wears thin when another fat mirror eats my maggots on a size 18 , and I know I will never get the next 10 minutes back.

Bivvies ? Not sure either my back or boredom threshold is up to that any more !

 

[sam vimes]

It's a real shame that it becomes apparent that many anglers have so little knowledge of unfamiliar angling scenarios. Treating a river grayling or brown trout exactly the same as a stillwater cyprinid is seriously risking having a dead fish on your hands.

For those that don't appear to know, the notion that there is a one size fits all version of perfect fish care is pie in the sky. I appreciate that some folks on here think that the highest levels of care are lavished on carp. At the same time, others find the time carpers have fish out of the water to be excessive. The reality as far as I'm concerned is that carp are the hardiest of all species. The time they can be kept out of the water, and returned with no apparent ill effects, is quite surprising, certainly way longer than I'd subject them to. In respect to time out of the water, I'd put grayling at the very top of the list (at least of the more common UK species) of least tolerant. On top of that, you find that certain species are definitely more fragile than others, especially in the warmer months. Barbel and Pike certainly don't like the warmer weather and higher water temperatures.

I try to treat all fish with respect, even those I'm not particularly keen on. However, that's an awful long way from suggesting that I treat all caught fish in exactly the same way. You might get away with treating a tench, bream, or even a barbel in winter, as you sometimes see carp treated. You almost certainly won't get away with treating a trout or grayling in the same manner.

 

[108831]

I try to unhook many fish without touching them,as Chris says fish like grayling are very delicate,how many carp are kept out of water for an age in hot weather,where even a bucket of water now and again doesnt help much,I saw a forty pound cat bein held in a cradle,which isnt good for cats,for at least twenty minutes,sorry,ive said it before,just because you have a cradle,or unhooking mat doesnt mean you are caring for fish after capture..

 

[theartist]

Why do the very extremes always get cited when talking about fish care, no one is surely expecting any angler to put a grayling or trout in a cradle or keep a small roach in a carp sack. Using specimen carp angling as an example doesn't mean using it as a template, just take the positives and if you can apply some to your fishing then it's a win for the fish you catch.

Moreover it's a win for the next angler who catches that fish and it's in pristine condition and not been flipping about on gravel and grit or missing half it's scales.

 

[steve2]

Why when it comes to fish care antiseptic is it deared than human antiseptic or is it as I suspect just putting the word carp on the bottle.

 

[Ray Roberts]

One of my club lakes has some very large catfish in it. The club have brought a rule in that any angler fishing for carp or cats must have a net of at least 50 inches set up and an unhooking mat of a minimum 1.5 metres length. If you are not fishing for these two species you can please yourself on size. Also if you wish to use a smaller net for carp or smaller cats then you can but you must have the bigger set up ready to go. Seems fair enough to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[108831]

So when you hook a fifty pound cat on tench,bream or roach gear it doesn't apply,because you no doubt will....

 

[108831]

A water a few of us fish on FM is now closed due to the hot weather and low water/oxygen,that is fine,but why then hasn't the club closed our other stretch a mile or so upstream too,especially as all the same species are present,we have unhooking mats,decent landing nets etc,what we do not have is a similar level of knowledge on unhooking,handling and returning fish to the water,all fisheries,including stillwaters must be suffering low oxygen levels,so only those with areators should be fished,I bet matches will still go ahead,which even with areators fish shouldn't be in keepnets surely???

 

[tigger]

I'm only a member of two clubs and both of them require you to use a unhooking mat if fishing on still waters or barbel fishing on the river. I bailiff for both of the clubs and it's left up to me to decide wether I book a member or not if they do not have or use a mat when fishing. I personally have never booked anyone for not having or using a unhooking mat, I prefer to inform them of their mistake first time round. The rule is purely a saftey net to allow the idiots who would place fish on rocks, stones, bedrock etc to be weeded out/booked. It's a simple case of common sense wether to use a mat or not. If there is a suitable area to place a fish then there is no need for a mat. I very rarely ever use a mat as I prefer to find a suitable place to lay the fish (although I do carry a lightweight mat). Unless mats are sterilised after each fish they are just a bacterial health hazard for the fish (imo).
I think barbel are one of the least problematic fish you can catch and take a picture of as for the majority of the ones I have caught lay quite still. Chub often oblige but are less obliging than a barbel and can often start flopping about. I think carp are often flippy floppy things when trying to lay them down for a picture.
One species of fish I very rarely take a picture of is a grayling because they realy are a delicate species and don't respond well to being kept out of the water for more than a few seconds.

Although you should always try to avoid allowing a fish float off upside down, if by accident it slips put pf ypur hadns in flowing water this certainely doesn't mean the fish will die. If the only reason the fish is belly up is because it's stressed after being caught the chances are it will regain it's bearings and oxygen levels and right itself in a little time. If the fish is belly up because of another reason, such as having been deep hooked and had a disgorger prodded down it's throat, badly handled, dropped etc, or it has been kept out of the water for too long then it's more than likely gonn'a pop it's cloggs anyhow, even if it appears to have swam away ok. This often happens with perch, many are hooked in the throat where their heart is and appear to swim away fine, only to be seen a short time after floating on the surface.

So, at the end of the day it's just common sense and a little knowladge that is needed in fish care....problem with that is, there are just so many complete idiots with no common sense whatsoever and are not fit to be out fishing.

 

[108831]

Well on the river in question an angler caught a moderate sized barbel and instead of pulling the l.net pole in and lifting around the thread/spreader block area he swung the fish around at full extension put it on the unhooking mat,then had to get up to reach the fish,by the time he got there the barbal was jumping about on the scorched gravel,as I say,a knoob,is a knoob,is a knoob,and no unhooking mat in the world is going to save a fish from one of those morons...

 

[mikench]

I must confess to finding it difficult reconciling the rules of a commercial, often copious and silly, with their fondness for endless matches where fish by the score are hooked, landed and crammed into a keep net for the best part of a day regardless of the weather conditions. This activity occurs several times a week , week after week. I'm not knocking the use of keep nets just the hypocrisy of the two positions.

 

[sam vimes]

I must confess to finding it difficult reconciling the rules of a commercial, often copious and silly, with their fondness for endless matches where fish by the score are hooked, landed and crammed into a keep net for the best part of a day regardless of the weather conditions. This activity occurs several times a week , week after week. I'm not knocking the use of keep nets just the hypocrisy of the two positions.

Life is full of such inconsistencies and compromises, especially where money is involved. Most commercial fisheries will do their best to protect their stock. It's in their financial interest to do so. However, it's also in their financial interest to allow match fishing. Match fishing necessitates the use of keepnets, pleasure fishing does not. Therefore, we find that many fisheries ban keepnets, unless it happens to be a match. Those that choose to see hypocrisy, will see it that way. They see an ethical dilemma and unfairness. I don't fish matches or particularly like the use of keepnets. However, as far as I'm concerned, it's just commercial pragmatism.

 

[Steve King]

I rarely use keep nets. Smaller fish are unhooked in the landing net wherever possible; I only swing tiny fish to hand.

I use a carp mat and keep it damp.

 

[tigger]

Imo the worst thing about keepnets is when the fish are rolled out of it as they do loose lots of scales and many will get split fins. Scales and split fins don't heal overnight, especially the scales, they take time to re grow and depending on the damage may never re grow.
This is magnified when matchmen drop them all into the weigh scale. They are piled high and the ones at the bottom of the pile remind me of fish in the nets on a trawler when they are full of fish.
Just isn't my cup of tea and if i'm honest I don't think the practice should be allowed on rivers where anglers are catching wild fish stocks.
People on my local river are all beaming and happy at the moment about how there is an upsurge in the silver fish numbers and fill their nets with as many as they can cram in. Many of those anglers then emulate the celebrity anglers and roll them all out of the keepnet into a landing net head where the fish are piled high while the angler has a picture taken with them. I do blame this practice on the celebrity anglers as they are the ones who started to promote it on youtube videos etc!
When the numbers of silver fish start to fall again we know only too well what will be blamed!

 

[103841]

I find the difference in culture that exist between sea and freshwater anglers interesting.

When I go sea fishing I always take a landing
net and an unhooking mat, always use barbless hooks, which often brings a comment or two from others. Fish caught from the sea often end up on the plate, their retrieval not so important but many are released but only after being dragged over rocks, shingle etc, not to mention that many are deep hooked, it does put me off at times.

 

[peterjg]

When I catch a fish I gently land it, unhook it, give it a severe talking to and then gently release it. Where as; some clots catch 'em, put their chest waders on, stand in the water cuddling the fish, take multiple photos which are never looked at, kiss 'em (yuk!) and then (eventually) let the poor little minnow go!