Unhooking Mats- are they safe?

My Club have recently introduced another rule that unhooking mats must be used on all lakes. I presume there must be some sort of intellectual consideration before the next rule is imposed upon us stupid members- I'm sure it would never occur to most of us to lay fish on a soft piece of ground/ grass before removing the hook.

My gripe is that if the decision was left to me I would weigh up the greater risk, being too lazy to move the fish away from an unsuitable surface or introducing a nasty virus by transporting a soggy unhooking mat from venue to venue.

It is easy to dry out nets by hanging up to dry between sessions but how long does it take to dry out a mat?

The bailiffs I come across are very hardworking decent blokes, but although their hearts are in the right place I’m not sure they have the knowledge to be setting some of these rules.

I see your point about wet unhooking mats. But as long as they are dried out, there shouldn't be a problem. I think the real danger, which I thought you were going to say, was in anglers putting a Carp on them and then walking away from them.

I doubt the bailiffs will be making this rule anyhow.

See your point.

Ultra Violet light ie the sun or artificial will kill most if not all bug's.Sodden mat's take along time to dry and few waters have dissenfectant dips

I myself usually fish the same water for a long time(year's)so ihope i canttransfer bug's.It would be interesting to know how long bacteria/viruses/parasites can last on/in a wet unhooing mat before conditions cause them to die.

The baliff's are right about the mats for some reason's tho,a carp thrashing around is gonna do its scales,fins etc damage without a mat and i wouldnt feel happy putting a carp or any fish on the ground unless it was unavoidable.Why not jus unhook them in the water?Unhook the carp or whaterverin the water in the net,it saves the fish the indignity/stress/possible damage or infectionof the weighing process.

Yacko,rules are made to stop those 'fisherman' or "stupid members", who don't consider a fish's welfare,not for those that do.

By the way,what's your mat made of,mine dries out very easily.

Most ,if not all ,mats I've seen dry out very easily --

they arent usually made of a porous material are they ?

if your that worried limit yourself to 2 or 3 venues and have one mat per venue

Hmmm... I would suggest that the increased safety of having members protect the fish with a suitable unhooking mat would far outweigh any risk of disease transfer... Also, moving the fish around to find a suitable area to lay it on!? Wouldn't it be far safer and easier to use an unhooking mat?

However... I'm sure you're not, but I sincerely hope you are not moving from venue to venue with wet mat/sling/sack? Wash and thoroughly dry (outside in sunlight if possible).

My local club has an unhooking mat rule and it protects the fish from those less sensible anglers who would lay fish directly on the bank.

Bringing Wet equipment and not using an unhooking mat are two big no-no's.

PS: Don't blame the bailiff's of your club - the rules are set by the committee - the bailiffs just enforce them and get it in the neck from the members! /forum/smilies/surprised_smiley.gif)

Tight lines

Rob

Disease seems to follow stocking not the enforced use of unhooking mats.

You do need them anyway where the bank is unsuitable for laying your fish in the landing net e.g. concrete,dry mud or gravel but make sure that before you do so the unhooking mat iscool and damp.

re mat's that take a bit of drying.My mats old,it still has plenty of protection,cushioning.However one side is made of a carp sack/weigh sling type material and the other side is a non porus fabric.The padding is made from a dense 2"-3" foam that absorbes alot of water if it gets wet.

I alway's hang ot out to dry when i get home,it takes a few hours tho.When dry it goes into the garage,dry and not stinking or carrying dirty bug's

My mat takes a good few days to dry out, and it's only about 3/4 inch thick - but that is in the summer - in the winter it surely depends on how much rain as I hang it outside!

It's not a problem for me as I only fish once a week normally.

I cant see that it is possible to ensure all anglers follow this precaution anyway (of drying mats) as those same none thinking 'fishermen' will not consider the risks.

I dont want to labour the point but how would we know if this is not a source of some virus outbreaks?

Thanks for the advice as I will look to see if I have a problem with my mat as the sponge inside acts like a sponge!

"Ultra Violet light ie the sun or artificial will kill most if not all bug's" "I alway's hang ot out to dry when i get home,it takes a few hours tho.When dry it goes into the garage,dry and not stinking or carrying dirty bug's"

Steveo (or anyone else for that matter)- how factual is your first statement? And as per your second one - do you wash it before it hanging it out to dry?

some one should invent the throw away cover......................

Thalia

My first statement...Is it?....Is it.......?..........yep it's TRUE....as far i understand from what i have learnt alon the way...PLEASE fell free to enlighten all with your vast fountain of Biological knowledge,I as im sure everyone else would like to know what really is RIGHT.

thalia U.V. aka the SUN's ray's will kill 99% of waterborn bacteria/viruses,maubee a 100%

AquaticViruses/bacteria need moisture to survive,in fact bacteria harmfull to human's need moisture,food,warmth to propagate.Take away one of those three area's and they can not propagate....Aquatic born viruses/bacteriaare more subseptible to enviromental changes i.e. if what they are living on is subjected to UV and dry out they will DIE.

In Aquaculture,Mussle's, oyster's are very often stored in tanks for 24-48hrs before being passed on for human consumption.You wanna know why?..Well its so the shellfish can purge toxins/bacteria etc,the water they are in is recycledthrough a ULTRA VIOLET filter.The REASON?To KILL possible infectants,WHY because they cant survive UV!!!

IN domestic drinking water ULTRAVIOLET FILTERS are sometimes fitted toPURIFY water.

Do i need expand on this or is it starting to sink in???

I wash my mat with water from the waterbutt....I would not dream of using detergent/dissenfectantto wash my mat due to the OBVIOUS fact that I haveno idea what damage could be done to a Carp/Fish's skin/scales if put in contact with residue from household detergent.

When I am satisfied the mat is dry(As long as it takes)I put it away

/forum/smilies/party_smiley.gif

I use large unhooking mats with sides usually keeping it moist during the process, the type of matts I used dry out quickly, in the old days we used cinder paths which left holes in the side of the carp, even lying a carp on grass can be a bit dodgy, a sharp blade of grass can cost a fish an eye, regardless of club rules you shouldnt really go fishing for large fish without a protective mat, always use protection, viruses can be bad news

THALIA still waiting for a reply.

Steveo - what's your problem? Look at mypost and understand that I asked two simple questions, none of whichimplied I had a vast knowledge of the subject.Quite to the contrary in fact,I have no idea whether UV kills bugs etc and that's why I'm asking. Too much UV exposure yourself me thinks...

Was merely asking if your points were made froma factual standpoint or from the accepted wisdom of others. Such as your comment "U.V. aka the SUN's ray's" is not actually correct, UV being only a part of the sun's rays. Ultraviolet itself derives it's name from being beyond the shortest visible wavelength of light which is violet.

And it's very easy to quote that "ULTRAVIOLET FILTERS are sometimes fitted toPURIFY water" but do you know why? Now before you get all hissy and throw out your rattle or teddy I'm not saying I do. Just saying something like doesn't help clarify how factual it is.

For God's sake try and understand basic English can you?

And another thing - my second question about washing your mat before hanging it to dry was not implying anyone uses detergents etc. You yourself posted "I alway's hang ot out to dry when i get home,it takes a few hours tho.When dry it goes into the garage,dry and not stinking or carrying dirty bug's". I wash mine under an outside tap before drying and wondered if that was what you do as you didn't say.

It's all there in black and white....

Thalia

I see you have read my post and replied in the same blinkeredmanner that encouraged me to reply to your first demanding question's.If you are gonna demand question's then read the answer before reply.

First of allI was no where near to having a hissy???whatever that may be and I dont throw teddies or rattle's,I'm not allowed to have them,they have to many hard bit's .I have rubber head that i throw around instead.

As for God!I dont believe in him.

Ok i will re cap again on what i said.Just to classify thing's.I am NOT a biolegist.scientist.I am just a long serving angler who has learnt a few thing's along the way from people far more qualifiedand from my own observation's.

Rigt then U.V., nowI know that UV is only part of the Suns rays,there is Gamma,Alpha,Beta ray's and many other kind's of radation.For my post I thought thatusing UV light as a general term for the Sun's ray's would adequately suffice to get the message across to the majority of angler's,i did forget how pedantic some people(thalia)can be jus for the sake of being petty......Weather station's use the term U.V. Index as gauge of how strong the Sun will be on any given day and most of us understand what they are on about...And as for U.V. light or whatever you wish to call it,it will if you put germ's through prologed exposure to it,it will kill them.

Ultraviolet filters for steralising water,sorry but it's fact,I havebeen in and seen with my own eye's U.V. filter's working in Fish farm's,in the Aquaculture industry.The owner of the farmwent to great lenghts to explain the physic's behind the way that the UV filter work,to put it SIMPLY the water is recycled throughthe tanks in which the fish are living,mesh filter's removeparticals of faeces,food etc.The water then passe's through a long tube filled with UV light,the reason for this is to steralise the water of microbe's,germ's,bacteria etc.

UV filter's for drinkinking water in commercial premises.Did I make that up?..NO..I have drunk UV filtered drinking water and very nice it is too.

As for detrgent on unhooking mat's!!!I dont rememberrefering that you did use detergent.I just said that I do not whenI wash my mat.

Obviously if there is no sun then the mat will have to dry using warmth and air,which as long as it is dry shuold i hope be ok but i'd still prefer to give the mat a good ol dose of radiation.

Now if you will excuse me..I have wasted enough of my life corresponding with you.I joined this forum to have a few laugh's,learn some thing's and pass on a bit of my own experience.I did not join to have pointless,thoughtless arguments.

I am going off to play with my rubber head.Goodbye

/forum/smilies/disappointed_smiley.gif

Steveo/Thalia - please take a deep breath (not sure of the accurate composition of air) and count to ten before replying to eachother's posts. Does UV mean Ultra Violent?

There really is no need to inflict such angst and ire on the rest of us. After all, it's only an unhooking mat (though someone will surely contradict me!).

Tight lines all......

Steveo - you join a forum to discuss issues and ask/answer questions. I asked you how factual your statement was not to criticise but because I didn't know myself. As for pedantry I broke what you said down into bits because you obviously don't understand basic English. If you can't stand someone asking you for clarification then don't post.

Twat