70 pound carp

i have just read in the angling times of a water that intends to stock fish of 70 plus whats happening to carp fishing ? is size everything i find this type of fishery appalling the prices for the place are crazy,an angler in the angling times who had 5 forty plus fish says he cant afford to join a syndicate , the price of a week would cover the price of a number of syndicates that i know of,its another case of instant big fish which in turn is driven by money

if someone can afford it, why not. Big fish waters have always been around and commercial ones have always been expensive - it's just as time goes on, the fish get bigger. Redmire was expensive at the time, as were ashlea, horton, savay, etc, etc. so long as people take the capture of "stockies" in context it's fine - a bit like big stockie trout.

it'll have to be one hell of a rich water to sustain a 70 plus other fish - it'll have to be well stocked - and the chances of it staying 70 are slim, unless a lot of bait is going to go in. Mind you, does remind me of all those aussie big carp that were going into a lake down this way that never materialised..... no such thing as bad publicity when it comes to big fish......

Don't CEFAS have the final say on carp imports? And it says in the article in AT that they insist no one has been granted a licence to import carp of that size.

As for the ethical side?

My jury's out,

Personally I'd prefer to target British carp in a more established fishery but I guess in the end this venue is no different from other commercials that offer huge foreign-grown catfish, sturgeon etc.

not a lot cefas can do if it's done legally, and the fish are checked for diseases.

bit off topic, but it's another reason to join ECHO - they have done a fantastic amount behind the scenes to stop illegal imports, and make those that are doing "legal" imports see sense. unfortunately there will always be those that will put glory before the fish though.....

i just think that the importation of huge fish cheapens the acheivments of anglers that catch a big fish that has been bred in this country, if i want to fish for french fish then i go to france,lets i know of plenty of places in france that can be fished for less than a week on the water mentioned including travel they are peacefull and contain some realy big fish they can be found by anyone willing to put the work in to find them.

it was cheapened years ago...... quality of lake has more importance these days!

If its done legally and people are willing to pay then I don’t have an issue with it…its an open market after all…if you don’t like it you don’t have to go there.

However as to the question of merit, well I think slowly but surely the message is getting across and anglers are starting to look at more than just weight alone when it comes to judging the relative merit of a capture and long may that continue…I personally would rather catch a 20 pound wild fish from say a river than a 40 pounder from a pay puddle....