Metrication

R

Ron Clay

Guest
As this country faces total metrication, including the €, It might be an idea to look at the new target weights for specimen fish.

Here is my assessment:

Barbel: 5kg
Bream: 4kg
Pike: 10 kg
Roach: 1kg
Perch: 1.5 kg
Carp: 20kg
Tench: 4 kg
Dace: 400 gms
Chub: 2.5kg
Eel: 2kg
Zander: 5kg

In future it will not be so easy to catch a double figure barbel :eek:(
 
GrahamM

GrahamM

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Here's mine, but I hope we stay imperial, at least until I snuff it! It's okay for you part-time Brits and you young un's but I've never known anything else and as daft as our system is it's a familar system, which means it feels friendly and comfortable.

Barbel: 5kg
Bream: 5kg
Pike: 10kg
Roach: 1kg
Perch: 1.5kg
Carp: 15kg
Tench: 4kg
Dace: 400gms
Chub: 2.5kg
Eel: 2kg
Zander: 5kg
 
R

Robert Draper

Guest
This brings me to a point I have argued many times in the pub. I first became aware of this while watching a newbie carp angler on the next peg to me. His first catch was a 10lb4 mirror, a few hours later he caught a 4lb common an proceeded to treat it like a drowned rat including throwing it into the water from about 4 feet above the surface. When I asked him why he did that he told me that if it wasn't a double he didn't want to know! I informed him that the club (and indeed any sane anglers) policy was to treat all fish with equal respect, unhooking either in hand or on a mat and placing the fish in the water. I was told in no uncertain terms that some joker in one of the carp magazines had said all single figure carp were nuisance fish and that was good enough for him.

ALL fish are good fish but setting a target weight may infer a reason to discriminate whether in imperial or metric. Why not stop weighing fish altogether and just concentrate on catching rather than playing the numbers game...
 
GrahamM

GrahamM

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Fine sentiments, but we need numbers to be able to judge just how successful we are if our bag is to catch big fish.

It's when numbers become an obsession when it goes wrong.
 
R

Ron Clay

Guest
I couln't agree with you more Robert. It's time many of us just went fishing and enjoyed it. We all know what a good fish is but we must be careful not to deify some specimens like "Mary" or "Bazil" etc.

I believe that some people have actually given known big carp that have died - burial rites!!!

A fish is just a fish whether it be 4 oz or 40 lbs.

I once saw a carp angler at Linear Oxford use his feet to return a 5 lb tench which he did in disgust. If I had been a lot younger I would have done far worse to him.
 
S

Sean Meeghan

Guest
Ron

This is the thin end of the wedge! You'll be wanting us to declare the mass of the fish we catch next. You've also at a stroke revalued one of angling's favourite measures the Double (and I don't mean whiskey). What will we use to replace it?
 
R

Robert Draper

Guest
Before anyone says I am bashing Carp anglers I would like to point out that I believe this behaviour exists in every branch of angling where the size of a "decent" fish runs to double figures. By all means measure a fish against your PB but in the end its the effort put into catching it that dictates the worth not measurement against an arbitrary magic number that may be inappropriate to your locality.
 
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David Will

Guest
If we go all Euro won't the size of the fish go up ? Thats what has happened to prices in the countries adopting it .
 
A

andrew jackson

Guest
Robert I can only speak for myself but any idiot who treats fish as you and Ron have described, does not deserve to be classed as any sort of angler. So you wont get any carp angler bashing comments off me. Being a carp angler, the last thing I would want is to be associated with such morons. Going back to the main topic, I dont think Metric will ever take over totally in angling. Or is that just wishfull thinking.
 
C

Craig Smith

Guest
I think is going to be a slow change over put it is inevitabke.
1 way round the conversion is to by scale from mainland Europe which won't have Lb's & Oz's just G's & Kg's!
 
R

Robert Draper

Guest
Yeah I wandered off the point a bit there, I was trying to say that by making so much fuss about an arbitrary scale point we can inadvertently encourage "fringe" behaviour.

I love to fish for carp as much as any man but I feel that the media (especially the monthly glossies) tend to promote the view of certain weights as targets. This view tends to be more extreme the younger an angler is.

I also feel that metrication is a good thing as it will show that these weights mean nothing, a double will go completely.
 
R

Ron Clay

Guest
Seriously I think the change over to metric for fish weights will be slow. The metrication of engineering and commerce in the UK is almost complete. We only have to get our road signs and speed limits altered to make it so. Once yopu get fully into the metric system you will realize how simple it is.

In a countries like South Africa and Australia, anglers still talk amongst themselves in pounds and ounces, although officially they weigh everything in metric.

Have you noticed how some matches are now weighed-in in metric units? Thin end of the wedge or what?

The vast majority of carp anglers I have met have been decent caring angler make no mistake. However you do get the odd few who think it macho to denigrate the bream and tench that they sometime catch.

I will not mention his name but a very great luminary in the carp world was heard to say that the tech he was catching on boilies were "F.....g beastly", shaking a 4 ponder off the hook at the same time.
 
C

Craig Smith

Guest
I agree with your point Ron about matches I have read a few results in kg's. Had to think about it before I worked out what the results were in English He-He!!!!!
 
K

Kevan Farmer

Guest
Metrication is a far simpler system to understand I can't argue with that. However, at 39 I was part of the generation that 'tried' to learn both at the same time. Consequently I have been totally confused the whole of my life with weights and volumes. Lengths I am fine with. I know my miles and feet and inches. Pounds and ounces I am fine with, but when it comes to stones and tons and tonnes...aaaggghhhh. Ok, no fish is going to weighed in stones but I'm just showing the extent of my confusion.

We were also the generation that had the awful ITA - Initial Teaching Alphabet foisted upon us. Is it any wonder I'm confused???

Kevan
 
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