I fish small resevoir in yorkshire and have for a number of years, it allows bait, fly and spinner fishing for rainbows.

The balance is about 80% bait fishers 20% people fishing fly and it is a wonderfull place to introduce people to fly fishing with fish stocked between 2lb-8lb and catachable only a few yards from the bank.

Recently the powers that be introduced a new ruling that no flies larger than a size 12 may be used, whilst still allowing spinning and bait fishing.

There is a 2 fish limit and then catch and release policy and their ruling behind this was to stop foul or deep hooking of fish to be released.

Now whilst A few of us do enjoy taking fish on the dry fly the majority of people pull lures and fish buzzers. I personally have never deep hooked a fish whilst fishing the fly and this whole ruling seemed completely misinformed. I tie the majority of my lures on size 10 streamer hooks and fish them on a 6lb cast, hooking fish in the scissors and releasing them unharmed aside from the inevitable ***** from the hook.

Well last week I took some mates up who bait fish and they were advised to use either a spinner or a maggot (float fished or ledgered using 4lb line and a size 18 hook). It was an absolute bloodbath!

The trout were gorging themselves on the bait before the float or ledger tip even dipped, every single trout they landed was hooked in its gut/deep down its throat, released on many occassion bleeding from the gills after minutes of rummaging around with a disgorger. 3 trout snapped off on the light line needed for fishing small hooks. On the spinner they faired almost as bad. Yes the trout were usually hooked near the scissors but 3 size 8 hooks jabbed all in their mouth prooved hell to remove, when slightly swallowed, ripping the poor fishes mouth to bits. Of the 23 trout I took on lures and buzzers all but the 2 i killed were released and swam off non the worse for wear. I dread to think how many of the ones taken by bait fishing and spinning wouldnt make it.

So disgusted by their ability to hook fish neatly using maggots both my mates resorted to fishing a zonker on their course tackle, weighted with a few bits of shot and fishing it as if it was a spinner. This at least meant they were hooking trout neatly and able to release them.

I ask you how can a fishery get it so wrong by banning flys larger than size 12whilst allowing all the above??? I'd rather the people learning to fly fish use hunking great size 6 lures on 10lb leader and land fish that are easy to unhook than fish with tiny hooks and far to weak lines that just get swallowed or snapped off.

Those have to be the daftest rules I have ever heard of. They should be reported for cruelty to fish. They are causing the fish undue stress and injury by allowing bait fishers and spinners, with treble hooks on spinners, to return fish.

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Sandy
Carried it in full, then carry it out empty.

To be honest i dont like to fish were they are allowed to use worm.The only flies that i have seen used that can deep hook a trout is a booby so i dont use them. Seems like a bit of a stupid rule especially when as you say the worming brigade are doing so much damage to the fish.

Their rules are seriously flawed. Does not make any sense at all.

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Eddie
"We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation."
Voltaire

An absolutely shocking story of extreme cruelty to trout. There must be someone who can protest to the fishery owner concerned?

BK

Which reservoir in Yorkshire is it....?

Sick.

A spinner is not a catch and release tool. I have seen the mess a mepps can make of a 2lb trout's mouth and compared with a size 10 single fly it's a joke. This place should not be allowed to do this.

Glad people agree, I shall be putting my case forward to their commitee.

What you say about the mepps is totally true however at least with the trout I had to unhook caught on the mepps most were only caught in the scissors with one hook. The greater danger i saw was with the smaller hooks and thin lines.

Using these tactics for trout should not be allowed for catch and release. Even if you are on the ball and my mate was, by the time your quivertip has registered a pull, even using a running ledger the trout has sucked up the maggott, identified it as food, and began the process of swallowing it, before turning away and pulling the rodtip round. At least if a larger hook and worm was used the size of the bait means the bite is registered and the hook catches before the worm has been completely swallowed.

The trout caught on maggots would not have even registered anything wrong and had time to regect the bait until it was deep inside them.

I don't spin for trout, but I often spin for perch, pike and chub, all of which are released. It is barbed trebles which are the problem, horrible things, not trebles per se.

I also fish bait for coarse fish. Trout - being exceptionally stupid and greedy - are more prone to swallowing the hook than any species save perhaps small perch, but it still shouldn't happen if you know what you are doing. I guess the problem is that people who bait fish for trout are generally not the kind who know what they are doing.

Try convincing them o float fish for the trout on maggots instead of quiver tipping, more delicate presentation should allow an earlier strike.

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