I tried to reply to Jims post on "stockiebashing without success as it wouldnt come up so this is just an add on to it as It is a good point raised and I agree with many who answered it Mike and Rons replys were spot on.

I dont agree with the point that catching 25 wild fish is just as good as catching 25 stocked fish.It doesnt matter ,wild or stocked ,the same care should be taken when released with either .They are fish and deserve all anglers care and respect when released and especially if on candr done properly at all times and if unsure and you fish candr,get someone to show you how as it is your duty as an angler or kill them and take them home.

The i didnt know how to do it only stretches so far.25 fish should be enough for anyone to have a good day,wild or stocked but its what floats your boat in the end and as long as they are taken care of I see no problem catching more.

Sorry to have to put this on as another thread but it would nt post under the thread of jims.Not wanting to hijack your thread.

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Kevin

stock fish belong to the stocker, they are a comodity bought and sold for profit, they make whatever rules they see fit,

wild fish are not an unlimited resource and need to be treated with care, they dont come in trucks, they are born there and take years to reach anything like the size of a stock fish.

Zoomer,

Are you saying we should treat stocked fish with less care than wild trout? Why not just treat them the same?

Walker

So you get your fishing free on the river Zoomer?No profit there then.
All fish no matter what should be treat with the same care.Its an anglers duty.

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Kevin

in principle they should be treated the same, in practice catching large numbers of fish easily does not appear to lead to respect, for example, a 3lb stockie is nothing unusual, a 3lb wild fish is to many, the fish of a life time.

when i pay for a permit its for land access, the fish are free cos nature made them.

how many young browns are hooked on a river and not returned safe?doesnt matter if its a stocked water or not, care always.You can catch just as many wild browns in a day same as rainbows, its just preference.

So for you to fish the landowner is making a profit without the need to stock and anyone who has a fishery has to pay to stock for his anglers.

Whos making money here.?If thats what its all about.Nature made the land also so why pay for land access.?

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Kevin

Hi', All. Every living creature should be treated with respect; the world is as much theirs as it is ours. They haven't knackered the environment for us, we have done that for them in very many ways and innumerable instances.
In no way was Zoomer suggesting that a wild fish is superior to a stocked fish, at least that is how his statements appeared to me. He rightly feels, I think, that the wild trout is more important in so far as it is a part of our natural heritage. The stockie deserves the same respect; but it can be easily replaced, as it is not part of the historic, natural scene. It is not easy to put into words that do not case offence the difference between the regard some anglers have for the natural and 'unnatural' species. The romantic, poetic or more expressive participators in our sport might say that they respect and admire stocked fish for their particular qualities, but they love wild trout, and fishing for wild trout. You can liken that feeling to one of, 'I see the necessity for living in a city, and I can understand why some people enjoy living in one; but I love the wild open spaces, the smell of heather, the call of a red grouse, the mewing of a buzzard, the dash and sparkle of a moorland beck, the fast and fearful movement of a truly wild little brownie.'
Further; every time a fish is caught and played to the net or the hand, it is stressed. No argument. It is taxed physically, it may or not know fear or pain as we do, but it must feel confused. I had a good day on the river Eden a fortnight ago, 18 wild brown trout to the net; why? Because I was trying to catch a fish big enough to provide two fillets, as a friend of mine will not eat trout that have bones in them. I failed to land a one-and-a-half pound trout; but as I wrote in my post on the Eden thread, the next time I reach 6, I shall change to TAG fishing -- 'Touch And Go', using a fly that has had the bend, point and barb removed. Then, if my cast is made accurately, delicately and it fishes drag-free over a target trout, I will count a rise to my fly as a success. I can satisfy my ego without stressing any more wild Eden fish on
the day by hooking and 'playing' them.
If the reader thinks I am a loony. and says so, OK, he'll be leaving somebody else alone!! I don't care. My justification for pestering 6 wild fish? I am not totally mad, and I honestly feel that if anglers didn't care for the river and its trout, there wouldn't be any wild Eden brown trout left to catch.
I honestly think that there could be grounds for a limit to the number of fish we actually catch in a session, as it could be imposed to reduce unnecessarly and unwisely stressing an excess of fish. It's about putting the welfare of the fish before the satisfying of the ego of the angler. I am sure that will provoke one or two unfriendly replies; and no doubt some will wonder why the Hades do you fish, TC, if you are so concerned about the welfare of trout? Well, daft I may be, but human I certainly am, with many of the human frailties. TC

All fish should be treated with respect, no reason not to,
its the fisherman himself that has the choice, different styles or types of fishing foster different attitudes, the wild fisher sees first hand the interdependancy of his actions with the environment, as one i find some stocked fisheries hard places to be, i have no concept of counting, rushing to catch another or being hacked off when i dont catch, i am in no way getting at stocked fisheries, rather the attitudes that springs presumably from the infinite supply of fish.

I fully understand what your saying TC and it is the old romantic look of fishing a river which emulates it all for what it should be like.Unfortunately real life for some is a far cry away from this pretty scene and stillwaters offer a little bit of sanctuary for those who wish to fish.
What I read is stocked fish" ugh" wild fish "Beautifull".Both for me are the latter as they offer different things and give so much as an angler and deserve the respect wild or not.

I was brought up with a river near me,to fish it was impossible due to not been able to get into the club,so what can you do at the age of 10, 11,I was taken to a reservoir where I got hooked on fly fishing and fished all rivers when in devon and a couple of reservoirs now and again.Quite happy catching small trout and sea trout and the odd salmon but distance would stop any youngster getting to some areas of rivers.Stocked waters have had a boom in the last 10years and due to evreyone thinking its a huge money maker they dont last long ,which is one of the reasons why i will always stand by stocked fish as a benefit to anglers and argue for them as they do give alot back.They bring kids into the sport,they offer fishing for those who cant get onto a river due to costs or disability,they bring families together for a day out and more.Not all stocked fisheries are clones each are individual and down to what those who run them put into it which is alot of time ,effort and money and passion.You will always tell the ones who dont and the ones who do and its the angler who will decide from there,but they are not all the same.
Attitudes can be altered and the supply of fish is needed to encourage new anglers.Youngsters do get bored when not catching and lose interest equals lost anglers for the future.The whole picture is not black and white.

You choose rivers ,your lucky ,some have no choice but stillwaters.

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Kevin

Every living creature on our planet deserves some respect whether you are viewing it as food or just admiring it's beauty or if it could be harmful to you whichever way you look at it, it has a purpose in life. I am not going to get philosphical about it cause I am not clever enough to do that but there is an old cliche that says do as you would be done by.

Alan and more