i've been trawling round a few forums and picking up a vibe that [some] game anglers, [minority] seem to be taking the high moral ground on catch and release whilst asserting that bait/spinning methods/anglers kill more fish i just would like to clarify to the minority where catch and release came from which is the course anglers! when i was a lad i dont remember anyone putting a salmon/trout back alive and grayling were thrown over the shoulder as vermin which ate all the trout eggs! not just game anglers did this, all the sea fish caught were killed as well. i remember the fishing magazines with pics of rows of dead salmon/trout and boats full of dead conger/cod/etc. the only group of anglers who have consistantly practiced catch and release are course anglers. so well done to them for teaching us the right way ahead for conservation

__________________
TOTAL FISHING

I've seen a lot of coarse anglers over the years who may practice catch and release but don't have a clue how to handle the poor fish when they've caught them....This equates as catch and release then DIE!!!

You get good and bad elements in all branches of the sport.

Just my ten pennerth.
Cheers Dave

I love trout fishing but I prefer competitive coarse fishing. Originally I lived in the North East where many trout fisheries practice catch and release and this was great as you could buy a ticket to suit your needs.

Leighton Reservoir in Yorkshire had a brilliant policy, you took your first two fish and could catch and release until you took your last fish, (three fish limit), which ensured you had a good days sport and value for money.

Moving south I found that very few fisheries offered catch and release. Worse still you could get your limit on many venues in a very short period of time.

Putting it bluntly you can only eat and give away so many fish and after a while I got disillusioned with it all and sold my gear.

Now I've re-invested and set myself up again however for the venues that have a strict no catch and release policy I'll simply go elsewhere.

From a business and conservation perspective catch and release is the way forward as it allows for higher stock levels and also encourages newcomers into the sport, it's just a shame some fisheries have yet to take it on board.

they also invest up to £50 on unhooking mats to prevent fish damaging themselves on gravel/rocks/sand/pebbles maybe something else we will adopt one day?

---------- Post added at 01:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 AM ----------

i'm with u dave, if i cant fish catch and release even for the humble rainbow, i'll fish elsewhere

__________________
TOTAL FISHING

Poached,grilled,fried,smoked or done in the oven roach,bream,chub,carp,or perch i dont think i had the pleasure of course fish as food for thought so i guess in my 40yrs fishing thats why they always went back.

Always practiced catch and release long before anyone told me to do it in trout and salmon fishing, maybe i just didnt see fish as a way to make money by selling them to people that eat them.I do still enjoy the odd trout though and any fish over 3lb will always go back, maybe im wrong but i dont see course fish being sold as food, not in any shops i go to anyway, John West bream mmmmmm sounds tastey

No doubt you,ve also picked the vibe up that some fly fishers seem to think they are superior to bait fishers, ie kid on anglers and want to be fishers is a couple i,ve heard that come to mind. christ knows where they get it from each to his own i,m sure someone with a bait set up enjoys there fishing as much as any fly fisher

Come to Czech Republic, every course fish pulled out here seems to get a good ol' tap on the head. Prague has 1.3 million inhabitants, 30,000 of which hold yearly fishing permits so that's an awefull lot of fish n' chips

Amazing...there was me thinking course anglers promoted catch and release.

Coarse fish are a common site site now in fish markets here in northwest England,you can buy all manner of species,carp and bream being the main,i think this has become more popular of late due to the influx of eastern europeans,i'm not sure if they still do but even morrisons started to sell carp

Paul

__________________
Wanted spare spool for ionica 3/4/5

Also spool for BBS11 titanium prefered but would consider black

Heard a couple of rumbles over here about pike being treated the same way with eastern europeans, not heard anything on other course fish as yet.