From the recent dvd thread, and the death of the big brown caught recently the question I would ask is;

Do we value stock fish less than other fish in our local waters?

Short answer;

By their very definition the overall impact to the fishery, if taken is less as they can be introduced at any time to increase numbers. This doesn't mean stocked fish should be treated any differently than a wild fish, both deserve equal respect.

My short answear:

Yes I do beieve some anglers do. I have seen it happen on my club waters.
There seems to some kudos in catching
A wild fish
An overwintered fish
but less so on a "stockie"
Tight Lines

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"The Future's Bright The Future's Wet Fly"

The vast majority of 'stocked fish' in the UK are 'sterile' ie. triploid rainbows introduced into still waters and to a certain degree they can be viewed as a 'commodity', an alien species introduced to satisfy an ever burgeoning demand for fly fishing.

I entirely agree with Stuart's assertion that they are deserving of the respect that should be extended to all living creatures but in terms of their 'value' to our native ecology and the gene pool of our native wild brown trout, wherever they still exist, their 'value' is zero.

The recent thread concerning the Hayes and Barr freebie DVD highlighted some very strange and naive ideas about fish survival. The great majority of fish stocked in many of the smaller C & R waters will not survive, whether caught or not, no matter how carefully returned, for the simple reason that they are stocked at such a size and density that the water is not capable of sustaining them - they're going to die, if not by being knocked on the head then certainly over time by a steady loss of condition.

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[I]"I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish, except that we like it and it makes us think and feel."[/I] Roderick L Haig-Brown

[url]www.wildfly.net[/url]

[url]http://www.gameanglinginstructors.co.uk/[/url]

Wheras wild trout sometimes reach 7 inches and stay that way, seven inches, providing endless hours of sport for state of the art rods, power waders and baseball capped super eco warriors trying to outwit them.

If i were to pull finless wonders from a puddle could you please clarify the dress code and appropriate tackle?

Anything from Fishtec or GAC would be entirely appropriate. Particularly any item of tackle previously advertised at £199.99 .... now exclusively available to readers of (fill in the blank) for £37.50 with a free baseball cap. Dress code? Something formal like a white shell suit (obviously with three adidas stripes ... I mean c'mon ... standards!)

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[I]"I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish, except that we like it and it makes us think and feel."[/I] Roderick L Haig-Brown

[url]www.wildfly.net[/url]

[url]http://www.gameanglinginstructors.co.uk/[/url]

I hear they now sport cane also.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rgeMKelson.JPG

I certainly do.

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http://www.thepeacockatrowsley.com/fishing.html