I see in this months FF&FT pictures of large DEAD brown trout from Loch Heilen.

Is it time in this world of conservation that leading magazines take a stand and NOT show pictures of dead fish?

If the angler knew his picture would not be shown, would it make a difference. And would it lead the way to fishers that kill wild fish releasing more wild brown trout?

Richard

People still like to take a fish for the pot, but I know where you are coming from.

Personally, I only take a few fish each season, if that and hate seeing large, grown on wild fish getting chapped.

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www.paypalsucks.com

I agree, I personally dislike to see dead fish including salmon/seatrout on these mags and I think they should refrain from showing them.

If we are to get younger fishers into looking after the limited resources for the future, then Mags need to at least assist in showing the way forward. Now this doesn't mean I support 100% C&R, more like keeping any for the pot out of the Mags in particular.

KF28

I think you need to get a grip... folks fish and hunt for food, if it pricks your conscience then maybe game angling isnt for you, dont get me wrong i am not advocating folks raping waters but i fail to see what your issue is with someone taking fish to eat... would it have sat better with you if they had photographed it whilst it was gasping for breath then dispatched it?

The reality is what we do is an act of predation however you dress it up

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I can appreciate Richard's laudable point of view and motivation for his post but, to be realistic, whilst it is still legal to kill fish, no-one should be criticised for exercising their right to do this and to photograph the fish afterwards.

I return all my wild brown trout, encourage others to do so, and have done for many years but I would not criticise anyone that legally kills a few fish provided that they are not wasted nor would I criticise a fishing magazine for publishing photos of dead fish.

For all the criticism of publishing photographs of dead fish there is an argument that photographing live fish other than in the water is also not to be encouraged. I don't subscribe to either argument but there will be those that do. Having said that, photos showing the poor handling of live fish are far more damaging than photos of dead fish.

Taken to the extreme, if publishing photos of dead fish were stopped there would be no photos of any fish from the majority of rainbow trout fisheries as they tend to require that all fish are killed and that is not a practical proposition. If the point is that only photos of dead wild fish should be discouraged then I can be more sympathetic to this argument but Richard's point seems to be that if the photo wasn't published the angler wouldn't have killed the fish and I simply don't buy that argument. If the angler kills fish he is going to do this irrespective of whether the fish is photographed let alone published.

I would encourage all anglers to return any fish that is not going to be eaten and all wild fish and I firmly believe that the improvement in some of our Welsh trout rivers is down in part to much increased levels of C&R but this is not a police state and persuasion is the key not compulsion or whitewashing. The act of catching fish is damaging to them and we should not get too precious about it, if you are truly that bothered about the possibility of harming a fish then give up fishing!

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

Catch and release is merely a further step in the anglers development from gentleman mass killer to gamekeeper. At the end of the day we will understand that we bear responsibility for the whole river and eco-system rather than just the fish of interest in it.

bit of a cryptic statement I know but its too early in the morning to formulate a full philosophy

Some seem to miss the point of this thread. Its the photograph's of dead fish, not the advocating of killing ones hunter/gatherer/predator/ prey scenario.

Of course take what you want from a sustainable source,and I'm sure there are a few ways to picture live fish for mags!

I know where each side is coming from on this thread and each has it's place as the pros and cons are all laudable. However I feel that we need to be careful that we don't play into the hands of the anti groups who could see us as using fish as playthings to be caught and released ad nauseum for anglers amusement. That's why I take for the pot, but let the ones over and above what I can eat go.

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Who casts, wins!

We had a court case recently on the fact that a fisherman didn't cut the line after 90 seconds of playing a fish - legally destined for the pot I'll have you know. The fisherman was aquitted but the point is that we are being forced to face the fact that we need to be more innovative than catch and release about running fisheries and dealing with people whose point of view is equally valid as ours.

That ridiculous. So you cut the line where when the 90 seconds is up? What it this means leaving 3 or 4 foot of leader attached to said hook. If the fish manages to throw the hook this leaves the possiblity of birds or other aquatic animal getting tangled in the unretrived line.

For the rivers I fish I won't now keep any brown trout less than 12". But never more than 4 fish in any given week. I'd actually be lucky to get one keeper though on this self imposed minimum. The legal minimum length is 10" and a bag limit of 4.

I have found out there is an area of river that has rainbow trout in it now after floods allowed an escape from a local stocked lake. Might start hitting that and I can tell you one thing for sure. Any rainbow pulled out will get the last rights read to it via a little brass priest.

For the sea it's different. Any decent legal sized fish landed goes to the freezer but my trips are less frequent.