Fished New Haylie trout Fishery near Largs for the first time today with a few mates we had some excellent trout that all fought extremely hard. All our fish were caught on floating lines with bloodworms and gold head damsels.

The only disappointing thing that spoiled the whole day was a very stropy member of the fishery team (I presume he is part of the fishery staff) that had a right go at us for the way we were releasing the fish, all our fish were netted, kept in the water, hook removed, allowed to recover and then carefully released this is how I have always fished catch and release and have never had a problem. Maybe we were in the wrong I don't know we were never given any rules or made aware that all fish must be released without handling them at all. I firmly believe that good customer service is vital with so many fishery's competing for your business we could have been put right in the error of our ways in a far more friendly manner. We left shortly after that and wont be back.

Apart from that it was a very enjoyable days fishing.

Al

The way you are doing it sounds good to me , Its served me well for 30 years .

Hmm i find that a bit odd mate to be honest ....I was fishing at the Haylie on Friday from 10 till about 2pm.....and other than HUK there was nobody else on the loch apart from an enthusiastic youngster who came on as we were leaving.

Regarding releasing - I do the same and always have done at the Haylie and never had any adverse comments from George (the Owner) at all.

Tho' yesterday George was having a rare day off and one of his mates was standing in - I dont know the chap but he seemed a perfectly affable bloke and didn't pass comment on my releasing (I had 12 yesterday)..

I'd go back and have a wee word with George , he's a very decent guy and will happily talk to you about it and clear up any misunderstandings.

- oops just realised its now Sunday so you might have fished it on Saturday.....sorry...

Dont see any problem with your c/r method ,unless your net is the knotted type which can scrape scales off fish , as you said you had an enjoyable day why cut your nose off to spite your face ??may not even have been a member of the fishery staff as some of the regulars are protective of the place , which I personally think is a good thing as it helps keep the place spot on . As has been suggested have a word with George the owner and get it sorted he is a great guy easy to talk to and I am sure it can be resolved , this is the way to go,
not spitting the dummy out .

tightlines jonboy.

Just to put this to bed the fishery member on duty yesterday morning was my son and my wife took over mid morning.
The person who put you right was just a regular angler who brought your c/r method to my wifes attention and her responce to them was they only have ten minutes left and she didnt feel that it was right to ruin your day with ten minutes to go so it was decided by her to let it go as i was not present.

On that note yes you did look after the fish well the concerns were that after netting the fish keeping it in the water why would you ever pick it up out the net to release it by hand.

Bad handling is one of the fishery owners largest problems not one that i usually have as i wont sell you a catch /release ticket if your intention is to handle the fish. We dont have a problem with scabby burnt poorly handled fish as i dont allow handling.

Anyway amazing how the fishery got it in the neck.

(Obviously the angler who spoke to you must have thought very strongly that the use of your hands was not required to lift the fish out of the net to return it.)

Anyway thanks for your business and your comments and its a loss loss for me no return customer and burnt badly handled fish.

Perhaps it would have been better if my wife had just come round and explained how to catch /release without touching the fish whats done is done
and perhaps it helps people understand that handling fish in trout fisheries is frowned upon. There are some fisheries near hear that suffer badly from bad handling with scabby diseased fish regularly swimming by I can put my hand on my heart and say you wont find that here.
Thanks to the angler who put this fly fisherman in the know just take your tackaty boots off the next time LoL I know you ment well it could have been a lot of fish mishandled.
George.

Cant leave the place for two minutes!

These nets have been illegal for almost 3 years in Scotland,about 10 years in England

Jim

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

Illeagal??? notted mesh nets are still sold widely...???

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I HATE BUNGS.........

True Alex ,and used as well.


tightlines jonboy.

You can still buy knotted nets legally.but it is illegal to use them.
Strange but true.

Jim

__________________
The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

ive never heard of that one jim, learn sumthin new every day.......

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I HATE BUNGS.........