Death of a beautiful fish

[malevans]

Where I fish in Scotland the owner of the rights on the river and loch is wise enough to state a policy of returning big pike to control the pike population. We are meant to kill single figure pike but I refuse to kill any pike deliberately due to some policy or rule and especially when I have been out on the loch actually targeting them.

 

If as Peter says the fishery rules state culling upon capture then one is faced with the choice of leaving the fishery or rebelling....but why stalk a pike knowing you have to kill it unless you either are willing to kill it due to glory of capture given its size...or you support the policy.

 

I have in ten years killed three between 4 and 5 lb......I smoked them and ate them bank side.

 

The opening story can only be summed up as appauling.

[Bradford Angler]

the trout fraternity live by a different set of rules entirely . ..

 

for one . . when stocking coarse fish you pay VAT but not on trout . . . why is that I wonder ?

[mat]

hi all

 

i think that is crul and no creature should be killed thats that it is all wrong if i had my way noyhing should be killed ??

 

thx

[Peter Waller]

Are you a veggie Mat?

[Colin Brett]

Bradford Angler:

the trout fraternity live by a different set of rules entirely . ..

 

for one . . when stocking coarse fish you pay VAT but not on trout . . . why is that I wonder ?

Please don't make the mistake of tarring all trout anglers with the same brush. A lot of present day trout anglers started off as coarse anglers. Not always matchmen either.

As for no vat, even if it was charged, the fishery would be able to reclaim it!

Colin

[Peter Waller]

Trout are seen a food, eventually! No vat on food. Rather good that pike are not seen as food!!

[Dick Dastardly]

Mark if you really care about pike then dont try and relocate Trout water pike to non trout waters.It simpley doesnt work.All you are doing is sentancing those fish to a more prolonged death.If you require pike for a water (as opposed to just rehoming them to avoid them being killed) then look to pike from waters similar to the one you wish to stock.Best source of info is from fishery management services or the EA.

 

While I feel it is a great shame this and sadly many other fish of this calibre are killed it is as stated often the fishery managments decission not the anglers.These are the people we must win over.We wont ever do this untill we get our facts right and present a well balanced view to them.In the past we(amateur anglers) have ranted and raged at them (proffesional fishery managers)about this subject,quoting all sorts of rubbish and psudo science which quite frankly these experts find quite insulting let alone making us look very un informed.Imagine how you would feel if you were a manager of a fishery and had for many years after obtaining various quallifications,attended many courses and above all spent most days on the water when an angler tries to tell you what is best for your water?

[dapper64]

I was fishing on a small lake a couple of weeks ago and you could see quite a lot of pike swimming about,some of them were well over 20 lb , a couple of other anglers who I got chatting with said that some anglers kill them when they catch them, the crazy thing is the river calder is less than 40 feet away and is on the same water table so why cant they just release them into the river is beyond me.

[Dick Dastardly]

One it would be illegal and secondly why remove them in the first place as you are greatly interfering with the waters balance.

[gozzer]

I was fishing on a small lake a couple of weeks ago and you could see quite a lot of pike swimming about,some of them were well over 20 lb , a couple of other anglers who I got chatting with said that some anglers kill them when they catch them, the crazy thing is the river calder is less than 40 feet away and is on the same water table so why cant they just release them into the river is beyond me.

 

Is this the B No1 water next to the M62?

The last time I fished it (a few years ago, when I was a member), it was a well balanced fishery, with a good head of all species. No need to mess with the stock at all.

 

John.