Pick up your live bait at the tackle shop?

[lutra]

Click here.

[Vagabond]

"Certified, triploid, sterile livebait" Well, if that keeps the politicos happy, why not? Better than banning everything in sight.

 

....but as for that being common practice in the States, hmmmmm. The USA I visit must be on a different planet, (well, it IS south of the Mason-Dixon line). Certainly the local grocery store sells live fish as bait, but they have never seen a fish farm - they are obtained by one or two local "good ol' boys" down at the river with a throw net. The real rednecks have their own throw net and catch their own bait.

 

What say you, Newt?

[Dick Dastardly]

Funny enough I was going to post on this yesterday.I for one hope that it doesn't happen! Strange coming from a dyed in the wool live baiting predator angler like myself you may think.

 

During the years Ive spent living abroad Ive see enough of "tackle shop live baits" to be worried.They are often in very poor condition,from dodgy supplies and kept in bad,overcrowded conditions which just scream disease! As they are brought to sell for profit the retailers are loathe to bang any sick ones on the head and out of the door they go!

 

Anyway the set up for anglers to obtain live baits is already in place (erm like all of these issues it seems!) They are called fish farms!! Clean well looked after fish from a sustainable source at a sensible price! What is it with anglers and bleeding tackle shops?

[poledark]

I also find it disturbing that "80% of AT readers is being quoted. Won't be long before this is being stated as a fact (followed by the circulation figures).

 

 

Den

[Worms]

Not having done any livebaiting for pike for a few years I was unaware that fish such as carp were popular as livebait!

 

Or did they mean fish of the carp family?

 

80% of AT readers my @rse, 80% of some idiots who filled in a poll

[Leon Roskilly]

As a kid, one of the delights of visiting my local tackle shop in the 50's was to watch the livebaits swimming around in the aquarium; roach, perch, dace, rudd.

 

The aquarium was well stocked on Fridays, but you needed to get there early on Saturday to fill your live-bait kettle before the tank was empty, otherwise there wouldn't be pike for tea on Sunday.

[Worms]

As a kid, one of the delights of visiting my local tackle shop in the 50's was to watch the livebaits swimming around in the aquarium; roach, perch, dace, rudd.

 

The aquarium was well stocked on Fridays, but you needed to get there early on Saturday to fill your live-bait kettle before the tank was empty, otherwise there wouldn't be pike for tea on Sunday.

MURDERER!...................

[Steve Walker]

If it becomes law that the only way you can livebait is with fish bought specifically for the purpose from tackle shops, the future of livebaiting is short. Consider the current DEFRA stance on feeding live food to captive animals:

 

Although the Protection of Animals Acts 1911 to 1964 do not prohibit the feeding of animals with live prey, the live feeding of vertebrate prey should be avoided save in exceptional circumstances, and then only under veterinary advice. Where any live prey must be used, its welfare must be considered as well as any potential injury which might be caused to the predator.

 

Now imagine tackle shops routinely stocking tanks of doomed fish. At the moment, we mostly only have loonies on our case, but I would say that banning the sale of fish for livebait is the kind of self contained, well defined and easily achievable cause the RSPCA would be keen to take up and run with. It might even be sufficient to obtain a judicial ruling on the sale of live fish for feeding to captive predators, without any need to go through parliament or to bring angling into it directly.

Edited September 23, 2009 by Steve Walker

[Anderoo]

Agreed, it would be an easy foothold on the ladder. Comparisons with the US are flawed, middle England does not share any values with your average Texan.

[Elton]

What a gap in the market. I'm surprised nobody's spotted it before. I mean, there must be almost as many livebait anglers in England & Wales as there are tackle shops. Obviously, not every angler will want to buy his livebait, but if every shop stocked one fish, there should be plenty to go round.