Keepnet limit

[kleinboet]

Thanks Budgie - As I said before, most waters today demand TWO "Carp Friendly" 3m keepnets and any fish over a certain size to be weighed and returned. As stated elsewhere on this thread, the only time the fish was in any danger was when the fish were taken out of the nets for weighing. A good bailiff has learned the way to do this with as little discomfort as possible. It would appear that there are people that would want this practice to stop, thereby letting the inexperienced fisherman to toss his tired fish back into the water to float belly up until dead!

What next? Ban cricket if a ball smashes a window??

 

[ 16. July 2005, 09:57 PM: Message edited by: kleinboet ]

[chesters1]

i never use them ,i advise anglers in a bailiff sense that if its very hot to let the fish out after a couple of hours (very shallow one side of the pond) but at the moment its just an advisory not an enforcement ,carp sacks are banned in the club.

i havent got a problem with them so long as their thoroughly dried after use and staked out correctly in use.

i was agast to see one angler on showing his catch to another had a brick in the bottom of the keepnet ,i took it of him and advised him not to use one on the lake again ,he was in his 60's

even more annoying is idiots that dont seem capable of extending their landing net handles :confused: and drop a fish into it out of the water rather than getting in it in the water as is the norm :mad:

others keep their unhooking mats rolled up or in the bottom of their bag :confused: (its mandatory for all members to posses them but not to use them )

 

[ 16. July 2005, 10:32 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]

[John S]

Haven't used a keepnet since the early 80's and don't miss them. Nowadays if I feel a fish needs a bit of a rest before being released I'll either cradle it underwater in my hand(s) or, more usually, keep it in the landing net until it has recovered.

[chesters1]

we occasionally in the holidays get kids sharing landing nets (all members must posses one) i write a note on the back of the bailiff pad sheet telling the parents without one they cant fish (and therefore little johny cant be dumped off on the way to work) and tell the chap to show his parents it ,one kid was proud to show off his brand new landing net and keepnet on his next visit

summer holidays fast aproaching

[Mat Hillman]

BUDGIE:

Seems very non PC to use a keepnet these days.

A couple of questions-

 

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Whats the best way of retaining a big bream if you have to?

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Why would you "have to" ? with moden cameras you should be able to get a decent photo anytime, even at night! or is this a not scaring the rest of the group problem by returning fish straightaway?

 

quote:

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Should you always return high oxygen dependant fish like barbell and grayling straight away?

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I'd say no, but neither should they be put in a keepnet either, support the fish head into the current until it recovers enough to swim off strongly.

 

quote:

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How should you retain other large fish?in carp sacks?

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Personally I'm against retaining fish, and never do

 

quote:

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Should all species/sizes of fish be returned immediately?

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IMHO yes ;-)

 

quote:

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Please note Im not offering my views (at this stage!) but just seeking others opinions.

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Just offering my views too, while not being as expert as some on this board I really see no reason for a fish to be out of the water longer than 60 seconds, thats ample time to unhook, take a snapshot and return the fish.

This is asuming of course that your unhooking gear is organised easily and too hand, and your camera ready to go!

I've never really understood the need to retain fish, at least outside of matches

 

Mat

 

[ 17. July 2005, 10:00 AM: Message edited by: Mat Hillman ]

[Dick Dastardly]

Thanks for your reply Matt. It was people like you who don’t use keepnets that I was hoping to hear from.

 

I too very much prefer to return big fish to the water as soon as they are caught. There are however some exceptions.

 

Over the years I have been very lucky to have fished some waters with very big bream (potential record size) in. The situation may well have arisen where a record fish could have been caught. I for one would admit to wanting the fish correctly weighed and recorded (regardless of any claim or not) After all the effort and time put in to the capture I would also want a first class photo. All of these would be best achieved during daylight. I don’t think any harm comes from retaining a SINGLE Bream in a large keepnet sealed both ends and correctly staked out.

 

As a young man I often kept barbell in keepnets, as it was the norm to do. With sensible use of the net no harm came to them. In a match situation (regardless of the species) I feel it is the weigh in that causes the most damage as opposed to the actual retention.

 

I feel species like barbell and grayling often turn belly up as a result of being released before they are sufficiently recovered. I agree with Matt’s comments re retaining temporarily in the landing net. However I could argue that Ive seen many more float past as a result of being returned to soon than Ive seen due to keepnets.

 

The modern trend of retaining various species of fish in carp sacks and thinking its k worries me. Cats and sacks are a bad combination, as they tend to suck in the sack, which gets caught on the pads, and they drown. Bream struggle to stay up right and in general I don’t think they offer a good enough oxygen exchange for any of the species other than carp or tench. Not to keen on pike tunnels either due to the sacking.

 

Working on the premise that any fish specimen fish I would want to retain would only be held for the shortest possible time then I would plump for a well used net in most situations.

 

When I match fish then a net is obviously the only viable option. Still attention must be given to the use of the net. As Ive said I feel the damage is done at the weigh in.

 

That said when I catch live baits I prefer to put them straight in a bucket or cage as if you keep them in a net during your snatching session they often develop fungal problems if kept. The process does obviously not help this and I’m not suggesting that all fish kept in nets and then returned fungus up but merely pointing out that the keepnet obviously has some detrimental effect.

 

Despite that I do enjoy using a keepnet on general pleasure sessions where small but numerous fish are expected. Seeing what Ive caught at the end of the day does add greatly to my pleasure. Once again sensible use must be adhered to. I can live with it being none PC as its been going on for a lot of years with out any obvious detriment to angling in general.

 

With large fish I don’t retain them in general preferring to release each after capture. But that’s a personal preference. So how could I or any one decry someone for retaining a fish in the same safe system that we okay for a record or PB! a system is either safe or not. Same logic could surely be applied to the question of if its okay for nets to be used in matchs then why not on pleasure sessions.

 

I’m not going into the "mechanics" of keepnet/sack etch use here i.e. positioning, length of retention, material of net etc. etc. as surely all of these have been preached and are now known by most.

 

The real issue must be a moral one. However that said it all depends on if you feel a retention system or retention it self does cause any harm. For me the jury is still certainly "out" on this one.