question about angling for small species

[Phone]

All,

 

This is in no way meant to be condensending. Please accept my ignorance. I'm a carp fisherman.

 

In the UK, when you fish for small species what is the sequence of events. Is it somewhat like "match fishing" (which I've seen). Do you bag the fish? For example, if you are Dace fishing do you weigh and record each capture before casting back in?

 

Do you use "size appropriate" rods? - Stuff like that.

 

We have flyfishermen in the mountain west that will kill for an 8 inch native brook trout (and a fabulous session is ONE). Nothing wrong with that.

I just don't know about this type species angling in the UK

 

Phone

[viney]

when fishing for 'small' fish its generally just a break from carp fishing so just a trip to the river with the match rod and a centerpin fishing for whatever keeping a rough mental count of amount of fish caught and weighing anything that comes along that looks of a decent size, im not the most competent fisherman, mr plumb may be the more appropriate replier to this thread?

 

matt

[Tigger]

If I'm fishing for species like roach, dace etc I don't bother to weigh them unless they're a larger than average looking fish and I never bother to put them in a keep net prefering to plop them straight back (just can't be bothered to carry a keepnet). I usually catch the smaller species as a by catch when targetting other slightly larger one's which all accept the same feed and actually feed in a very similar way / or the same way really. Catching the smaller species in this fashion often produces the larger individuals of their particular species also. I think this may be due to using stepped up sizes of bait normally used for the smaller species...e.g. 10 maggots on a smalli'sh hook rather than one or two maggots .

[Emma two]

when fishing for 'small' fish its generally just a break from carp fishing

 

Aaarrrgh no it's not! (unless you are being subjective here and you havn't indicated that you are)

 

A big perch is the very largest of fish...for example, and 12oz wild Brownie from the river is a much more worthwhile fish to catch than a puddle carp of any size.

[Worms]

when fishing for 'small' fish its generally just a break from carp fishing so just a trip to the river with the match rod and a centerpin fishing for whatever keeping a rough mental count of amount of fish caught and weighing anything that comes along that looks of a decent size, im not the most competent fisherman, mr plumb may be the more appropriate replier to this thread?

 

matt

Er, not always a break from crap fishing! I frequently target dace. I use lightweight (split cane) rods usually around 11-12' in length on the rivers I fish with a centre pin and suitably light line, usually 2lb main and 1lb hooklength, sometimes lighter. As Matt says, mental count of fish is usual with a weighed fish if it looks like it might be approaching the magic 1lb mark (can't get past the blasted 14oz mark!!!!).

 

I fish for fun (why I don't crap fish) and frequently end up hooking nice big fish on super light tackle which really makes it all worth while....

 

 

5 1/2lb barbel whilst dace fishing with an Allcock's Wizard (heavier rod than I'd normally use but there were some decent chub in that stretch!) and a homemade 'pin!

[viney]

i meant personally a break from crap fishing as i generally only have nights to fish, sorry for making it sound a generalisation

 

matt

[Tigger]

Er, not always a break from crap fishing! I frequently target dace. I use lightweight (split cane) rods usually around 11-12' in length on the rivers I fish with a centre pin and suitably light line, usually 2lb main and 1lb hooklength, sometimes lighter. As Matt says, mental count of fish is usual with a weighed fish if it looks like it might be approaching the magic 1lb mark (can't get past the blasted 14oz mark!!!!).

 

I fish for fun (why I don't crap fish) and frequently end up hooking nice big fish on super light tackle which really makes it all worth while....

 

 

5 1/2lb barbel whilst dace fishing with an Allcock's Wizard (heavier rod than I'd normally use but there were some decent chub in that stretch!) and a homemade 'pin!

 

 

 

Great pic worms, but get that precious metal off the gravel . If you need a razor send me your detailes and I'll pop a few in the post

Edited August 21, 2011 by Tigger

[Emma two]

SIze is all relative. I has this conversation about 3 weeks ago with a young man who approached me at a petrol station, it was clear from my dress and the 13' boat hooked up that I was going (or coming back from) fishin'. He was an out and out carper, I told him that the object of this trip was to try and catch perch. He laughed at the notion of that ''cos a big un only weighs a few pounds''. I asked him what his PB was, he reconed it was a 40 lb plus carp. I pointed out that to a big game angler that wasn't much bigger than bait, and that I used to go on sharking trips out of Penzance and that a '40' was a below average fish. The point I was hopefully making was perhaps was should measure our fish in units of 'fun' (the fun involved in catching them) rather than in lbs or kgs. Any one got any ideas on what we could call a unit of fun? A 'jolly perhaps or a 'pless', a 'satis, or just simply 'funs'. I got 2 good pike on a surface lure on thursday, I measure them as at least 10 'funs' each, Lter I got a jack trolling a spoon it was about 5 funs.

[Ken L]

SIze is all relative. I has this conversation about 3 weeks ago with a young man who approached me at a petrol station, it was clear from my dress and the 13' boat hooked up that I was going (or coming back from) fishin'. He was an out and out carper, I told him that the object of this trip was to try and catch perch. He laughed at the notion of that ''cos a big un only weighs a few pounds''. I asked him what his PB was, he reconed it was a 40 lb plus carp. I pointed out that to a big game angler that wasn't much bigger than bait, and that I used to go on sharking trips out of Penzance and that a '40' was a below average fish. The point I was hopefully making was perhaps was should measure our fish in units of 'fun'

 

Ain't that the truth.

 

 

Personally, I fish for whatever is about and use appropriate tackle. I rarely weigh anything, I don't bother with a keepnet and I get as much pleasure from catching a nice roach as a big pike, even if I haven't exactly been targeting the silver fish a lot over the last few years.

Thinking about it though, most of my fishing is for "small fish" because despite being a self confessed lure nut, I mainly use tackle that targets the chub, trout and perch rather than setting out to catch pike all the time.

[Steve Walker]

I grew up fishing for whatever was there - light float tackle, maggots. It was only really when I moved to southern England that I started to mostly target larger fish. I still enjoy the odd day fishing that way, where the challenge is building the swim up and keeping the fish coming. I also enjoy fly fishing for wild brown trout, which mostly don't get very big - again, the challenge is what matters.