Do you have any species that ....

[Tatiana G]

Im amazed with all these responses nobobys said about a crussian carp of 20lb. They're all muscle! A 20lb er --now thats a monsta.

 

 

T ;o)

[Leon Roskilly]

Peter Waller:

Whether the freshwater irritates them or whether just for the joy of living these fish cavort and jump all over the Broad early on a warm summer's day

Mullet are quite tolerant of freshwater.

 

At Christchurch particularly, the bycatch of nuisance fish such as carp, roach and bream can be quite annoying I'm told!

 

Thin-lipped mullet (smaller and not nearly so hard fighting as thick lips) are the ones that really get a long way upriver into almost pure freshwater.

 

Thin lips tend to stay in large shoals and to make their presence known by cavorting, so I guess that these are the ones you are familiar with Peter.

 

(Thick lips will often swim at the surface, in usually small shoals of around five fish, sucking at the surface scum on calm days, gently wealing the surface but not so active as thins).

 

When you see thin lips moving about, the most productive method is to use a small mepps spinner, with the treble replaced by a single size 8 hook, to around 3 inches of mono, and baited with harbour rag (you'll get many follows on an unbaited spinner but few takes, the same with harbour rag fished alone!).

 

Using this method, it's quite normal to take (and hopefully return) around 20 fish per session.

 

Although they require a higher salinity, land-locked thick lips (like still water chub) grow huge. Places like Broadwater lagoon in South Wales have become a mecca for mulleteers looking for big fish, as are non-tidal docks, separated from the rise and fall of the tide by locks. Unfortunately, these nearly always have 'No Fishing' signs

 

For those interested in fly-fishing for mullet, have a look here:

 

http://www.hartflyfishing.demon.co.uk/mull...et_fishing.html

 

http://www.mikeladle.com

 

Tight Lines - leon

Medway Mullet Group

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/medway

 

National Mullet Club

http://www.go-fishing.co.uk/mullet.htm

 

[ 19. January 2003, 10:04 AM: Message edited by: Leon Roskilly ]

[Nugg]

When it comes to catching a bigger fish of a one of our small spieces I simply cannot think what it would be like to hook into a 5 or 6lb bleak, for all their small size they can put up a tremendous fight, and the silver flashes in the water during the fight would be awe inspiring.

something akin to catching a tarpon I would think, not that I have ever caught a tarpon.

And of course there are lots of them.

[peter mccue]

Leon,

 

Quite understand your reservations about eating such a slow growing fish, it was not my intention to encourage the killing of Mullet, just stating a fact as I see it really.

 

I don't think they will be much more dangerous to eat then any other estuarial fish due to the workings of the food chain.

 

Interesting comments you make on the biology of the Mullet, but can that be right leon, ten years to breeding maturity! :confused:

[Leon Roskilly]

peter mccue:

I don't think they will be much more dangerous to eat then any other estuarial fish due to the workings of the food chain.

 

Interesting comments you make on the biology of the Mullet, but can that be right leon, ten years to breeding maturity!   :confused:  

It's the slow digestive process, together with the long life-span of mullet, with the potential build up of nasties in the body over time, that makes them potentionally particularly hazardous eating.

 

(Watching them feed at a sewer outlet is enough to turn me off eating them!)

 

(On the other hand, they are not an oily fish, so are less likely to build up pesticides.)

 

(It's interesting that one group of health-workers are advocating a fish rich diet, including several portions of oily fish a week, whereas another group are saying that oily fish in particular should be avoided!

 

The current thinking is that the British diet is so low in fish-eating that, rather than give out confusing messages, they should concentrate on getting people to eat more fish, and worry about what it contains when fish-eating becomes so prevalent that there is likely to be a problem!

 

Of course, nutritionists seem to believe that fish comes off an endless conveyor belt, and don't think about where all that extra fish in our diet is supposed to come from!

 

Even now most of our stocks are either below sustainable levels or under great threat.

 

North Sea cod should have a minimum breeding size stock of 120,000 tonnes - it's now down between 30 - 39,000 tonnes, depending upon who you listen to, with the scientific advice being to close the fishery to give them a chance to recover.

 

That apparently is 'unacceptable'!!!

 

If the stock was sustainably managed, it could yield some 220,000 tonnes each year! - (But who pays the fishermen whilst the stock is being rebuilt?)

 

Sorry, I digress!

 

Yes, in our waters mullet do take around 10 years to reach maturity (at around 3lbs).

 

In warmer waters they mature more quickly.

 

That's partly explained by the fact that they don't feed once the water temperature drops below 10C which means that that feeding drops off rapidly in October until April, in my neck of the woods (Kent).

 

It used to be thought that the mullet moved down to warmer climes, but the evidence now seems to be that they find deeper, sheltered water and become semi-comatose (divers tell of finding shoals of mullet on the bottom in Winter, that can be handled and layed on their side).

 

Once they reach spawning age, they often only spawn just one year in three.

 

Sadly, many choose to spawn in the bass spawning grounds, and are taken as bycatch of the recently founded winter pair trawling industry in the south western approaches which is responsible for most bass over around 4lb (at 4/5 years old)failing to return inshore from their first spawning

 

(Bass should live around 25 years, spawning 15 times and growing to around 20lb. It was once the case that if you caught a big bass, you cast again quickly, as bass usually shoal for life, and their should be other shoal members around.

 

Now there is a growing (mistaken) belief that large bass are solitary fish. Well they are, but it's because big fish are usually the sole survivors of their shoal

 

A CEFAS study a few years ago valued the landed value of the bass catch at £3million, and valued the recreational fishery at £19 million. Just imagine what the recreational fishery could be worth if the pair trawlers were stopped!

 

(Ireland has seen the light in that regard )

 

see also: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/authors/leon19.htm

 

Tight Lines - leon

Sea Anglers' Conservation Network (SACN)

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/sacn

[monkeyboy]

I once had a 20lb+ carp on a 6 elastic on my pole. With hotdog as bait! Needless to say I put up a good fight(40mins or so) but the carp put up a better fight!

[Apache]

25lb barbel?

[wunnus]

I would go for the "Crooshun" but a special place could be reserved for those hybrids, specially if its on the fly.

[adrstuart]

can you imagine a 3lb gudgeon or dace?