Roach come out to play in the park

[kenj]

Thought I might get a comment on using a keepnet. It's a soft knotless net with pull handles to access the last two compartments and all the roach were handed out into my landing net for a quick photo. I use barbless hooks, which usually fall out in the net, unlike many of the other locals on that hard pressed little river, who must use fully barbed jobs, judging by the number of lips missing on some of these roach.

 

Regarding perch, I've been catching dace on maggot in a match, then had the perch move in, getting a fish a cast, then lost one and started catching dace again for twenty minutes, before they were crowded out by the perch, until again I lose one, probably due to small hooks, then more dace. This was obviously on a river, but assume similar for lakes.

[Latimeria]

Thought I might get a comment on using a keepnet. It's a soft knotless net with pull handles to access the last two compartments and all the roach were handed out into my landing net for a quick photo.

 

It could be made of lamb's wool and the effect would be the same. There's valid research indicating that fish retained in a keepnet remain stressed for the time they're in there, something that doesn't happen if released immediately. That means that on release, they have to recover, will be in a concentrated area and will be less able to able to avoid predators. I don't think anyone could argue that even the best of keepnets carry a risk of fish damage, and scale loss means tissue damage, which leads to a physiological demand from osmosis which needs energy from the fish to compensate, besides the means of entry for pathogens and parasites. Wild animals are on quite a finite energy budget, to the point that being caught and retained in a keepnet a few times during Winter could make the difference between that individual spawning successfully in the following season or not. It could also make them more reluctant to feed on anglers baits due to increased negative association, and could even force them to move to areas where less "predation" is taking place (possibly making them more susceptible to real predation).

Fish stocks in those lovely little rivers are precious and fragile, and there's no point us as anglers getting all worked up about big black birds or whatever if we've not taking reasonable steps ourselves.

Edited March 2, 2013 by Latimeria

[poledark]

Over the last 50 or more years I have never seen a decent sized Roach which has been kept in a keepnet returned without at least a couple of scales missing. Rudd suffer in the same way. I spent quite a bit of time over the last few seasons chasing big roach and rudd on a predominately big carp water. The roach and rudd were absolutely mint.... never been caught before,,,,scale perfect. A couple of seasons back we had a friendly comp for the "Rudd cup" biggest over the season,and some fool, who shall be nameless, filled a keepnet (on several occasions) with these perfect fish. Needless to say, we ended up having an almighty row on the bank, and I told him he was a clown. When he went to empty his keepnet EVERY fish was missing some scales.

 

Den

[kenj]

I respect your fears Latimeria (a member of Latimer Lakes Trout Fishery?) and have posted my views on the new thread by dave on the subject of keepnets.

[Latimeria]

Nah, Latimeria is the scientific name of my favourite fish. I didn't want it to seem as if this was a particular dig at your catch, fine lovely roach that they are. I'm perhaps a bit more anti-keepnet than usual after there was some git on the facebook page of a club up here proudly showing a half-dozen grayling bundled in the bottom of one then whining on when people objected.

I love fishing those small streams where a fish of a pound is worth as much as any "specimen", but I really have come to believe that the stocks need to be treated with kid gloves, recruitment is often poor to start with due to human factors and once they're gone, that's likely to be it for a good while.

[RUDD]

Can I ask out of interest why a waggler fished as a stick float?

 

[kenj]

It's a short, 2 inch long piece of peacock with a bottom only fixing, cane insert, making it a small waggler 3 inches overall. It's got a flat top and fish it with a top rubber with just the flat top on the surface. I fish it slightly over depth, held back and bites show up as a bob, followed by a slow sink away. The fish don't notice any resistance, ideal for the punch on that shallow river.

 

I use the same float, but as a waggler, usually on the pole on shallow lakes for carp, crucians and tench.

[RUDD]

Sounds similer to a dibber- a very short pole float fished in shallow water over depth. Usually on the far shelf of a canal.

I use mini wagglers with a whip set up and have used canal greys or stillwater blues on the long pole for on the drop fishing.

[kenj]

That sounds like the exact float. Now I've got a name for it. My original ones were from my bleak fishing days on the whip, as they flicked in without tangles.