Potential Ballan Wrasse record eaten

[Toerag]

Oh, by the way, had a visitor caught this fish then they could have been £10,000 richer!!

[thurso angler]

Why toerag??

[Toerag]

See the big 'Win £10,000' advert at the top of the Seafishing forum page

On the subject of C.I. competitions, the Alderney festival is on this week, and there have already been quite a few tope to 48lb landed OFF THE SHORE!!!! I'll start another thread when I hear more from my mate over there.

[thurso angler]

oh yeah! never read that because i thought it was just some advertising gimmick!!

[Toerag]

Actually the odds of breaking a record are pretty good, plus there's quite a prize table of Daiwa tackle for the best fish of each species etc.

[Vagabond]

Socksy Squirrel:

I would fry the fish in some nice butter with a few finely sliced onions and maybe a bit of garlic.

Like most things the trick is in the cooking,

Would go along with that, perhaps adding a bit of sliced ginger root also.

 

Have eaten "Connor fish" (as they call Ballan wrasse in the West of Ireland) many times.

 

Delicious if properly served - do not believe all you read about wrasse being inedible - I suspect many writers have never tried them.

[Toerag]

They are vunerable to overfishing though, but it's better to try to eat one that you can't put back than chucking it in the bin.

[Socksy Squirrel]

All fish species are vulnerable to overfishing though some more so than others.

I never kill a fish unless I am going to eat it or use it for bait.

I accept the fact that rod fishermen can damage a very local stock if there is enough of them but I know of plenty of cases where it was not the rods but the netters who did the fell deed.

Word got out, X, Y and Z had some nice sole up A bay. the next time it was festooned with nets and they do not stop until they have cleared it out. Undersized fish went into the pots for the lobsters which is where most of the wrasse, pollack and juvenile bass end up as well.

If I reckon up my entire take for the year and put it against the take of just one long liner or gill netter in a month then it is absolutely nothing.

[Socksy Squirrel]

We need conservation and I go out of my way to return fish to the water if they are lip hooked and have a decent chance of survival.

Wet gloves for handling and taken down the steps or lowered in a drop net.

Sometimes with a deeply hooked fish the kindest way out is a bang on the head. And fish in this situation are the bulk of my take.

I turn rocks back when looking for bait but look at some bottom trawls and talk to a few divers, they will tell you about the damage done by inshore trawling.

[Toerag]

It won't be a record :-

 

NO record claims are going to be submitted in respect of Daniel de Kock’s 10-3-10 ballan wrasse.

This decision was taken following the results of tests on the scales used to weigh the wrasse.

It was weighed on two different sets of domestic scales, which were comprehensively tested by the States Weights and Measures.

Both were found to have varying inaccuracies of up to four ounces. In addition, they failed repeatability tests, recording different values when the same weight was applied on six separate occasions.

It was obvious that while the scales were perfectly adequate for domestic use, they could not be considered acceptable for record claims.

It is certain that the wrasse broke all existing records and did weigh approximately 10-0-0.

However, due to the scales inadequacies, its true, precise weight will never be known and there is no doubt that both the British and Bailiwick Record Committees would not approve of any claims submitted for the wrasse.

All anglers will have great sympathy for the boy. A 10-0-0 wrasse is one of angling’s holy grail.

The possibility of such a fish being caught on rod and line has been discussed and anticipated for many decades throughout the United Kingdom and the CI.

It was an outstanding fish, the catch of a lifetime, and it’s a tragedy that the youngster will not be able to receive the full recognition that he deserves.

No criticism can be levelled at de Kock and his family for the unfortunate turn of events and the sad outcome.

Having just arrived in the island from South Africa they had no idea of what the fish was, its importance or who to contact for advice. It was the very unusual circumstances that was the real cause of the problem.