Strange spiny dorsal.....

[Tim Kelly]

Probably a good idea to take it as a lesson learned and not to try something like that again. Opening yourself up for further ridicule on a radio program would take a particularly masochistic mindset!

[bingo]

Nothing much more to add here. You did it in good faith but fish are better off left as they are. They are remarkably resilient. Obviously, if you find a fish with a hook or line still attatched then this should be removed.

 

I saw Matt Hayes and Mick Brown catch the uglist looking pike I (or they) had ever seen on a TV programme only yesterday. This pike had a really big 'pug nose' and a horirble looking growth below one of its eyes the size of a golf ball. They said it looked it was chewing a toffee! Anyway, despite these deformites (I know that pug noses are actually quite common) this fish was in great condition and they put it back untouched to let is carry on with its life. This is always the best policy.

 

If a fish does die then it will soon get dealt with by nature. If you're concerned about the health of lots of fish in an area then you can always inform the fishery owner or contact the EA.

[Dunk Fairley]

Monolito, I know all about the RM Canal and its bends. It's a very interesting stretch of water (in fact, although it was dug to help defeat Napoleon, it was finished and useable, many years after he popped his clogs).

 

I hope you don't think I was having a pop at you. Thr canal doesn't get "drained" as you put it. Water levels drop at this time of year, because it's also used as a water run off from the marshes, which would flood if the canal, and the sewers (look like small canals) are not regulated. The water runs off to the Rother, between Appledore and Rye.

 

It's surprising that the fish seem to find places to hide, even when the canal is very low indeed.

 

No doubt Kieth Arthur will have a lot of useful things to say on the matter.

[Guest monolito]

Monolito, I know all about the RM Canal and its bends. It's a very interesting stretch of water (in fact, although it was dug to help defeat Napoleon, it was finished and useable, many years after he popped his clogs).

 

I hope you don't think I was having a pop at you. Thr canal doesn't get "drained" as you put it. Water levels drop at this time of year, because it's also used as a water run off from the marshes, which would flood if the canal, and the sewers (look like small canals) are not regulated. The water runs off to the Rother, between Appledore and Rye.

 

It's surprising that the fish seem to find places to hide, even when the canal is very low indeed.

 

No doubt Kieth Arthur will have a lot of useful things to say on the matter.

 

I think we should put this thread to bed now folks, thanks for all your views on the subject.

 

Will be fishing the river lea at cheshunt in hertfordshire on saturday, heard that decent bags are falling too hemp and caster, fingers crossed! watch this space. cheers all.

[Dick Dastardly]

Good luck on the Lea Monolito.......just try and resist the urge to disect your catch or cannalise the river!

 

Er in fact it wasnt you who was fishing Bob B's Wet Sheds last winter and caught loads of roach with black spot on their scales was it?

Edited November 15, 2006 by BUDGIE

[gozzer]

Good luck on the Lea Monolito.......just try and resist the urge to disect your catch or cannalise the river!

 

Er in fact it wasnt you who was fishing Bob B's Wet Sheds last winter and caught loads of roach with black spot on their scales was it?

 

 

Naughty, Naughty Budgie

[Guest monolito]

Good luck on the Lea Monolito.......just try and resist the urge to disect your catch or cannalise the river!

 

Er in fact it wasnt you who was fishing Bob B's Wet Sheds last winter and caught loads of roach with black spot on their scales was it?

 

Through fear of incriminating myself any further budgie, it was definately not me, but having said that.................. Diseased fish do have a tendency to follow me around

[Dunk Fairley]

Some stretches of the Lea, look really manky. But the fish thrive there.

 

Thats a point. If you were to remove shopping trolleys, sunblest crates, barrels and the odd car from a river, would you be "guilty" of altering the fish's natural environment? A lot of waterlife lives on such rubbish.

Edited November 16, 2006 by Dunk Fairley

[Dick Dastardly]

Ah I see youve had dealings with English Nature then Dunc!

[Dunk Fairley]

Just a few Budgie. Seriously though. In the sea, fish abound on shipwrecks, around the legs of oil rigs and around the end of sewerage outfalls.

 

One of the best "hotspots" in 7 Island Pond, on Mitcham Common, felt like a gravel bar, when you pulled your lead back over it. Therefore, a lot of bait went out to it, making it an irresistable place for the Carp and Tench to feed. It turned out to be a sheet of corrugated steel. There was also a very similar hotspot on the much smaller 1 Island pond. This turned out to be a flattened out dustbin of all things.

 

There was a really good chub "hole" in the side of a capsized boat at Wateringbury one year.