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Are keepnets really so bad, if so why?


Emma two

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I've just realised that I may have come across as a bit anti-keepnet, but I should add that I don't actually have any problem with people using keepnets, as long as they are, as most others have said, used correctly and the "right" fish are kept in there.

 

I just don't use one myself and don't feel the need to use one, is all.

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Gozzer, you're a match angler who has more experience of these things that I have. Why don't you and Emma get together and draw up, what you think is the correct way to use a keep-net and then see to it that as many anglers as possible, sign a petition to keep their use in place?

 

Andy, my match fishing stopped many years ago, not because of keepnets or methods, but the attitude of some anglers and the greed that I saw in some.

 

We had a debate some time ago about the right way to use a keepnet. I was pulled up by some match anglers on here saying that I had got most of it right, but, I was wrong in the way I lifted the net out of the water.

I said I always lift a net out of the water, so that the fish are spread along the length. (Remember I match fished before 50lb of fish was thought of as a poor result).

They said that I should lift the net with all the fish at the bottom, and bring the lower rings up through the top ring to get at the fish. I didn't agree, because I didn't like the thought of a few stones of fish compressing those at the bottom of the net.

So you see I'm probably not the one to campaign for them, because todays matchmen don't even agree with me. :)

 

I too cannot understand the mind set of many anglers today.

Some will call for a ban on things they don't use or do, just because of the fact they don't do it!

Is it any more stressful to keep a few fish in a keepnet for a couple of hours, than to stock a water to bursting point for the duration of the fishs life?

Many of these waters ban the use of keepnets, but still maintain the ludicrous stocking policies.

Some will call for the ban on keepnets, but still misuse unhooking mats, thinking no doubt that they are doing the right thing, because an 'expert' says they should.

Some act like my (slightly sarcastic) earlier post and keep fish out of the water too long, just for the 'trophy' shot. But still think that they are somehow superior to those that use a keepnet.

 

As it's been said many times on here (by both myself and others). If angling is banned, then it will be the actions of the anglers themselves that causes it, not that of the antis.

 

John.

Angling is more than just catching fish, if it wasn't it would just be called 'catching'......... John

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My only question is why. What is this obsession with knowing the exact weight of a fish, and why the need for photographs?

 

I don't consider it an 'obsession', not in the clinical psychological meaning any way. However I do recognise and accept the humaness in myself, and with it the weaknesses of that condition. We are all at least capable of becoming our own experts. Perhaps being part of a species which has concerned itself with measurments in almost all cultures and societies. Measurments become so important that success and failure can be divided by fractions of a second (athelitics) or by a few inches of a human body being over an imaginary line (yes I do understand to 'offside law'), and of course ones bank statements can be significantley black or red by the difference of a penny.

I know myself well enough to know that for evermore, had I not weighed the fish that when asked if I had ever taken a 20, I would have had to answer, 'not sure, but I may have' . I suppose that following the trend of distaining scales and cameras then evry good double can become a 20, at least when telling of it afterwards.

 

I like to photograph, nowaday I carry a tiny but very good digital in my handbag everywhere I go, 'just in case', I have pictures of the lakes in all their moods and at all the times of the day and the seasons. Most of my fishing is (or was until recently) conducted on the move, lures from boat or bank and so keepnets don't come into that equasion at all. However all pike taken in my usual lake are weighed, photographed and measured as part of ongoing research into the pike population of that water. I see nothing wrong in that the camera has replaced the priest.

"Some people hear their inner voices with such clarity that they live by what they hear, such people go crazy, but they become legends"
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Going back to the 1970's I was on the committee of a local Blackpool angling club and via the AGM we brought in a far sighted rule that banned the use of keepnets except for matches. Over the following couple of years two things happened that were very noticeable. Firstly the overall condition of the fish improved visibly. Secondly they became much more confident in their feeding and thus the fishing improved.

 

I salute the then far sighteness of the members of Blackpool Transport Angling Club as that rule was implemented after a great deal of debate.

It is worth noting that that rule has remained in place for over thirty years now and the benefits have been such that it would appear to be very unlikely to change back now.

 

Unless there is any real reason to keep fish in a keepnet it is a pointless exercise....just so we can have one last look at the end of the day!

Fish do not like being cooped up in an often cramped net they do learn from the experience and as a result will tend to be a great deal shyer thus your sport is lessened.

 

Since the Blackpool Transport Club rule change all those years ago word got round and it is virtually standard issue in the rule book of the clubs round here.

 

I am not advocating a total ban on the use of keepnets as they have a value in matches or for very temporary retention of a fish whilst you set up the scales and camera. However in most other circumstances they have no value and continued use will detract from the sporting qualities of your stock

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical

minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which

holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd

by the clean end"

Cheers

Alan

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Unless there is any real reason to keep fish in a keepnet it is a pointless exercise....

 

It is indeed, although unless you eat your catch, the whole exercise of catching fish to have a wee look at them is pointless.

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It is indeed, although unless you eat your catch, the whole exercise of catching fish to have a wee look at them is pointless.
A case I have been trying to make on AN off and on for ages, but coarse anglers just don't seem to get this. My son who is only 13 is quite happy to go and fish for a few mackerel for the barbie, but cannot really see the point or to use his words 'la justification' in me going out to catch mullet or his sister sitting in a tent all night to catch carp, just to have a wee look and let them go again.

The problem isn't what people don't know, it's what they know that just ain't so.
Vaut mieux ne rien dire et passer pour un con que de parler et prouver que t'en est un!
Mi, ch’fais toudis à m’mote

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A case I have been trying to make on AN off and on for ages, but coarse anglers just don't seem to get this. My son who is only 13 is quite happy to go and fish for a few mackerel for the barbie, but cannot really see the point or to use his words 'la justification' in me going out to catch mullet or his sister sitting in a tent all night to catch carp, just to have a wee look and let them go again.

 

Yep, I'm in agreement too!

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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It's probably best not to think too hard about justifying pleasure angling. "'cos I like it" is sufficient. Mind you, even if I tried to justify beach fishing for the pot, I'd still find myself throwing more fish into the sea than I take back out of it. With petrol, bait and tackle, it would be cheaper to eat at Rick Stein's place! :lol:

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I don't see the problem with taking weights and photographs. They are a measure of your effort and success and they serve as a reminder for the rest of your days. Asking why is like asking why have medals for winning a race. A medal is a prize, a measure, a reminder, an act of recognition by your peers. Weights and photographs serve the same purpose for the angler.

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