Weighing and release sacks

[poledark]

Pango, I LOVE that smell, my van reeks of it most days...anyone asks me if I have caught lately, I just tell them to smell my net

 

Klein, all very well if you can get down on your knees close enough to the fish to do it safely. Occasionly I release small (up to low doubles) in the net, but if the fish starts to thrash about with the risk of scale damage, then it is out of the water and on the mat where it is safe (for the fish)

 

Different standards for different fish for some people, I know blokes who wont net a Tench because it will get slime on their net! Never seems to bother them that the fish has to be strongly restrained while the hook is removed in the water. Probably danaging the fish's body and mouth.

 

Photo,s and weighing? don't do double carp, but any fish which looks 20+ (carp) or over 8 (tench/bream) 4lb (eels) will get weighed and probably a quick pic. To me that shows a bit of respect for my quarry, a good fish is always worth a pic.

 

Den

[Dick Dastardly]

Ive never been that keen on carp sacks or tunnels for that matter for retaining pike in.I simply dont think the water/oxygen exchange in them is good enough.Remember carp need tar less oxygen so have no problems in general with them.

 

I dont usually have any need to retain pike my self.If ever a situation did arise where I wasnt ready to release one imediately I would/havev simply kept them in the landing net.

 

Using a good weigh sling for pike is just common sense.They arnt particularly expensive especially compared for the rest of the gear.Perfectly good ones are available for less than the price of most jerk baits!

 

No need for anything to hold them in the water untill theyve recoverd fully other than your hands.Think its a good policy to always carry fish back to the water in a weigh sling though to avoid accidents.

[jason.p]

 

 

 

 

Using the landing net to weigh fish in is a horrible way to treat a fish, all screwed up in the mesh, but probably OK for small fish up to about 4/5lbs (depending on the net size)

 

Sorry mate, can't agree with you on that, if your net is suitable for landing the fish, then surely it is ok just to hang it from the scales for a few seconds to weigh it if you really need to!. To transfer it to another net seems like another handling procedure and more potential stress and trauma. I bought a weighing sling (for a lot less than £30!), used it once then never bothered to take it out again.

Besides, it's another thing to dip and rinse on arrival at those waters that require it. Just out of interest, do people dip their weighing slings, or unhooking mats??

[poledark]

Jason, most of what I fish for nowadays are likely to be pretty big, and they are netted, lifted out on to an unhooking mat where they are restrained if needed. Then unhooked.

 

My weigh sling is already laid out in the bottom of the mat(cradle) so the fish can then be lifted and weighed without any stress.

I fish 4/5days a week and catch quite a lot of big doubles/twenties, sometimes up to 10 a day, and they all go on the mat for unhooking and are slid back in from the sling.

I have to use a net, but only for netting.

 

Regarding dipping nets and slings, if you do a search you will find a load of stuff, but the advice generally is that you have to soak for several minutes, THOUROUGHLY rinse, best in at least two seperate tanks, and every thing must be changed daily.

 

Not rinsing properly will probably add more marmful ingrediants to the water, and this is why most fisheries abandoned dips.

 

Den

Edited April 29, 2007 by poledark

[jason.p]

Jason, most of what I fish for nowadays are likely to be pretty big, and they are netted, lifted out on to an unhooking mat where they are restrained if needed. Then unhooked.

 

My weigh sling is already laid out in the bottom of the mat(cradle) so the fish can then be lifted and weighed without any stress.

I fish 4/5days a week and catch quite a lot of big doubles/twenties, sometimes up to 10 a day, and they all go on the mat for unhooking and are slid back in from the sling.

I have to use a net, but only for netting.

 

Regarding dipping nets and slings, if you do a search you will find a load of stuff, but the advice generally is that you have to soak for several minutes, THOUROUGHLY rinse, best in at least two seperate tanks, and every thing must be changed daily.

 

Not rinsing properly will probably add more marmful ingrediants to the water, and this is why most fisheries abandoned dips.

 

Den

 

Can't argue with you Den, it would appear you do a hell of a lot more fishing than I do, and catch bigger ones too!! (how do you get away with it).

On the subject of dipping, as you say it's been covered many times before, and as far as I can see, unless as you say it's done properly with fresh disinfectant, for the correct length of time, it's a complete wasted exercise. I still don't see why the unhooking mat is not required to be dipped. I've never seen it as a fishery rule, and how many people dip their weighing sling??.

[kleinboet]

Den, I ain't gonna argue with you!! But if I can do it at 63 with Spondilylosis (L5S1) and a crumbling spine can do it, surely others can!

Jason - We are not talking those 4ft Carp nets here (I don't like them!), I looked around for the biggest pan net with fish friendly mesh I could find and use that!

The argument about net dipping will go on and on. A Microbiologist told me that if your net is dry, anything nasty on your net is dead. My own personal opinion is thet he's probably right! People not dipping unhooking mats and no disease is POSSIBLY proof of this!

[Guest tigger]

I've heard that if your nets are left out in the sun it's rays kill off any bacteria hangin around. How true it is I don't know.

[Guest Rabbit]

I've heard that if your nets are left out in the sun it's rays kill off any bacteria hangin around. How true it is I don't know.

 

I have heard that UV will kill bacteria.

[Kappa]

I have heard that UV will kill bacteria.

 

UV light will kill most things however I doubt the sun will be strong enough plus the bugs will happily live inside the mesh in the shaded damp.

 

Don't forget about viruses which are much more resilient and some bacteria can produce spores which are also very hardy! The best thing would be to dip all your tackle/yourself/and your car in a very strong detergent followed by heating it all to 120 degrees at 30psi for 15 minutes. Gamma irradiation is good too.

 

Back to the weighsling thread I too like plastic bags as they don't remove slime. Those suit bags you get with the hard plastic handles are quite good for medium fish, I know some barbel anglers use plastic bags made for rolls of wallpaper. If you are planning to catch large fish a weigh sling might be better though I think my cost a bout a fiver. Mine dries quite quickly especially if you catch as few fish as me !

 

Rich

[Anderoo]

Another vote for plastic bags! They're ideal for smaller fish like roach and perch etc. plus you can chuck them away later. I have a proper weigh sling which I got free when I bought my digi scales, but I haven't used it yet. I much prefer weighing in the landing net. If I can limit the number of wet smelly things I have to take home I will!