Blooming heck – I've accidentally hooked a monster trout

[Emma two]

If you are basing your opinion on just 2 people who you regularly fish with dont you think that others (as I have) who are basing their opinions on a lot wider range of experience should at least be allowed to comment rather than being accused of "trying to wind people up"? surely you must see that? This by your own admission.

 

At no point have I or anyone else sugested that yourself or the other people you name "dont have a high regard for the course fish we pick up when fly fishing"

 

You seem to think I am trying to cause a rift between the two factions? why when Im a member of both? Just commenting on what I have witnessed from a lot wider experience than you admit to have.

 

Simple facts (not opinions) are that the killing of your catch is still a major part of game angling. Coarse fish are still regarded as vermin/a problem/undesirable in a lot of trout waters and the rules of the controling bodies often state they must be removed if caught.Note I dont say all and as such dont feel Im making a "sweeping statement"

 

I fish with only a couple of people its true, and more often than not am alone. however that does not indicate a lack of experience, I have been at the game a long time, (longer than you(given that your profile age is accurate), and in those years have seen lots of anglers doing lots of things, both in the UK and abroad.

Fishing with only 2 companions is quite enough, how many people do you fit into your beat or boat at a time?

 

Your 'simple facts', concerning killing (game fish), is there there any evidence to support your case? and in a wider context than the stocked trout fisheries, which do not constitute whole of game fishing , and are you talking about the UK?

 

Here is a selection from up and down the Uk, (including some waters which I have or do fish) with reference to the ethos of catch and release, maybe they will serve to clarify the position game anglers are increasingly taking.

 

over 90% of the sea trout caught on the Ehen, Duddon and Wyre were released and over 70% of the salmon on the Ribble. these fish were returned voluntarily by anglers.

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/regio...n=1&lang=_e

 

 

"catch and release scheme.

 

"Those who return their fish alive and well river will have the comfort of knowing that their fish will have a great chance of spawning.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/mid_/3185447.stm

 

All our beats are catch and release we don't want to kill them before they have had a chance to shine!

"piscivorous

http://www.tyneriverstrust.org/TAPtemp/tapindex.htm

 

Reviving the salmon

Avoid weighing the fish – estimate the weight.

A photograph provides a record of your catch but keep the fish in the water.

Support the fish steadily, in a current, facing upstream.

Be patient- a tired fish needs your help, but minimise handling.

Give the fish time to recover and swim away on its own

http://www.fishing.visitwales.com/fe/defau...n2=29&n3=30

 

"it is clear that ferox do survive catch and release well if properly handled".

 

http://wheretofish.spinfish.co.uk/WheretofishforFerox.html

 

On the eastate, ALL SALMON AND SEA TROUT FISHING IS CATCH AND RELEASE. ...

http://www.ardtornish.co.uk/Pages/ON_WATER_ACTIVITIES.asp

 

On what waters are you seeing the piscivorous anglers of your 'facts'?

[Dick Dastardly]

Bewl Water

Grafham

Rutland

R.Test

R.Itchen

Avon (Hampshire)

R.Frome (both Bristol and Dorset)

 

No stuff this I could go on for ages naming waters Ive fished that have a kill all you catch and "all coarse fish to be removed" ruling.Im talking about game waters in general from the Midlands down to the south coast.Ive fished several Welsh and Scottish waters also that are the same.In fact I would say the only area Im not that familiar with personaly is the North of Englands rivers.However through my dealings in fishery management Ive heard more than enough about the attitude of some of the northern river trout angling clubs. No Im sorry even though you are correct that over the last couple of decades game angling has started to see a move to catch and release (er of trout anyway) I still feel my comments were correct.Allthough like I said before I fail to see why they were takewn so out of context when all I was doing was praising a new angler and trying to reassure him that he had done nothing wrong.

 

I may not be as old as you but feel that the 40+ years Ive been in this game and the various proffesional involvements Ive had in it more than qualify me to comment......even if I have never been an EA baillif..........

 

In fact instead of screwing this thread up anymore why dont you cut and paste my initial remarks (in context to the origonal posters) in a new thread over on the Fly fishing forum and see what other flyfishers think of it?

[lutra]

Bewl Water

Grafham

Rutland

R.Test

R.Itchen

Avon (Hampshire)

R.Frome (both Bristol and Dorset)

 

No stuff this I could go on for ages naming waters Ive fished that have a kill all you catch and "all coarse fish to be removed" ruling.Im talking about game waters in general from the Midlands down to the south coast.Ive fished several Welsh and Scottish waters also that are the same.In fact I would say the only area Im not that familiar with personaly is the North of Englands rivers.However through my dealings in fishery management Ive heard more than enough about the attitude of some of the northern river trout angling clubs. No Im sorry even though you are correct that over the last couple of decades game angling has started to see a move to catch and release (er of trout anyway) I still feel my comments were correct.Allthough like I said before I fail to see why they were takewn so out of context when all I was doing was praising a new angler and trying to reassure him that he had done nothing wrong.

 

I may not be as old as you but feel that the 40+ years Ive been in this game and the various proffesional involvements Ive had in it more than qualify me to comment......even if I have never been an EA baillif..........

 

In fact instead of screwing this thread up anymore why dont you cut and paste my initial remarks (in context to the origonal posters) in a new thread over on the Fly fishing forum and see what other flyfishers think of it?

 

Well i might have to bow to your 40+years of fishing but i do have 30+years of allround freshwater fishing and with the exception of Bewl Ive not fished any of the water you mention as the south of England has never been high on my list of places to fish. But having fished most corners of the British Isles for game fish i can honestly say i have never seen a coarse fish deliberately killed by a game angler.

 

When it comes to killing coarse fish deliberately i would be very surprised if pike anglers weren't the worst offenders. Having spent a lot of time on waters where game and pike fishing are the main targets i would also put pike anglers up there in being the dirtiest in leaving rubbish behind and having very little respect for thier surrounds but i can only go off what i see in the places i fish.

 

If you want to look at the lack of respect shown to coarse fish from my experience you would be better off looking at some of carp lakes up and down the country where fish like bream are seen pesty vermin and swim round with half their faces missing having been very poorly unhooked and handled.

 

Yes there are some right prats with old fashioned views in the game fishing world but not as many as there is in coarse & pike fishing but that's just my opinion.

[Chris Plumb]

I can think of at least one game fishery on the Kennet that regard grayling as vermin! They allow some coarse fishing in the winter for a limited time - and always ask if I'll be keeping the grayling - I always put them back. A couple of years ago when Paul and I fished it we found over a dozen dead grayling on the picnic table from the previous days party. Fish ranging from a few ounce upto nearly a pound. Paul took them home to pop in his freezer for deadbaits (and ate the biggest one)...

 

 

C.

[Rusty]

If you go again, PM me before going and I'll pick out a few swims worth trying...

C.

And me please Chris. Since moving to the area 18 months ago I've fished the lake at Barton Court many times, I always give the river a look but I've never fished it.

 

I've got a few days leave that I need to take before the end of March and was planning to give the Kennet a try, some guidance on swims would be greatly appreciated.

[Anderoo]

I spent a very enjoyable day on the river Kennet in Berkshire this week.

 

Paid for a day's coarse fishing ticket and spent it trotting the river aiming for silverfish such as roach and dace. Didn't get a sniff though the day was still wonderful.

And then the float disappeared... and I hooked into a monster rainbow trout.

Sadly, not what I was aiming for in terms of species but the sheer size of it and the adrenaline rush I experienced in trying to get it to the riverbank outweighed any remorse that I had caught a game fish.

It's a stunning rainbow trout at least ten times larger than anything else I have ever caught! Well I am a novice...

Anyway, the 20" landing net struggled to cope...

I did of course put it back. I had a coarse fishing rather than a game fishing ticket. I'm no poacher.

My real concern was not that I caught a species other than that which I was aiming for but that a game fish was caught on bait rather than dry fly or nymph. Purists probably wouldn't be happy though I have to say it was still an incredible experience.

I guess others have done the same and caught game fish accidentally on bait? Should I have felt embarrassed about this and kept quiet (clearly I wasn't going to post anything on the game fishing board...) or is this quite common?

Also, my scales are rubbish. How much do you think it actually weighed?

 

A great fish, well done! Whenever you fish for coarse fish in trouty rivers you'll always end up catching the trout, there's really no way around it. They eat pretty much anything on any method. They can be annoying when you finally drop a bait into a carefully primed roach/dace/grayling/chub swim and immediately conntect with a crazy trout, but they do take skill to land on light tackle.

 

I fish a stream local to me which contains both brown trout and coarse fish. I fly fish it in the coarse closed season and coarse fish it in the open season, and I reckon I catch about 10 trout on coarse gear to every 1 on the fly. All are returned.

 

I reckon the guesstimates of about 3lb 8oz look about right - a belter!

Edited February 11, 2008 by Anderoo

[phil dean]

I have to agree, a lovely fish, well done.

 

I must agree, trout can be suicidal, at the end of the day this makes them ideal targets for catching with artificials, but also as mentioned, well done for landing such a large fighting fish on delicate tackle.

 

Just to give a factual statement to the comments made re handling of coarse fish, I am the secretary of one of the largest salmon clubs in the North of England. Though I cannot comment on recent anglers, traditionally all coarse fish were thrown up the bank when caught, or if they were lucky, were banged on the head. This still happens to (very rare) pike judging by the ones I've found.

 

I was made aware, on this site, of a match held annually on the river wansbeck, where all grayling are killed for the weigh in. This has subsequently been verified to me.

 

No-one is perfect, but please don't throw mud.

 

Budgie I'm sure you recall when coarse anglers used to hold bream by the eyes when unhooking them and many a match angler has returned more dead fish than live ones on a hot summers day.

 

No branch of the sport is whiter than white.

[Dick Dastardly]

I totally agree with the people who have said that bad practice still goes on in all areas of our sport.But Im not saying any different.Please lets not turn this into a debate on who is holier than though because thats not what its all about. Im simply defending (allthough I dont know why) the comments I made in my initial post which Emma Two doesnt seem to think are based so therefore regards them as an attempt to "wind people up".

 

I cant believe that with there policy of routinely killing course fish that Bewl has been mentioned in a positive light by Lutra? Now that will get me in trouble if the boss's read it! But facts are facts.

[Chris Plumb]

And me please Chris. Since moving to the area 18 months ago I've fished the lake at Barton Court many times, I always give the river a look but I've never fished it.

 

I've got a few days leave that I need to take before the end of March and was planning to give the Kennet a try, some guidance on swims would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

What species are you targetting?

 

Send me a PM -

 

C.

[lutra]

I cant believe that with there policy of routinely killing course fish that Bewl has been mentioned in a positive light by Lutra? Now that will get me in trouble if the boss's read it! But facts are facts.

 

What positive light? I merely said id fished it.