520lber caught!

[geffaz]

BOTTOMFISH! good to see you ar making some defo good arguments, and yes i have been playing the devils advocate to glean nowledge! but still dont get the trophy hunter thing! a pic like that is like hanging the head of a tiger that u have killed on the wall! yousless dead and pathetic! hence sombody telling the lad to go back to the 70s! were still killing made ya cock bigger!

not for me, releasing a magnificant powerful animal like the one in the pic! few photos of it beside the boat would make me feel twice the man!

screw the record, screw the skippers pics, i would know i had it , my friends would know i had it and above all! the fish would know i had it! Im no trophy hunter and have never felt the need to prove my manhood in that way,

again like most things that first pic and most like it ar media, commercialy , and as a result kudos driven! sad old world isnt it!

just a personal opinion that has nothing todo with conservation just the reluctance to kill animals i have respect for like some great white hunter!

[BOTTOMFISH]

I dont get it if you are going to keep the fish to eat it , you cant take a pic? The fish on that pic was eaten, what is wrong wit hvaing a pic?

[Severn Wolf]

I`ve kept with this thread and its been lively to say the least!

 

I`m afraid that what I have to say may offend some folks, please don`t forget its just my opinion.......

 

I think the condemnation of our U.S compadres has been a bit severe. We need to look at our our practices and realise that we`re not whiter than white before we start having a dig at anglers from another nation.

 

Look at the mistreatment of pike over the years......I know of pools where big pike (25 plussers) never go back, they end up on the table. Look at some pleasure anglers (and baliffs) who have nothing but hatred for pike and throw them in the bushes as they don`t want them in `their` lake. I don`t see that as the actions of a caring sportsman.

 

Salmon, they were taken in numbers from the rivers. Ok, the netsmen at the estuaries take a considerable amount more than anglers will ever catch but salmon anglers have been forced to operate a catch and release policy. Thats the key word, forced. It wasn`t a decision made by local clubs and syndicates controlling stretches of water, it was a decision made by the powers that be. We`ve known for years that the salmon population has been in decline but what have we voluntarily done about it?......nothing.

 

These swords are colossal fish but they are hammered by the longliners (as are many other `unwanted` species). The anglers have made the effort to get longliners areas restricted to conserve stocks, thats a damn sight more than we`ve ever done to protect our fishing. Ok, every now and again a monster fish appears dead in a photo but in the greater scheme of things its a worthwhile sacrifice. Also, the circumstances of capture seem to imply that these fish have a struggle to survive the capture. Its one of the darker sides of our sport but don`t forget that at its very basic we are still hunting.

 

Not too many years ago the Marlin Cup was fished by respected anglers and personalities and EVERY fish was killed. This was a high profile competition and its not been all that long that the points system and catch and release has been implemented.

 

I have fished with Florida Skippers and have seen first hand that fish welfare is top of the list. A 120 tarpon was carefully nursed back to strength by the skipper as I steered the boat round in circles. The thought of a scale off this fish or even lifting it out to get a trophy shot never entered either of our minds.

 

We have given our friends a hard time over this Sword without considering their situation. The fish wasn`t wasted, it may not have survived if released so what are they supposed to do?

 

The only option open for a 100% survival rate is to stop fishing for them......... and thats not going to happen.

[Tony U]

Nice post Severn, I concur with everything you have said, I have even forgiven you for being a Wolves supporter.

How's Carl Cort getting on these days by the way?

[BOTTOMFISH]

Tony are Cuban? If so Glad to see a fellow conrtymen.

[stan4massey]

Severn Wolf,

 

hats off, think you summed up the whole thing (or most of it) quite eloquently.

 

BOTTOMFISH bad news on the weather front, you wont get a lot of landscaping done, just need to spend time on yoyr fishing gear.

 

Scopex, hatchet sunk below the ground, live and let live.

[Tony U]

BOTTOMFISH:

Tony are Cuban? If so Glad to see a fellow conrtymen.

No, I have just visited Cuba a lot I am what is known as a Geordie by birth and a Man of Kent by adoption.

[Severn Wolf]

quote:

---

How's Carl Cort getting on these days by the way?

---

Tony, for some reason he is (was?) top goal scorer in the league. We`re blowing hot and cold but mostly tepid........

[BoatsMiami.com Yacht Sales]

Scopex:

What are you agreeing to though, the objection to my use of heavy braid or is it it's sporting qualities? I'm stragely curious, please enlighten me?

As you feel 80 lb braid 'saves' fish that otherwise get caught up on the craggy bottom of the lochs you fish, let me ask you this... have you given thought to as when one does get snagged you'll probably damage the fish in some way... by 'ripping' him through the obstruction and causing lip/bodily damage from the strain of well over 80 lbs (you do know that braid's breaking strength actually breaks well above its stated test, right?)? Light line will save more fish by breaking, thus freeing the fish from the snag. If you're as conservation minded as you claim, surely you're using degradable hook that will rot out in a few days versus hooks that become more like a permanent lip piercing as found on many of the young people today?

To go one step further... here we fish a lot for big grouper. My personal grouper rod is a 6' 40-80 lb loaded with 50 lb spider wire (spectra braid)with usually an 80 lb flourocarbon top-shot/leader. We hook 20-40 lb fish (and bigger!) which 'hole up' on us (they go into holes in the reef when hooked). We don't move up to 2000 cable to pull them loose. We l o o s e n up on them and wait for them to come out of the trouble spot AND THEN apply all the pressure our gear allows to turn them toward the surface. If they cut us off, they win, if we're patient, and somewhat lucky, we win. Finesse is sporting, in my opinion and I'm sure many others here as well, Where 'bulling' a fish in is not. I can see using say maybe 20 lb, or maybe even 30 for abraision reasons but beyond that it's just plain too much.

We here in Florida deal with many 'snaggy' areas... coral, artificial reefs, sunken wrecks, mangrove tree lined shores, bridge pilings and such, (usually encrusted with razor-like barnacles and mussels), and never have I heard of someone using such heavy line. You lose less fish finessing them on lighter line... try it and see for yourself.

[BoatsMiami.com Yacht Sales]

geffaz:

but still dont get the trophy hunter thing! a pic like that is like hanging the head of a tiger that u have killed on the wall! yousless dead and pathetic! hence sombody telling the lad to go back to the 70s! were still killing made ya cock bigger!

not for me, releasing a magnificant powerful animal like the one in the pic!

>but still dont get the trophy hunter thing!

>>you don't have to get it. What you're missing is if you fish, you're a hunter. Whether you fish for guppies or grouper.

>a pic like that is like hanging the head of a tiger that u have killed on the wall!

>>Who is talking about hanging anything on the wall? So you know, no taxidermist today uses an actual fish to make a wall mount. All mounts are fiberglass today. Tell them the length, girth, and any notable details and they'll mold one up for you.

>yousless dead and pathetic!

>>Lion meat may be useless, yes, but $30/kilo swordfish? Dead, yes. Must be to eat it easier! If eating your catch is considered pathetic, I am what I am.

>hence sombody telling the lad to go back to the 70s! were still killing made ya cock bigger!

>> Not that is was needed bigger, being of Italian descent, but YES, YES! It is! Yippee!

>not for me, releasing a magnificant powerful animal like the one in the pic!

>>If it was revivable after the long fight, I'm sure it would have been released if at all possible. You know what they say about making assumptions... Makes an ASS- out of -U- and -ME!