killing your catch of fish

[keithm]

how many people kill there fish, when they have just brought them aboard the boat?
as i make sure they are dead within minutes but have been on boats in the past were people just leave them to die on there own, which is ok or not with trawlers but i dont agree doing the same on a charter only takes a min to knock it and the fish aint suffering unless i,m missing something, as was fishing scaling dam and my mate got told off for not knocking his trout off after 1 minute out of the water, not hes fault as hes disabled so finds it hard to get to a to b so i done it

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

The fish should always be killed ASAP ,sometimes whilst still on the trace/lure if possible in my oppinion ,it's a real pain to do it with mackarel I know but still they should be dealt with in the same way as it only takes a bump on the head to stop any suffering.

[keithm]

steve glad you agree mate, as have seen it happen week after week on boat were they just shot the fish into boxes to die, its not on its just being lazy i think

[keithm]

was on boat yrs ago my m8 got dirty looks for knocking a 16 lb ling out, why i dont know till this day , could have been jealousey

[The Great Wallsendo]

In my limited experience i have discovered that Ling are pretty hard to despatch....one tried making a bid for freedom in front of my own eyes, over an hour after I'd caught it!!!

[northeast1]

I agree, ling are like a tank. You cant put a knife throught the head unless its a stong one, you cant knock them out very easy and if you leave them they jump around for ages until they catch your leg with them teeth.

Mackerel, snap neck = 1 second

Cod, soft head 1 good hit = 2 seconds

Ling, Nuke or maybe bunker buster bomb

[KeithB]

The sole of a boot containing 16 stone about the head does the trick.

[mark]

tried to despatch a conger once, whacked it over the head with 16oz pirk a few times, that just made it angry. Had a folding spade on the boat so tried that a few times - that really ****ed it off and it bit me

gave up after a while and left it to sulk for an hour then sneaked up on it from behind and tried a 7.5kg danforth, it really didn't like that at all so in the finish I let it drive the boat back out a bit, crept up behind it, dropped a towel over it head so it couldn't see me and hoyed it over the side where it swam back to the depths

I guess it had been out of the water well over an hour and a half, had been beaten about the head with a variety of blunt instruments, and still swam off none the worse for its ordeal

[Oblickta]

I try my best to kill them asap if they're going in the pot but always have a prob with maccy and end up looking like I just lost the in final of ultimate fighter. I've tried cutting the back of the head through with a sharp knife and battering them with a blunt instrument but there's always one still flappin around

[mark]

I try my best to kill them asap if they're going in the pot but always have a prob with maccy and end up looking like I just lost the in final of ultimate fighter. I've tried cutting the back of the head through with a sharp knife and battering them with a blunt instrument but there's always one still flappin around

stick your thumb in their gob, against the roof of their mouth, foerfinger back of head, and twist up, snaps their neck, they stop wriggling almost instantly

point their arse away from you though! they have a habit of letting go right at the end!

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

Yes Mark they can make a canny mess allright .

[KeithB]

Don't I know it

[codthumper]

conger

i was told to hit conger in the fent seemed to quite them down a bit . but never actually killed outright

[codhw]

If Im going to keep them I always try and despatch ASAP even before taking them of the hook. As for Mackies palm of the hand under the chin and a quick push up snaps the neck I find does the trick. Never caught a conger but we live in hope/trepidation