Legal Vs Recommended

[bozjc]

how would you claim a record fish?
go in the record books, photo in a mag, big grin, fish in hand.
then landed with a fine for breaking the law, no escaping due to the evidence.

tough call.
not that i will ever land a record fash

tony, have an xmas size limit pub quiz ;D
everyone will get to learn the size limits, link most people fav passtimes, fishing and pubs together for one night lol

education is the future.
maybe foreign fish rules dished out on the piers to foreign scum that bag up on undersize fish.

[willywetegg]

So why not mention giving out fish rules to all of the local scum that keep undersized fish in the same sentence Boz. I am quite sure it has been done a hell of a lot more on our piers, beaches and rocks by British people mate. I have seen them do it as have many many more people on this forum. Let's keep things clear for everyone not just one set of people.

Jim.

[bozjc]

never really seen many people do it where i fish, but im not one for trying to single out one group.
locals as well ;D

[Sigsy]

At the end of the day
I've caught a few Bass now but only kept one,
I kept it because it was above the minimun NFSA limit, and of course only because I ate it.
However, I love Bass, it's a beautiful tasting fish, I would love to take any I catch to eat, but I wont.
If I caught one and it was above legal DEFRA size but below NFSA size I would return it.
Simple fact being that I'm an angler, and its my sport
I'm not fishing to feed myself, but if the rules of my sport say I can keep certain spoils then thats a bonus
I've returned many an NFSA size fish (Bass included) and I always will, because I prefer the nice feeling I get knowing that I'm a responsible angler and a sportsman*
*however on occasion I will take home a fish for tea, not every size one I catch, but occasionnaly, I'm sure there's some irony in there somewhere but I'm happy with it.

[codseeker]

i very rare eat my catch but a lot of other folk do so none wasted

[guy]

as a idea maybe the local tackle shops could include a page in their new tide guide books for 2010 a page that tells people size limits for fish caught from our shores maybe

[willywetegg]

A canny idea Guy, at least that way they could pass on the price of it to us, as they should not have to pay for it. I for one wouldn't mind having to pay a little more for something like that and just one small page of writing would not be a lot. I still think something in the way of information should come from the government though as there have been a few schemes to get new people into fishing over the last few years.

Jim.

[el_sid]

personally i fish for the sport, and only keep fish that are unable to be returned.

i get alot more pleasure returning them than eating them and even if a caught a record breaking monster a would 100% return the fish if it was still healthy a nearly always take my camera so a have the photos for memories and proof etc

as for size limits a think all size limits should be based on breeding/spawning age, so a think a keeper should be a fish that has had at least 2 years breeding.

there should also be alot more patrols to catch out people who take undersize fish, or else people are never gonna take notice

[pondlife]

post

ive watched this thread from a distance and not really wanted get embroiled in an ultimately self defeating argument. the comments and thoughts of all who have posted have one thing in common, the general wellbeing and sustainment of our sport. However, the overall picture should be taken into account and as far im concerned. from what ive seen on shows like "trawlermen",no matter how much damage the combined effects of every single angler in the north east in taking undersize fish it isnt even scratching the surface of a SINGLE non profitable full net of discard fish chucked back by so called farmers of the sea. a group of people who as far as i can see put f#ckall back into the industry in which they work.
Beat yourselves up if you want to folks but it could be seen as just an exercise in points scoring and one upmanship from the outside looking in.
as a recent returnee to sea angling I can guarentee you that more fish are returned now by the majority of anglers that where ever set free in the 80's. long may it continue but lets get it into perspective.
p.s. I aint condoning taking home baby fish but like a previous poster said, taking the breeding adults is far worse

[The Great Wallsendo]

I hear what you are saying Pondy but at least we (as Recreatoinal Sea Anglers) can maintain the moral high ground if we can keep our own house in order when it comes to fish sizes

[Mogthemackem]

I stick rigidly to the size limits but it all seems a bit random to me... If you catch one cod at 30cms and put it back, then catch two at 40cms and keep them to eat, how does that help cod stocks?... Cod don't lay eggs till they're about 7lb or something..

Just a little update for you bud. I read some reasearch done which states cod now lay eggs at about 3 or 4 pounds. This could be an evoluntionary thing due to over fishing. Suppose they want to get their leg over before they're strung up in a net?? Dabs at 20cm are se through and have no meat on them so that's one of the most bizzarre sizings but suppose they don't grow a great deal more so what can be done? I agree with you Jim that, as most know, I've worked with literally hundreds of kids and only ones which fish regularly (which has been minute proportion) know about legal sizes. Eyebrows are certainly raised when they realise they could be fined for taking infant fish home although most of them want to do it as a trophy. Tbh I advise most sized fish to go back when caught through the project apart from Mackerel. Only literally a handful of fish have been taken home and they have been well oversize out of around 900 kids fished.

More education is needed which includes prosecution guidance but needs to be more mainstream than just those who are very knowledgeable in fishing