Game Fishing - Drawing a line?

[Ell]

I think there is little difference between fishing for certain species, big billfish in particular and the tiger hunting of old. I understand One arguement is the fish can be returned. it just doesn\'t sit right with me personally.

What are your thoughts?

[bribones]

not sure what your getting at ell ? i course fish during the summer months but have always said if its edible and legal size you should be able to keep it,lots oh cookbooks out there for carp etc ,sea game fishing ? i dont see the point i always fish for the pot unless undersized,not sure what you mean by tiger hunting ,mammal or shark

[alan]

See your point Ell,I agree that if the spcies is in danger then it should be left alone like wise if there is alot of certain fish then why not fish for it,the question is when does it end probably when certain fish are wiped out,difficult one to answer really !

[Ell]

Bri I don\'t think I explained myself that clearly sorry. I don\'t have a problem with c**rse angling Sea Anglers do not fish for the pot they fish for sport, just the same. I don\'t know wether billfish are in decline or not, I should! (At a guess I\'d say they were, the only species on the up seems to be the Rat and the Politician) Just doesn\'t seem right to be taking messing with those type of creatures.

[bribones]

if a fish is in decline due to overfishing wether it be sport or other it should be left alone to recover if possible but what with big money being made taking the rich set out many whom have no clue as to how to release fish properly ,im probably totaly barking up the wrong tree again (blame the stella)
Rat and the Politician ?is there a difference
back to the point as alan says target fish that are numerous or a pest species and leave those in decline off the menu

[alan]

Unless I get a fish of decent size these days I throw them all back,can\'t be bothered trying to fillet smaller fish for a start,Caught a load of whiting at the weekend and a guy could\'nt believe I was putting them back,\"nowt rang with that young\'un put it in your bag\"

[gogs]

Ell i am off on another exotic game fish hunt in two weeks to mozambique all shore fishing and every thing we catch will be released bar any fish bleeding as the sharks would get them instantly,any fish retained will be eating that night for supper,i dont see/have any problem fishing for game fish if they are handled properly (which most are) then they will go back with no problem. Les once told me that a marlin weighting 100\'s of lbs is only 5/6 years old as they have such a rich diet,billfish etc are all in the same class they all have a quick growth.now for the bad news our european community on behalf of the spanish and french and a few others has bought the rights to pillage nearly all the coastal areas round africa,so it dont matter if you go and catch a few game fish,them ****ing euro trawlers and the japs will sort them all out soon (

[Davyred]

I\'m like you Alan. Whiting go back unless I know for a fact they\'ll die due to being gut hooked. I only purposely go to keep codling, and then it depends on numbers and size. Try not to keep anything under 1.5lb.

As far as game fishing goes Ell, I can see your point, but I couldn\'t comment for or against as I don\'t know all the facts. What I will say is if sailfish etc are in danger and angling is stopped for them, would everyone on this board honestly say that they\'d stop fishing for cod if their numbers got to the same point?

I may be wrong, but the sheer numbers of whiting evident up and down the north east coast prove that the food chain in the North sea is changing for the worse. Young whiting apparently love cod larvae, so cod larvae must be getting some serious hammer, while the Whiting thrive.

Something needs to be done. What, I don\'t know.

[gogs]

forgot to say,Bri its not all the rich set that do this type of fishing,i certainly aint rich,i just work hard and save hard to do this type of fishing and the majority of lads you meet on big game trips are like us they all want to catch a fish that takes line of your reel and then put it back after taking a pic

[gogs]

also forgot to say if anybody is interested in this sort of fishing and they are going to the norway fishing nights that alan charlton posted about recently with dave lewis etc giving some info about norway. at the end of the night ask Dave lewis about the sport/game fishing thats available

[bribones]

Gordon im not saying its just the rich set doing it,you dont seem the type of bloke who who go out and fish an endangerd species unlike the spanish and the french,what im saying is if theres something that is difficult to catch becouse of rarity its normaly the rich bloke who wants to go out and catch it and while this is the case species on the decline will remain on the decline

[MikeR]

I personally would have no interest at all in marlin, shark, tope fishing. At the end of the day I want to try and catch something decent that I can eat. Breaking my back to haul a huge fish to the surface for no reason just doesn\'t appeal.

[Les]

I think there is little difference between fishing for certain species, big billfish in particular and the tiger hunting of old. I understand One arguement is the fish can be returned. it just doesn\'t sit right with me personally.

What are your thoughts?

thats just your old class warfare roots coming through again ell

nothing wrong with fishing for marlin, sailfish etc, it used to be the domain of the well off but now its within the grasp of anyone willing to sacrifice beer and fag money for a year or so.

a trip to kenya, if you do your own booking, not using one of the tour companies, with 5 or 6 days fishing booking 2 to a boat will cost you less than £2,000 including food and beer money

the problem is as gogs pointed out is that a lot of 3rd world countries have sold the offshore right to the european and japanese companies because they cannot afford to put the infrastucture in to exploit it themselves, this also means that they lack the funds and ability to police it, meaning that, although there is quotas the foreign boats have to adhere to, who is going to stop them filling factory ships to bursting point....no-one thats who

so my point is, if you want to catch a marlin or swordfish, monster tiger shark etc, do it ASAP because the way things are going theres not going to be too many left very soon.

gogs was also right in that marlin and sailfish only live for 5 or 6 years, if you see a 1500lb marlin dead in the press chances are it was getting near the end of its life anyway and will have spawned several times

unless you have tried it nothing can prepare you for the fight that a tropical gamefish will give you, i caught a 176lb skate on 50lb gear in 420 feet of water on sunday and had it to the boat in 15 minutes, in january i had a 60lb giant trevally on the same weight tackle in 100 feet and it took me 25 minutes to boat it, soooo strong....

get saving, ell....change to a cheaper cider....get yerself oot there :P

[Edited on 4/11/2004 by Les]