undersize fish <big style>.

[korky65]

had a run out up to amble quayside yesterday teatime for a walk, I decided to have a walk along the pier as I seen a few anglers towards the end to see if they were catching anything upon my arrival I saw quite an old man of british origin bring in a double shot of very small fish 1xflounder about 6 inches long, and 1x coaly about the same size, I proceeded to help him unhook the small fish as he seemed to be struggling then to my utter amazement he went over and slipped them into a carrier bag and upon inspection into the bag i discovered about another approx. 15 flounders of about the same size if not smaller, I asked him what he was going to do with his undersize catch and replied by stating he was going to make fishcakes lol, he went on to say as I cannot afford to buy fish as an O.A.P. nor can I afford heating in the winter I find every little helps, so in summary folks I don't know is this a very sad sign of our times or is it a case of keeping anything that swims in the sea, but in any event hes lucky there were no fisheries people about, be interested in any comments relating to this. cheers Korky.

[endurothumpers]

It's a sad state of affairs when our older generation are forced to these measures.

[g-force]

Yes, he couId have got into troubIe for the coaIy, but there is actuaIIy no minimum size for fIounders, or dabs; in fact many of the species that we angIers Iike to catch such as rays, smoothound etc have no minimum size. If you Iook at the DEFRA /IFCA tabIes for minimum sizes it's quite an eye opener.

I personaIIy don't have a probIem with peopje putting there catch to good use so if he is happy cooking up an assortment of fIounders, dabs, rockIing etc to make fishcakes or "soup de poissons" or whatever then good on him - I remember as a kid severaj oId pensioners who had to get by sharing dog food bought for their smaII companion, and if I faced with a simiIar situation I know which option I'd choose.

In fact it's another reason I don't fish much for "sport" or CMR these days as haIf the time I see fIounders go back in these matches apparentIy strongIy, onIy to wash up dead a short time Iater, swathes of 20cm or so codIings & coaIies go washing down the river (which is not an encouraging site for many passers-by)...even when fishing for wrasse it seems that haIf the time they'II have bIown their vents & no matter how IightIy hooked & carefuIIy returned, they shortIy reappear beIIy up. Far better in my mind to catch what you need, without being greedy, and put it to good use. Maybe such an approach is what we need to end the British pubIic's obsession with cod & haddock & the Iike, and take pressure off the species that we commerciaIIy hammer. Not forgetting aIso, that not so Iong ago we used to eat a wide variety of freshwater species too.....

Gary

[Bushwhacker]

I would rather see anyone (even our EU or far eastern friends) take under size fish to eat than watch the numpties catch 50 Macky,leave them for 8 hours then kick them back.

[bilbobagins]

if he carries on doing it it'll not be long before there's nowt left for him to catch

[CODMAN]

I fish about a half a dozen CMR matches a year and although there are always going to be casualties, a lot depends on how you land, unhook and return the fish. I've seen lots of fish in other matches being slapped on concrete, hooks being ripped out and thrown in the air over railings resulting in a slick of dead undersized fish. Fishing proper size limits will only limit the numbers of undersized fish being caught, it won't stop them being killed if they are not handled properly.

[robbo1530]

Dont get the old chep's reckoning there mind. So he can afford to buy bait but cannot afford to but some fish-cakes which would cost a lot less

No excuses fro keeping undersize fish for me - need to protect the future

[james89]

Can get four good fish cakes for a couple of quid.

Doubt he was using bare hooks...

[endurothumpers]

Dont get the old chep's reckoning there mind. So he can afford to buy bait but cannot afford to but some fish-cakes which would cost a lot less

No excuses fro keeping undersize fish for me - need to protect the future

He might not of bought fishing bait? He might of dug his own or picked himself a few mussels.

[bandit]

. Fishing proper size limits will only limit the numbers of undersized fish being caught, it won't stop them being killed if they are not handled properly.

Don't see how that works even with big hooks/baits you can't predict what size fish your going to hook.

[The Spaniard]

I fish about a half a dozen CMR matches a year and although there are always going to be casualties, a lot depends on how you land, unhook and return the fish. I've seen lots of fish in other matches being slapped on concrete, hooks being ripped out and thrown in the air over railings resulting in a slick of dead undersized fish. Fishing proper size limits will only limit the numbers of undersized fish being caught, it won't stop them being killed if they are not handled properly.

Totally agree with you there me to fished a lot of these cmr and this has put me off its wrong

[nodrog]

unhooking

great vid on you tube on how to unhook flatfish with what looks like a small wool needle. its pretty easy and definately works. pence to buy got mine at car boot. put the small ones back, catch bigger ones later.