GrahamM
Managing Editor
- Joined
- Feb 23, 1999
- Messages
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In my view there are already too many things in everyday life that are not 'Politically Correct'. And I've got to wondering just lately how much this attitude has crept into fishing.
One of the non-PC things we are told we shouldn't do, for fear of being chastised from here all the way to the upper Great Ouse, is retain barbel. Not in anything.
This is something that is put forward by many anglers, me included to some extent, that barbel should be put straight back. I have to confess that I often follow this advice and repeat the plea to do it mainly because it is expected of me. It is the PC thing to do as far as barbel are concerned.
I was discussing it with Tony Miles only last night, during a conversation we were having about a magazine article that tells us where we are all going wrong.
I really should have given it more thought, for returning barbel isn't always the best thing to do. Many times barbel fight much too hard to be slipped straight back, only to be seen, sometimes as much as half a mile downstream, floating belly-up.
The best thing to do is nurse them in the water's edge for 20 minutes or so while they get their strength back.
But it isn't always possible to do that, either because it's dark and the banks are dangerous, and, of course, it isn't a good thing to do if you want to catch another fish or two before going home.
So - and I ask this question with all sincerity - isn't it best if barbel (and other hard-fighting river fish that fight to the point of exhaustion) are kept in a sack or carp-friendly keepnet for about 20 minutes, maximum, while they recover?
And I mean one fish per sack or keepnet. A keepnet that won't damage the dorsal spine, and a sack that will allow them to rest in slack water.
Think about it, and remember that if there is some reason you can't nurse the fish for about 20 minutes, it may float belly up and die.
How many barbel have you returned that you saw swim off, apparently strongly, only to float belly up well out of sight, some way downstream of you?
Your answer has got to be the same as mine. You don't know do you.
One of the non-PC things we are told we shouldn't do, for fear of being chastised from here all the way to the upper Great Ouse, is retain barbel. Not in anything.
This is something that is put forward by many anglers, me included to some extent, that barbel should be put straight back. I have to confess that I often follow this advice and repeat the plea to do it mainly because it is expected of me. It is the PC thing to do as far as barbel are concerned.
I was discussing it with Tony Miles only last night, during a conversation we were having about a magazine article that tells us where we are all going wrong.
I really should have given it more thought, for returning barbel isn't always the best thing to do. Many times barbel fight much too hard to be slipped straight back, only to be seen, sometimes as much as half a mile downstream, floating belly-up.
The best thing to do is nurse them in the water's edge for 20 minutes or so while they get their strength back.
But it isn't always possible to do that, either because it's dark and the banks are dangerous, and, of course, it isn't a good thing to do if you want to catch another fish or two before going home.
So - and I ask this question with all sincerity - isn't it best if barbel (and other hard-fighting river fish that fight to the point of exhaustion) are kept in a sack or carp-friendly keepnet for about 20 minutes, maximum, while they recover?
And I mean one fish per sack or keepnet. A keepnet that won't damage the dorsal spine, and a sack that will allow them to rest in slack water.
Think about it, and remember that if there is some reason you can't nurse the fish for about 20 minutes, it may float belly up and die.
How many barbel have you returned that you saw swim off, apparently strongly, only to float belly up well out of sight, some way downstream of you?
Your answer has got to be the same as mine. You don't know do you.