To me the hook is absolutely huge, 14/0 maybe 16/0, and of heavy wire.
I fish for tope of similar size to the unfortunate [I]'Florence'[/I]. Sakuma Extra 7/0 tied to heavy mono or fluorocarbon (never wire) traces, chemically sharpened with whisker barbs, sometimes crushed, they are always easy to remove/unhook. [/quote]
Where you could encounter a wide range of different shark species, including very large Nurse, Tiger and Bull (plus large toothy teleosts), you'd use a hook size to suit. What might be used for sport fishing for Tope bears no relation to what would suit the waters of the Caribbean and beyond.
[quote]Yes - obviously they are media savvy, the operation costs will probably be recouped many hundred fold, but in failing to disclose the true circumstances of the capture, and their dissatisfaction with it, I feel they played into the hands of an [I]anti-angling brigade[/I] which the BBC now seems to cater to. This story only [I]sublimably[/I] so, but with several others in the last 6 months it seems to be the way the Beeb is going - perhaps worthy of its own thread?[/quote]
There's no real reason why Merlin Entertainments should care one way or the other about the impact on public perception of angling. There's no way of knowing exactly what information was originally offered by Merlin's MarComms in the press release compared to what appeared in the report, but their job is to promote the Sea Life brand, and as such they've done a good job.
I really can't see how this is especially anti-angling. The fish had a hookpoint left in it, that's a fact. That's how they are collected for the industry, another fact (which Merlin wouldn't necessarily want known). Because of licencing requirements, they had to deal with it once it was known, through high-cost veterinary intervention. As a relatively novel procedure, it was turned into a news story worth many thousands. That's pretty much it.
I'm sure the AR nutters have been posting stuff on their messages boards about this, twin hates of the zoological sector and angling must be like manna from heaven, but other than that, has anyone heard or read any anti-angling sentiments from sane people over this?
The only people playing into the hands of the anti-angling brigade are those who treat the waterside as an extension of their own refuse-strewn existences, those who think cranking out c.700lb of stressed carp from irrigation ponds is angling, those finding ever more spurious and childish reasons for not joining the Angling Trust, and irresponsible journalism within angling itself.
