Judging by the expressions of faux outrage and virtue signalling online every time someone holds a fish too high/ out of sight of a mat / in the wrong place I'm tempted to photoshop a picture of a barbel on a gaff and enjoy some real sport .
Hard to argue against mats? I don't think so ....Am I expected to wade to the bank every time I catch a trout or grayling and spend five minutes finding some flat ground ? Or climb up a steep bank with the modest perch I've just caught instead of unhooking it in the net ? Or instead of unhooking a barbless lure from the pike in the water, net it , climb up the bank and unfurl the mat? As has been said before, mats became popular amongst carp guys - and , like tench, carp can survive quite happily out of water for a long time . Anyone advocating compulsory mat usage hasn't caught many big grayling I'd guess, as time is absolutely of the essence in returning them and everyone I know unhooks them in the net PDQ..
We seem to ascribe magic powers of healing to mats and their use has become almost cult like . If I catch a biggish fish and the ground is hard or stony etc I'll use one . If the ground is soft I won't . And oddly enough I never carry one with me when I'm wading to fish.