Catch and release.

What are you guys honest thoughts on catch and release in sea fishing? I am from a game fishing background, were now catch and release has crept in and it is now not the done thing to keep a wild fish, even something as abundant ( well on the River Dee at least ) as a grayling.

I am keen on conservation, respect all fish, and can't stand greed, but I must admit that being able to keep some fish is a big motivation for me. Now this seems to be a very brave statement to make nowadays, and no doubt catch and release purists reading this, despise me and think that I am not a real fisherman  

I see the increasing catch and release pressure in sea fishing now, and it is pissing me off to be perfectly honest. Even when it is legally allowed to do so, I see that the pressure is to return all bass and mullet etc. Frankly, if you are a rod angler who catches a 5 pound bass or mullet, you should be perfectly entitled to take it home so long as you don't waste it, without some how being made to feel ashamed..........it is the nets that have damaged fish stocks and not rod anglers! Lets face it, mullet are so hard to catch that even if every rod angler went out with the intention of killing them, it would not have any impact on their numbers ( unlike some greedy twonk with a net ).

So what is really going on? It is not all about conservation, but a sickly sentimentality that is creeping in? Do catch and release zealots feel guilty, because no matter how much they admire the fish and feel teary eyed when watching it swimming off, they are still ripping a hook in its mouth and exhausting it for fun. They remind me of liberal PC do gooders and I feel have the same mentality - self righteous hypocrites, that are full of rubbish.....

Personally (and im a bit of a soft sod) I have never taken a fish for the table. Never had a problem with others doing so though.

I remember years ago Joker unhooking a deep hooked whiting I caught because I didnt want to hurt it. Im pretty sure the daft sod killed it anyway, but .............

Great question

I probably return 90% of the fish I catch and
Would only kill a fish for the table or bait.

Some fish I wouldn't kill like bass rays bullhuss smoothies etc..

I don't really mind anyone taking fish thats upto them
But I don't like people killing them just for a photo then
Throwing them in the bin  

Hi,

Personally, if one puts back all the fish they catch, I can't really see the point in it myself.................
I can see certain anglers frothing at the mouth and shouting that I am not a real angler bla bla bla bla.

I totally agree with Mike Ladle when he says that the objective to sea angling, is to ultimately catch a decent fish to eat, but along the way, he takes great pleasure in the practice, by catching smaller fish or fish that he decides to put back. Fishing after all, is hunting.

Sea fishing isn't cheap, and to spend money on tackle, bait, petrol and time, just to chuck fish back, when I am a keen fish eater, just doesn't seem logical.

I can be soft too, as the other evening I went to a beach and found a dead dogfish that was attached to someones lost rig. I though it was such a waste of a life and a cruel ending for the creature, unable to move as the tide receded. The thing that catch and release zealots need to be told, is that someone who takes fish to eat, could rightly argue they are on a higher moral ground, as it can be argued that just fishing for the pleasure of returning fish, is more cruel, especially with seafishing, as unlike flyfishing were the fish very rarely swallows the fly deep and thus can be returned unharmed, many times seafish will be gut hooked and it is just too cruel and a waste of life to return them if you can't get the hook out.

The obvious answer is to use some decorum and have a moral conscience on what you take for the table.
On trips out in the boat,we caught mackerel for bait,and seeing as we were camping,we caught mackerel on the way back in for the barbie.None were wasted.
We will always have tree huggers and politically correct boffins,but their aspirations I ignore.
I live in the real world,as most of the guys on here do.
Do your thing with a conscience,and it will work.

I like to put back as much as I can as I don't particularly like fish but ive no problem with those that choose to keep the odd one for a bit of supper

VALVEBOUNCE wrote:

The obvious answer is to use some decorum and have a moral conscience on what you take for the table.
On trips out in the boat,we caught mackerel for bait,and seeing as we were camping,we caught mackerel on the way back in for the barbie.None were wasted.
We will always have tree huggers and politically correct boffins,but their aspirations I ignore.
I live in the real world,as most of the guys on here do.
Do your thing with a conscience,and it will work.

Very well said

This is a hot subject here, but our fish stocks are in a better position than yours, espacially for inshore species. Catch and release has been a part of sea game fishing for a long time, espacially for Marlin which are not permitted to be caught commercially in our 200 mile economic zone in exchange for over 50% of recreationally caught fish to be tagged and released. I think it runs about 60% released.
It is accepted that an angler can keep his first marlin if they want, or if the fish dies.
A similar policy applies to kingfish in a number of top offshore reef areas targetted by charter boats, there is a voluntary one fish per angler kept, when the legal limit is 3.
The commercial sector has agreed not to target these areas, it seems to work. Both of these species appear to survive well if carefully handled.
Some charter skippers seem to think that snapper released all die, but the ministry of fisheries have done trials releasing snapper and other recreationally caught fish into nets, and if carefully handled many survive.
I do not eat fish, but my wife does as do many friends who cannot go fishing, I do not often release legal sized fish untill I have enough for my needs, which rarely gets to the legal limit.
On the west coast I can take 10 snapper over 270mm and 20 of a mix of other fish of legal size
On the east coast                 7                       300mm and my 20 other.  Be nice to be able to catch this many.
Part of the rationalle for the 20 other is for anglers drag netting for mullet, or using set nets, where caught fish are not allways able to be released alive.
Yes we do have a bit of conflict with set netters on some beaches, though the main problem is with swimmers, not cleaning out all the fish

Rhod;  How do you get a Marlin on the barby

I will take fish home for the table but only if over the size limits. I would say in my defence that one net of any beach would catch more fish in one day than I have caught to take home in all the time I have been sea fishing. I very seldom catch a fish big enough to take home Mackerel is probably my most common apart from them it is very rare I catch anything that would be big enough or more to the point I would want to eat and if by chance I do get to the stag of to many then they go back.
I was in Cornwall fishing on a beach one evening and a boat came in and a chap came to me and asked do you want so Mackerel he said "I've got a boat full and I don't know was to do with them" now that to me is wrong.

Logger wrote:

Rhod;  How do you get a Marlin on the barby

Sweet talk her and buy her expensive presents

Kirky's Dad wrote:

I will take fish home for the table but only if over the size limits. I would say in my defence that one net of any beach would catch more fish in one day than I have caught to take home in all the time I have been sea fishing. I very seldom catch a fish big enough to take home Mackerel is probably my most common apart from them it is very rare I catch anything that would be big enough or more to the point I would want to eat and if by chance I do get to the stag of to many then they go back.
I was in Cornwall fishing on a beach one evening and a boat came in and a chap came to me and asked do you want so Mackerel he said "I've got a boat full and I don't know was to do with them" now that to me is wrong.

First couple of times out in the boat years ago,we overfished the Mackerel,ended up going round the campsite
giving them away.
I said to my mate,this doesn't seem right.Ever since,we only take what we need.
Any we catch over what we want we don't bring them in the boat,we shake off what we can outside the boat,and unhook what won't shake off without landing them.
I think the less they are handled,they have a better chance of survival.

Cool new logo by the way

As you know, we are close to Auzzie (3000km) so we have proper barbies over here, and of course we can always run them in tandem for the really big ones

VALVEBOUNCE wrote:

Cool new logo by the way

Not new just hasn't been on for a while.
It's the same one as we have on the T-shirts and Hoodys

Logger wrote:

VALVEBOUNCE wrote:

Cool new logo by the way

Not new just hasn't been on for a while.
It's the same one as we have on the T-shirts and Hoodys

They look great,I'll get back to you Dave.

One thing I will add to this discussion is if you are going to keep a fish for the table then please try and dispatch it quickly as letting them die slowly in a bucket seems a very cruel thing to me

Oh dear ian thats a bad one    
I use barbless hooks wether sea/coarse or flyfishing i only take what i want which is mainly trout from a trout fishery
I fish rivers but never keep any fish
If i fish for maccy i kill what i want for the pot or bait if i am letting them go i  NEVER HANDLE THEM as this kills them

joker44 wrote:

If i fish for maccy i kill what i want for the pot or bait if i am letting them go i  NEVER HANDLE THEM as this kills them

Not surprised luvy I've seen your hands

Rhod Lloyd wrote:

As you know, we are close to Auzzie (3000km) so we have proper barbies over here, and of course we can always run them in tandem for the really big ones

I lived in Whyalla in south aussie in the early 60's,never realised what the fishing potential was,too busy with Birds,bikes,hot rods and Roo shooting.
Only 70 miles from Port Lincoln.
The beer was like Nectar.The stuff they sell here as Aussie beer is no where near the like real stuff.
I worked in the shipyard for BHP,dinnertimes we used to snorkel for squid at the fitting out wharf with forks made out of welding rods.If a Great white was spotted we emptied the water like MTB's on full throttle.

I thought one of the main attractions of seafishing, was that you can eat what you catch? I just don't understand when I meet vegetarians or people who hate eating fish, being keen sea anglers. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy fishing for sport and return plenty of fish, but it is the old hunter gather instinct that drives me. If I wanted to just escape from watching the TV or to admire a sunset on the beach, I would just go for a walk..........I go fishing to catch fish
I only started traditional sea fishing in November last year, and since going on plenty of seafishing sessions alone, ( at least once a week ) I have only ever blanked twice, so perhaps the literal hunger for a tasty fish means that I don't have the chuck it and chance it mentality that many seem to have and that I take my seafishing more seriously.
I strongly disagree with the bass restrictions imposed on anglers. Having to keep one fish a time, is not such an issue as this does limit greed and waste, however the 6 month ban is totally unfair.  The catch and release zealots have their part to play in this and they will be even more vociferous at shouting down anyone who dares keep a bass after June
Funny that poor old cod seem to be exempt from the catch and release mania?  Hardly anyone has seemed to catch them this winter, yet if you do get lucky, it seems acceptable to tap all that you catch on the head as if they are as common as dogfish?
Roll on July when I can catch and keep a tasty bass and shove two fingers up at the pc catch and release brigade.........who if they really cared, would just stop fishing.

Perhaps you can give us a report and some pictures on your non blanking sessions

It appears the some people just dont get the idea of catch and release
Just look what the irish have done their bass fishing has returned because they understand that ANGLERS HAVE NEEDS BUT IF WE KILL EVERYTHING BIG ENOUGH TO EAT WE HAVE NOTHING
Norway are leading the way with their no fishing zones
I do keep some fish for the pot but i release far more back

I caught a 4lb bass out of Prestatyn a couple of years ago,I reckon the taste is overated,and it was a waste of a magnificent fish.
I won't be keeping any for the table in future.
I think it's great to have the attitude of"Gotcha mate" give the fish the thumbs up and say,thanks mate,away you go.
We all love the success of a catch,and that our logistics and method worked.
It is our basic instinct to be hunter gatherers of course,but why kill what you don't need?