undersize fish

Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 11:36 am

went for a walk yesterday in the afternoon to west bay and saw lots of holiday makers jigging for mackerel in the harbour all i saw caught were 4 to 6 inch fish, a lot mind every cast was bringing in 2 or 3 fish what p****ed me off was the casual way people were throwing them into buckets with about 2" of water in. what the hell for, you should only keep what you can eat and it should always be dispatched quickly.

Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 1:50 pm

I don't hold with keeping undersized fish but a 6 inch mackerel does make a good bait! Maybe, just maybe that was why they were taking them, to stock up for the winter season. I could very well be wrong but like you, I don't know their reason for taking so many small fish! As for the depatching off mackerel I understand what you're saying but they don't last very long out of water. Can I ask, as a fisherman have you never used a live bait, do you think the fish is not suffering pain with a hook stuck through its snout? I think maybe we are all over doing the p.c. a little too much, that's just my opinion though and no offence is meant by this post!

Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:10 pm

I am a newcomer to sea fishing but have been an angler for years, and no I have never used live bait although I have caught plenty of pike and trout just never felt the need and I don't think I'm pc about it one way or the other. I do think it was a waste of dozens of immature fish as far as live bait was concerned they would'nt last long enough to be used. I see from another of your posts that you are concerned about the shortage of mackerel in our area, could this sort of thing be part of it?

Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 11:36 am

Like I said no offence was meant! I know the fish they were catching was not for live bait but maybe for the freezer. I' m sure not everyone was bait catching, I'm not saying that, I'm sure some were just in a fishing frenzy so to speak. We anglers have a hard enough time of it from the media already without turning on each other all the time. Taking undersized fish is wrong, size limits are there for a reason and I wouldn't personally take mackerel the size you are talking unless it was to go straight onto another hook as a live bait.
I do fish with conservation in mind but it is my choice to do so as it is yours or anyone elses. I beleive if every man, woman and child fished for mackerel they would not even come close to taking the amount of fish taken by the vacuum ships which don't pick and choose the keepers. Do you know a lot of fish from these ships ends up as fertilizer?
You are entitled to your opinion and fair play to you for voicing yours, all I ask is that you consider the other possibilities of what you are seeing.
Hope your sea angling will be as productive as your course was.

Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 6:12 pm

i personally dont use live mackerel cause dead works just as well and cuts out uncessary suffering. But then again i am a bit of an animal freak.
My house is full of em big grin