Fishy tales

**Fair_play_boy** · 14/04/2005, 7:52 PM

When I was too young to know better I spent many an evening fishing off the pier in Ardmore. When I got to see the whole fishing thing as a blood sport, I moved on to less controversial pastimes.
So now that I don't fish any more, and I know nobody who does, I want to see if anyone in this forum can answer a question about fishing.
I often hear about people returning a fish to the water alive. After being hooked and presumably injured, how do you know the fish survives? How do you know it is not going to die a horrible death by starvation or something, especially as his mouth area is going to be pretty wrecked?

**patsh** · 15/04/2005, 6:53 AM

Thats VERY HEAVVVYYYYY FPB!

I once caught a fish (once ever!) and put him back, but I realised after that he was going to die as I had injured him very badly while taking the hook from his mouth. However, it doesn't stop me eating fish, it's what I mostly eat, I eat very little red meat, if any at all.
I think if you were to follow your train of thought, the killing of any animal is wrong, as the methods used on livestock can be particularly barbaric.
As Moz said "Meat is Murder"!

**noby** · 15/04/2005, 7:29 AM

Unless you make ribbons of his mouth, the biggest threat to a fish is shock (being pulled from the water and all) Experienced anglers know how to handle a fish.
After that, it's up to nature whether he survives, or a bigger fish comes along and eats him.

I used to fish before, but what I caught I brought home and ate.

As someone once, I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain just to eat lettuce. (I don't think it was Morrissey)

**Macy** · 15/04/2005, 7:44 AM

What are you talking about? Unless you haven't a clue (i.e. patsh

) you can get the hook out easy enough with little damage, especially with barbless and semi barbless hooks. If you bite your lip it doesn't kill you so why should it to a fish.

There's plenty of fish that have been caught many many times - particularly carp that can be recognised by their markings (they've even got names!). Recently the barbel record in the UK was broken several times in the year by the same fish.

Angling results in very few accidental fish deaths, and coarse fishing most, if not all, fish are released to fight another day(obviously different for sea angling and fluff chucking but even thats changing). People concerned about fish welfare should be more concerned about polution and commercial netting.