The Welfare of our Fish
So how do we go about the care of our captures. First of all, if it is possible, do some fishing with a competent angler who has taken the time and trouble over many years to learn his craft. Ask your questions of him, and be prepared to listen, look and learn, even if that means not fishing. This basic grounding is lacking in a large proportion of the anglers coming into our sport, who have found the lure of carp fishing to be irresistible. They are sadly lacking in the all round ability that they should posses. This is in no way a criticism of carp anglers, it is just a situation that has arisen with the spread of carp, and the making of instant carp waters. Most good anglers have started with a cheap old float rod. They have learned about floats, shoting, about hook tying, bait and about unhooking fish. It is a natural progression to then go onto more specialized angling. The capture of different species. The targeting of specimens. The progression to pole fishing etc. It is a learning process that is invaluable.
Make sure that you posses the correct equipment to achieve what you set out to do. If this is carp or barbel, pike or any of the other large species, then make sure that your rod and reel, line and hooks are up to the job. If you are fishing a lake or river with natural obstacles, then you will have no choice but to increase the power of your tackle. There is no merit claiming that you have managed to beat a twenty pound carp on three pound line, when it has taken you forty minutes to do it. The carp has been made to fight for freedom for forty minutes, when with suitable tackle, the task could have perhaps been achieved in five. BEFORE you make your first cast of the day, lay out your unhooking mat, and place on it all of the items that you will need to effect a quick and safe removal of the hook. Too many anglers only start to look for forceps and disgorger's when the fish is on the bank. If you are going to weight the fish, and perhaps photograph it, have everything to hand. Your designed plan should be to net the fish, place it on the unhooking mat, remove the hook, weight the fish and take your photograph in a methodical and well rehearsed manner, and to return the fish to the water in the best possible condition.
If you are pike fishing, then make sure that you have disgorger's in a few sizes, and a pair of good quality wire cutters are an important piece of your armoury. Pike fishing over all other types of fishing, apart from eels, needs you to be adept at handling these fish. They are intimidating, and give novice anglers fear. The only real way to learn how to handle pike and eels, is to fish with someone who knows what he is doing. Once you have learned the technique, then like all other things in life, it is easy when you know how. If you are unfortunate not to know anybody who can and will instruct you, then you could do worse than to beg or borrow the set of three videos from FOX on pike fishing. Plenty of angling shops have them for hire. It is with the help of these videos, that I personally have progressed with my pike fishing. I spend all of my fishing time on my own, so have to learn the best way I can. Pike in my experience are not the same as carp, when it comes to recovery time. For such a ferocious looking fish, they need considerable time in the water to recover. With all of the larger fish that I catch, whether they are carp, pike or tench, I place them back into the water in the landing net, and there they stay until they have fully recovered.
I do not at this point in time weight or photograph any of the fish that I catch. There are a number of reasons for this. The main one, is that I do not need to. My memory will recall the good fish, and thankfully fail to remember the many blank days. Proving my captures to others is not high on my list of priorities. The very act of weighing carries a risk. The usual process is to pick up the fish and place him into a weight sling, hold him up under a set of scales, deliberate at great length on his true weight, and then to put him down again. The photographing of a fish is another calamity waiting to happen. Fish are held in dry hands, against clothing, and turned this way and that to get a good shot. Great care has to be exercised in the picking up of any fish, as it can and frequently will spring back to life at the most inopportune time. A dropped fish is to be avoided at all costs, as damage although not evident will be sustained. I personally unhook my fish still in the landing net, which is placed on the unhooking mat. I try not to handle the fish if at all possible. I then transport the fish back to the water in the net. This saves the risk of a dropped fish. If you really must hold fish to have a picture taken, then hold them above your bed chair, then if the fish is dropped, it lands on the chair, and not the floor.
You should arm yourself with a small first aid kit, covering both yourself and your captures. Mine is contained in a Drennan bait box. All fish that I catch are looked at on both sides of their bodies. Also pay attention to their mouths, both inside and out. Outside for obvious hook damage, and inside for lost hooks. Any damage, or ulcers or sores are treated there and then with a preparation called "Tamodine". I use a cotton wool bud to apply the iodine looking mixture. Use opposite ends of the bud for each sore, to avoid any further contamination. I then pack the cut or sore with "Orabase" which is available from Boots chemists. The makers of "Tamodine" have a web site at http://www.vetark.com. There is no doubt that other products are available in the market place, but the above is my chosen treatment. It is both quick and effective. In my first aid box I carry some plasters, a pair of tweezers, a safety pin, and a small mirror, and also a supply of headache tablets. Some time ago I was tying on a hook, the float was heavy, and the wind was gusting. I had tied the hook, and was biting off the end of the line, when a gust of wind took the float, and I finished up with a hook firmly stuck in the inside of my top lip. As I was on the lake by myself, I had no option but to leave my tackle (out of the water), pick up a small pair of forceps and walk the mile back to my car, where with the aid of a wing mirror remove the offending hook. I am a slow learner, as this is the second time I have managed to do this. I will have to stop biting the line and cut it with scissors. The reason that I bite the line, is that it leaves a flattened edge to the line, that is less likely to slip through a knot. I now carry a small mirror. At Vetark's site, it says that if you net a fish with ulcers, the next fish that you net, you can infect with the ulcer producing germs that are being carried on your net.
If I manage to prick myself on a hook, or draw blood in any other way while I am fishing, then a quick drip of the Tamodine on the offending cut, eases my mind as far as getting some infection into the open wound, and then apply a plaster. Far better safe than sorry.