how many fish do you keep

[salmonking]

Would anyone agree that it can be quite difficult to tell the difference between a cock and a hen springer,especially a fish 6,7 lbs,i remember taking a fish three yrs back,i thought it was a cock,but was really surprised when i gutted the fish,full of eggs.
The fish had what seemed to be a small kype,i was pretty disappointed in myself to say the least.

[Yorkshire Esk]

If I catch five fish in one season I feel I have done very well due to the amount of days I can get off work to go fishing. I think last year I would have in total approx 15 days fishing, caught five and kept five.
I also agree with what fruin said.

(Quote) generally keep two fish a year. If I catch 6 and keep two, is that worse than catching 20 and keeping two? If I only catch two and keep both of them, does that make me the worst kind of fisherman?
I would say that the person that catches 102 and kills 2, is doing more damage to stocks than the person that catches two and keeps them both, because it is likely that they have killed another few that will not survive the catch and release process.
The point is - no one is a hero for returning fish, it is there general attitude to the sport that will preserve stocks, not the number of fish returned.
Normally, I would say that no one angler should kill more than one fish a day. However, if an angler has a red letter day and a huge shoal of fish passes through the beat they are fishing, resulting in them catching 8 fish over a 2 hour period. How much damage would be done by taking two fish from that large shoal? A lot less damage than somebody taking one fish from a less well stocked river.
The bigger picture needs looked at before chastising or praising anglers on the C&R statistics alone.

[stoater]

I too ,Salmonking ,find it difficult to sex an early Springer on occasion.

[fishtail]

Salmonking, stoater,
I hope someday I am faced with that problem!
Last season one salmon caught and returned, one sea trout caught and kept.
It was a bad season!
Seriously, I dont see the problem of keeping the occasional fresh fish.
I think we must keep our options open and not turn to 100% catch and release across the board which I think could be seen as causing unneccessary stress to the fish purely for our satisfaction in the name of sport. I have tried explaining why we catch and release to non fishers and non country folk and it is quite hard to justify catching a fish to release it again especially given the reason it is in the river in the first place, to spawn.
Has anyone else had to explain game fishing to non fishers?

[wilbert]

Has anyone else had to explain game fishing to non fishers?

I have to explain to the other half why I am going fishing all night and why after 6 days fishing I haven't caught a salmon, she thinks I am mad. I know I am.

I have talked to workmates who don't fish and some of my friends that go coarse fishing about various salmon related topics and none of them have said it was cruel but many have asked why I spend so much of my spare time trying and usually failing to catch salmon.

[elwyman]

fishtail said:

I think we must keep our options open and not turn to 100% catch and release across the board which I think could be seen as causing unneccessary stress to the fish purely for our satisfaction in the name of sport.

I have tried explaining why we catch and release to non fishers and non country folk and it is quite hard to justify catching a fish to release it again especially given the reason it is in the river in the first place, to spawn.

Has anyone else had to explain game fishing to non fishers?

I agree with Fishtail 100% on this.

My wife (a non-fisher) has latched on to the cruelty argument associated with C&R. Mind you, she mentioned it more in the context of put & take rainbow fisheries- "poor fish trapped in a small pond and getting caught all the time".

The antis will (and have) argue that 100% C&R means that anglers are causing unnecessary suffering to fish, purely for pleasure.

I think there is more of an argument for C&R with wild fish - sustaining stocks etc, but I predict that sooner or later the use of barbless hooks will become mandatory. Perhaps that is not a bad thing.

[morphious1985]

HI, I am compleatly new to fishing and was just after some basic infomation about where to fish for salmon, me and a few friends are interested in going on a fishing and camping weekened somewhere in the uk, could someone be so helpful and maybe piont us in the direction for somewhere nice, quiet and peaceful,with a very picturesque view!! by all means email me [e-mail]. happy fishing!!