Fish

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
612
424
Derby
Yes, sorry, way off the fish topic.

However, as much as Canada Geese are a nuisance, they have been naturally migrating here for thousands of years. We believe mink are on the decline thankfully due to otter numbers rising. Grey squirrel should be reduced dramatically if the contraception is cheap enough for widespread use. Other species are more problematic.

I have no problem with people fishing for leisure and pleasure; I just don't (well, I enjoy it, but I stop when I have my meal).
I always thought Canadian geese were introduced by king James 2nd in the 1700’s & do not migrate?
 

Billy-o

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 19, 2018
2,039
1,027
Canada
Oh my god, henchy! You threw back the singing fish!

It was likely trying to announce you to be the ruler of this fair land as foretold ... or the name of your one true love ... or both ... or something.

It is a basic bushcraft principle. Always pay attention to singing fish.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: henchy3rd

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,120
68
Florida
Most of my fishing is simply because I love fishing. That said I tend to eat most of what I keep (if I catch something worth mouthing I’ll have it mounted for the wall) I don’t fish just to “catch and release” as such but inevitably not everything I catch is a legal keeper for various reasons:

-already caught my limit of bass (or whatever species) and catch another while fishing for catfish (or whatever second species)
-caught one that isn’t a legal size
-etc.

In those cases there’s no legal recourse but to release it. Legalities aside, keeping them would be detrimental to the stocks.
 

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
612
424
Derby
Oh my god, henchy! You threw back the singing fish!

It was likely trying to tell you are the ruler of this fair land as foretold ... or the name of your one true love ... or both ... or something.

It is a basic bushcraft principle. Always pay attention to singing

It might be more relevant to ask if the experience of being caught and released leaves a lasting trauma on the fish. If you hurt a mammal, many will carry the psychological effect around afterwards. Fish can be made wary, but is that the same thing?

I don't know about whether fish feel pain, they certainly have sensors in their mouths that allow them to tell the difference between food and non-food, often very quickly. However, in my experience they don't behave differently when removed from the water whether they have been hooked with a tiny thin wire hook in a bony bit of jaw, a great big hook somewhere soft, or simply netted out of the water.

Seems like its a hard thing to study without any bias. There are people who like fishing, and those that thing is is awful. I don't know what reason there would be to conduct a study unless it was to find proof to support one side or the other.

While catch and release may not have as great a survival rate as proponents hope, a lot is down to how it is done. I don't think there can be much argument that taking everything caught for the pot would quickly remove all the fish. That was a problem in some places in the past. Bag limits help, but encouraging fish to be returned allowed fishing to continue without destroying the fisheries
Here’s a thought?
Could they suffer Capture Myopathy, it’s common in wild animals & they soon give up on life if caught/handled or frightened.
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,672
McBride, BC
I was a professional fisherman each summer when I was at Uni in Canada. That means I was good enough to get paid, whether I caught fish or not. The best I ever did was about 20,000 per month of a size big enough to tag and release.
I was hired to catch fish. I caught more than my employers (scientific research agencies) could cope with.

Pain? I believe that fish react instinctively to bad stimulus. They struggle.
Watching fillets flip in a hot buttered pan make me think that a lot of it is quite autonomic, not even involving spinal ganglia.
They get stoned out of the water, going from 15ppm oxygen to 21,000ppm in air.

As you know, the flesh doesn't bleed much when cut. That shows the very small blood volume and limited circulation. Landing an exhausted fish means they can't fight any more so their ability to escape is similarly compromised.

That gutteral song that you hear from Esox lucius (pike) is a reverse fart. They are expelling air from the swim bladder. Please review your knowledge of fish anatomy. A SCUBA diver's modern Buoyancy Control Device works in much the same manner.

I'm easy to care for. Fish, seven days a week, is a fine diet to me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: santaman2000

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
612
424
Derby
I was a professional fisherman each summer when I was at Uni in Canada. That means I was good enough to get paid, whether I caught fish or not. The best I ever did was about 20,000 per month of a size big enough to tag and release.
I was hired to catch fish. I caught more than my employers (scientific research agencies) could cope with.

Pain? I believe that fish react instinctively to bad stimulus. They struggle.
Watching fillets flip in a hot buttered pan make me think that a lot of it is quite autonomic, not even involving spinal ganglia.
They get stoned out of the water, going from 15ppm oxygen to 21,000ppm in air.

As you know, the flesh doesn't bleed much when cut. That shows the very small blood volume and limited circulation. Landing an exhausted fish means they can't fight any more so their ability to escape is similarly compromised.

That gutteral song that you hear from Esox lucius (pike) is a reverse fart. They are expelling air from the swim bladder. Please review your knowledge of fish anatomy. A SCUBA diver's modern Buoyancy Control Device works in much the same manner.

I'm easy to care for. Fish, seven days a week, is a fine diet to me.
Is that because blood only pumps to the main arteries deep in their bodies..the gills are full off blood as that’s where they get their oxygen from,hence why they are so red?
Just thoughts going through my mind?
 
  • Like
Reactions: santaman2000

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,672
McBride, BC
The capillary bed is very sparse.

Here's an experiment: Fish tank with a gold fish in it, plants and stones as you might expect. Scoop up the goldfish in a little dip net, count to 10 and release it back in the tank. Goldfish are adapted to anoxic conditions and stress.
The netting episode will create an elevated toxic level of lactate in muscle which will last for at least 3 days.
 

Kepis

Full Member
Jul 17, 2005
6,863
2,770
Sussex
Here’s a thought?
Could they suffer Capture Myopathy, it’s common in wild animals & they soon give up on life if caught/handled or frightened.
Doubt it, on some waters you consistently catch the same fish, some of them so often they have specific names and become targets for the specimen hunters. Oh btw, take what some of the Googlefu experts on here say with a very large pinch of salt. My credentials are being a member of the IFM (Institute of Fishery Management), Fishery Manager looking after six lakes and ponds and an angler of over 45 years experience, Fresh, Sea & Game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: santaman2000

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
612
424
Derby
Doubt it, on some waters you consistently catch the same fish, some of them so often they have specific names and become targets for the specimen hunters. Oh btw, take what some of the Googlefu experts on here say with a very large pinch of salt. My credentials are being a member of the IFM (Institute of Fishery Management), Fishery Manager looking after six lakes and ponds and an angler of over 45 years experience, Fresh, Sea & Game.
That’s a good point you have their.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kepis

Fadcode

Full Member
Feb 13, 2016
2,857
895
Cornwall
Are we to see a new threat to our inland freshwater fish stocks with the introduction of the Beaver, some area are noting a closing off of the salmon runs due to dam building.
 

punkrockcaveman

Full Member
Jan 28, 2017
1,457
1,516
yorks
Are we to see a new threat to our inland freshwater fish stocks with the introduction of the Beaver, some area are noting a closing off of the salmon runs due to dam building.

They can't be as bad for rivers compared to the introduction of concrete weirs and impassable dams :) but it's a thought, do beaver dams actually stop salmon running?
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
8,500
8,382
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
Are we to see a new threat to our inland freshwater fish stocks with the introduction of the Beaver, some area are noting a closing off of the salmon runs due to dam building.

Salmon were thriving when beaver were still here - I suspect the topic has been raised to confuse the politicians. Anyway, this is all part of the trial process. As long as we monitor any affect and take appropriate action of course. I confess, I like the idea of beaver in the wild but I'm not convinced it is the right thing to do so I watch with interest.
 

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
612
424
Derby
Are we to see a new threat to our inland freshwater fish stocks with the introduction of the Beaver, some area are noting a closing off of the salmon runs due to dam building.
Eurasian beavers are being returned to our rivers as part of a plan as it’s been proven they can slow the rising floods that we are experiencing, better than splashing out millions on flood defences In cities as it just pushes the problem further down stream Or combine the two & observe.
Theres an area close to where I live that’s got the green light for beavers under strict control, It’s where the river meanders & is eroding away at an alarming rate..the farmers are losing so much & the economy is suffering as everything is flooded.
We don’t have salmon in the big rivers where I am. I also think there are no problems, only solutions.
will we learn, I hope so.
 

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
612
424
Derby
Just an interesting fact here..in the medieval times during lent, you could eat beaver as it was classed as a fish
 

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
612
424
Derby
I was a professional fisherman each summer when I was at Uni in Canada. That means I was good enough to get paid, whether I caught fish or not. The best I ever did was about 20,000 per month of a size big enough to tag and release.
I was hired to catch fish. I caught more than my employers (scientific research agencies) could cope with.

Pain? I believe that fish react instinctively to bad stimulus. They struggle.
Watching fillets flip in a hot buttered pan make me think that a lot of it is quite autonomic, not even involving spinal ganglia.
They get stoned out of the water, going from 15ppm oxygen to 21,000ppm in air.

As you know, the flesh doesn't bleed much when cut. That shows the very small blood volume and limited circulation. Landing an exhausted fish means they can't fight any more so their ability to escape is similarly compromised.

That gutteral song that you hear from Esox lucius (pike) is a reverse fart. They are expelling air from the swim bladder. Please review your knowledge of fish anatomy. A SCUBA diver's modern Buoyancy Control Device works in much the same manner.

I'm easy to care for. Fish, seven days a week, is a fine diet to me.
Out of curiosity ,what was you fishing with?
I.E: how many rods or were there nets involved?
How many days a week where you fishing?
How long out there were you per day?
just trying to do some simple Math as that’s quite impressive.
 

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
612
424
Derby
Are we to see a new threat to our inland freshwater fish stocks with the introduction of the Beaver, some area are noting a closing off of the salmon runs due to dam building.
Just to clarify from the Scottish wildlife trust & the Chief of fisheries Norway..
There has been no evidence of beaver contributing to a decrees or decline in salmon.
Its been the opposite as they carve out deep channels & streams in the bed which salmon prefer for a safer habitat. They also make new off shoot streams that the salmon prefers & other fish too.
Beaver & salmon coexist perfectly together.
Salmon have been recorded up stream & down stream of dams.
The only concern is that sediment\silt could block the way for larger fish(COULD).If this were the case, then can we help with a bit a dredging & clearing.
I’m happy, your happy, everyone’s happy.
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,672
McBride, BC
The best was a summer when I worked for the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. I was pulling a 10m "try trawl" in a freshwater lake for 5-6 hours per day, 6 days a week. You gotta make hay when the sun shines. Rigged and on the drag, I suppose that the doors (which fly sideways to hold the net open) were about 20-25m apart.
Mortality was surprisingly low. If it had been significant, we would have found dead fish on the bottom and also floating. Instead, we knew some trap-happy recaptures by their serial tag ###.

The only net type that I have not used is a purse seine. We had no schooling fish to take advantage of.

Speaking of pike, this particular lake had a very small population of "silver pike" of various sizes. Have you ever seen one of these? As silver as a sea-run salmon.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,120
68
Florida
Just to clarify from the Scottish wildlife trust & the Chief of fisheries Norway..
There has been no evidence of beaver contributing to a decrees or decline in salmon.
Its been the opposite as they carve out deep channels & streams in the bed which salmon prefer for a safer habitat. They also make new off shoot streams that the salmon prefers & other fish too.
Beaver & salmon coexist perfectly together.
Salmon have been recorded up stream & down stream of dams.
The only concern is that sediment\silt could block the way for larger fish(COULD).If this were the case, then can we help with a bit a dredging & clearing.
I’m happy, your happy, everyone’s happy.
I’ve also never heard of fished lines due to beaver presence here although they do effect other animal life (usually land animals that lose habitat to the beaver ponds or depend on the same trees the beaver eat)

Interesting though regarding the flooding: they usually cause floods here.
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE