Thread: A lifetime ambition.

I'm not sure if there's any fishing fans here but never mind.

Yesterday was 16th June and I achieved a lifetime ambition: I caught a tench over five pounds. It was actually seven pounds eight ounces. A hundred years ago this would have been close to the british record. Now the record's over fifteen pounds. After several four pounders it's odd to nearly double my previous best.

The Reverend E.C.Alston held the British record then (early twentieth century). He still holds the British record for wild carp. I've googled him in the past with no results. He seems an amazing angler. He had the record Rudd of four pounds 8 ounces (perhaps still does). Perch, roach, dace. Practically every freshwater fish in England, he'd caught the biggest.

Yay! Reminds me of that bumper sticker. "The worst day fishing is better than the best day working". Saw it just the other day, and though I am not a fisher, I can appreciate the sentiment.

Sweet, new records always rule. Fishing's pretty big with my family. My Dad was a professional guide for a number of years and even ran a lodge down the coast from here, which is western Canada. The kinds of fish in BC are salmon and steelhead trout if you're on the river, or halibut and a million other things if you're out on the ocean, such as alien looking rock cod. The Chinook (King, in the native language) Salmon are often reeled in over fifty pounds, with a high weighing one as much as seventy. I think the record's over one-hundred. Halibut, however, are a whole nother league. You'll find those monsters over two-hundred pounds, though one-hundred is more the ballpark. (Halibut are huge, ugly flounders that creep across the ocean floor gobbling crabs and other, tinier fish.) Biggest fish I ever caught was a forty pound Chum salmon on the river here.

that's a good sized fish, nobody wants to catch carp over here, because they taste like shit
they swim in muddy rivers and estuaries -- do your ones taste okay, or don't you eat them?
my mum tells me i just don't know hot to cook them, but i'm not so sure about that ...

i love to go fishing, it's been so long since i caught a whopper i can't even remember when
i did catch a decent sized flathead over the summer holidays, they taste pretty good too
i cook'em on the BBQ in foil with lemon and pepper, served with salad and rice - yummy!!

congratulations on your catch

The carp over at the country club where I work would probably weigh in around 40 lbs. No joke, those things probably eat caddies. I won't try and catch one until I have a stronger line and a net.

Originally Posted by ash somers

congratulations on your catch

Thx Ash. We don't eat these fish, we put them back. A lot of anglers even have sore-repair kits to use if they catch a fish and it has a sore, or an ulcer, to rub over it. On 99% of lakes here, you're not allowed to kill the fish. Barbless hooks are mandatory, unhooking mats mandatory (a cushioned mat where you unhook the fish), no keepnets. Some lakes have disinfectant tanks for you to dip your landing nets in before you fish.

Caelum. I thought by your christian name you were Scottish. Scottish ancestors?

What's strange is that I tried for years to catch a four-pounder, then caught two in one day. Then I try for years to catch a five-pounder, then catch two seven-pounders in two days. Wierd.

ha, now you're just showing off *hmph* and i feel like a barbarian
but we do eat them -- hopefully that counts for something :/
if we catch anything too little, we throw'em back, but yeah
sometimes the hook does a bit too much damage
that's quite an elaborate process you have
of taking care of your carp, one i find most admirable
gosh, even a landing pad, they sound more comfortable than you

Originally Posted by spider8

Thx Ash. We don't eat these fish, we put them back. A lot of anglers even have sore-repair kits to use if they catch a fish and it has a sore, or an ulcer, to rub over it. On 99% of lakes here, you're not allowed to kill the fish. Barbless hooks are mandatory, unhooking mats mandatory (a cushioned mat where you unhook the fish), no keepnets. Some lakes have disinfectant tanks for you to dip your landing nets in before you fish.

Caelum. I thought by your christian name you were Scottish. Scottish ancestors?

There's a barbless hook law in effect here too, whether keeping or not. We're allowed to keep, but there's a limit that's strictly enforced. The fish cops routinely pull over trucks and check licenses for caught fish, and if you're fishing illegally, you're going down. By which I mean getting an outrageous fine. And we can't use illegal bait, like roe. That's a big no-no, unless you're a native. The natives are exempt to many of the laws here which I'm cool with. We did invade their country and shit. And we don't got those fish pillows, either. Canada's a little too redneck for that. One day, maybe.

I'm pretty sure my lineage is half Scottish, half Scandinavian. That might explain my fascination with vikings. I would have picked the sweetest Norse name for this forum but back when I signed up I was going through a Latin phase.