Which river/s are they running to? Must be a miracle of nature because I'm told the east coast rivers where we used to fish have been a disaster in the last quite a number of years. North Wales is the same =all salmon must be returned to the water! Better still in my opinion is to bann all fishing until there is something running the rivers , to fish for!
Your suggestion wouldn't work re banning fishing. Anglers now kill around 5% of what they catch, which is estimated to be 10% of the run, so an impact of 0.5% on the adults left to spawn. There are more fish than rhetoric would have us believe but they are not often in shoals like this, so this makes it look like there are more then there are. You can't win. All rivers in the Hebrides have fish like this when the water is low and they cannot run into the loch systems.
I have always admired fishers such as Chris Tarrant who I heard put every fish back he caught....... Frankly my Welsh Pal and myself would not bother to fish if we didn't get a meal out of that hard going in the Welsh rivers we fished. Even the locals used to tell me -you're wasting your time fishing for salmon here come up to Scotland with us......... we did just that but soon could catch fish that the locals said they nor anybody else could catch, legally but they did not know what they were doing. They were on the whole wormers whereas we were all rounders bait spin and fly fishers. Even when it went fly only we caught fish but the fly was presented at the same height as the bait but brought far too much uncalled for criticism. We used to watch some of them Spey cast with a lure that was way too small and best of all they expected running fish to rise through 8 feet of water that would knock you off your feet at 2'6" deep ! There are some folks who say it's cruel to catch fish and 'let them go. Those who still like to pay extortionate bills for a rod but not take any fish at all are welcome to it but my pal who is no longer with us said if you can't knock one on the head to eat forget it...... If you can't keep one then let em alone. \he also contested the catching of fish to put back and said why torture the things????? best not to bother them at all? I think he had a point. The rules may well change next year and we may be able to keep a couple of fish for our efforts bearing in mind that there have been good runs of fish this season on the North Welsh Rivers...... There has been growing criticism, year on year of anyone who dares to knock a fish on the head and the implication is that such fishers are no better than looters of any river. It implies that any angler who has a killer instinct and is a hunter is not welcome to fish. I have noticed that in any case Welsh and English in some Scottish quarters are actually stealing fish from those locals! That applies also to some Welsh fishers and especially the commercial ones who think the same about the English ! Those with a hunting instinct could be better at what they do than those who with a hand on the hip who trust to luck with the phrase -if he wants it he'll get it. If the rules still apply that all salmon to be returned in 2021 then I'll be letting them do what they do best and run the river without the slightest hindrance and with not the slightest desire to impede their travel. Although I hear that a few sea trout can be retained if they are a foot long or bigger. That bit of Sainsbury salmon I just ate has got me thinking..... The above is why I ask is it better to not fish for them at all, the same as the Herring ban in the North Sea in the 1980ties?
I think it is better to fish for them for cultural political reasons. Anglers are the ONLY people who put time, eff0rt, money into preserving the habitats. There'd be dams on every river, farmers would pollute and fish farms would be on every estuary if nobody was there as the eyes and ears. So ultimately, the few that die and the majority caught and released are unknowing martyrs to their cause a s a species. Banning angling in the Loire (for salmon) has lead to the entire river being damed, catfish put in and all other users getting their way. Now nobody knows they have any salmon and the few left will soon be gone most likely.
Which river/s are they running to? Must be a miracle of nature because I'm told the east coast rivers where we used to fish have been a disaster in the last quite a number of years. North Wales is the same =all salmon must be returned to the water! Better still in my opinion is to bann all fishing until there is something running the rivers , to fish for!
Your suggestion wouldn't work re banning fishing. Anglers now kill around 5% of what they catch, which is estimated to be 10% of the run, so an impact of 0.5% on the adults left to spawn. There are more fish than rhetoric would have us believe but they are not often in shoals like this, so this makes it look like there are more then there are. You can't win. All rivers in the Hebrides have fish like this when the water is low and they cannot run into the loch systems.
I have always admired fishers such as Chris Tarrant who I heard put every fish back he caught....... Frankly my Welsh Pal and myself would not bother to fish if we didn't get a meal out of that hard going in the Welsh rivers we fished. Even the locals used to tell me -you're wasting your time fishing for salmon here come up to Scotland with us......... we did just that but soon could catch fish that the locals said they nor anybody else could catch, legally but they did not know what they were doing. They were on the whole wormers whereas we were all rounders bait spin and fly fishers. Even when it went fly only we caught fish but the fly was presented at the same height as the bait but brought far too much uncalled for criticism. We used to watch some of them Spey cast with a lure that was way too small and best of all they expected running fish to rise through 8 feet of water that would knock you off your feet at 2'6" deep ! There are some folks who say it's cruel to catch fish and 'let them go.
Those who still like to pay extortionate bills for a rod but not take any fish at all are welcome to it but my pal who is no longer with us said if you can't knock one on the head to eat forget it...... If you can't keep one then let em alone.
\he also contested the catching of fish to put back and said why torture the things????? best not to bother them at all? I think he had a point. The rules may well change next year and we may be able to keep a couple of fish for our efforts bearing in mind that there have been good runs of fish this season on the North Welsh Rivers......
There has been growing criticism, year on year of anyone who dares to knock a fish on the head and the implication is that such fishers are no better than looters of any river. It implies that any angler who has a killer instinct and is a hunter is not welcome to fish. I have noticed that in any case Welsh and English in some Scottish quarters
are actually stealing fish from those locals! That applies also to some Welsh fishers and especially the commercial ones who think the same about the English !
Those with a hunting instinct could be better at what they do than those who with a hand on the hip who trust to luck with the phrase -if he wants it he'll get it.
If the rules still apply that all salmon to be returned in 2021 then I'll be letting them do what they do best and run the river without the slightest hindrance and with not the slightest desire to impede their travel. Although I hear that a few sea trout can be retained if they are a foot long or bigger. That bit of Sainsbury salmon I just ate has got me thinking..... The above is why I ask is it better to not fish for them at all, the same as the Herring ban in the North Sea in the 1980ties?
I think it is better to fish for them for cultural political reasons. Anglers are the ONLY people who put time, eff0rt, money into preserving the habitats. There'd be dams on every river, farmers would pollute and fish farms would be on every estuary if nobody was there as the eyes and ears. So ultimately, the few that die and the majority caught and released are unknowing martyrs to their cause a s a species. Banning angling in the Loire (for salmon) has lead to the entire river being damed, catfish put in and all other users getting their way. Now nobody knows they have any salmon and the few left will soon be gone most likely.