2 Fifties and a Forty

[perch_king]

well done to you all sound like you all had good weights

[fish king]

well done all

great use of a unhooking mat i see

regards
fish king

[Banana Steve]

Paul, there are some huge pike in there, but no one is allowed to fish for them.

[mithrandir]

Yeah, i thought it was a good use of an unhooking mat too, I tried to stop them slipping off the mat and landing on the concrete, thats why I used the mat to cover my bait and the soft wet grass as a place to rest the fish.

I use a mat for large fish or on hard ground, I always carry one, but sometimes a wet fish on a wet mat on a slope is a geater risk that some clear soft grass.

Personally I respond to criticism far better than sarcasm. I may be a novice, and willing to learn, but advice would be nice next time fish king.

[fish king]

ok here is some advice

This is an essential piece of kit whatever size of carp you are fishing for and no specimen angler or any angler for that matter should be with out one .
It consists of a fairly large “cushion” that is padded and comes in many different designs. Most are rectangular in shape and are padded and most tackle companies sell them and there cost vary wildly too i would recommend the biggest one you can afford .
The unhooking mat is the most important piece of tackle because it’s where the carp will spend most of its time before being released again.
I have seen so many anglers laying their carp on the grass while they unhook them, which may in some instances not do any harm. But lets Suppose however there is a sharp stick or discarded bivvy peg under that grass, or even a piece of glass, what then ??. Suppose the carp flaps about and moves off of the grass onto gravel. An unhooking mat need not be an expensive item of kit, and can save a carp from untold damage to its fins and scales.
Some better models have raised edges to stop the carp from being able to flip or slide themselves off , and some have even flaps and covers, some even have Velcro covers to enable them to double as weigh slings, but be careful, as a heavy carp will slide about and pull Velcro apart easily.( for weighing i would suggest you use a safety sling far safer ) Whatever type you choose, it will be better than laying a carp on the ground .
Always remember to keep you’re unhooking mat wet and cool at all times have a bucket or tub of water to hand . You don’t want to be caught un-awares and left with a fish in the net and nowhere to put it because of the scorching hot unhooking mat that needed wetting first Its also a good idea to wet the fish in the warmer weather aswell .
Once on the unhooking mat, place the carp on its side straight away, so not to harm the fish’s internal organs, you can now proceed with unhooking the fish once you have managed to calm it down, it may kick and jump about on the mat, but placing you're chest over the fish will calm it down but don,t press your body weight onto the fish to hard .
also other fish care suggestions while carp is on the unhooking mat would be check for cuts and other damage and either use medi gel or klinic on these places agaimn good tackle shops sell this aswell .



regards
fish king

[master_angler11]

Great fish, good pictures WELL DONE!

[Banana Steve]

Fish King, Please don't take offence at this, I totally agree with what you said with regards the mats. However, the mat that mike was using did not have any sides. The ground around shearwater is full of jagged pieces of concreate.
All the Fish that were caught were all treated with the utmost respect. However, because of the nature of the lake and the conditions we all felt that laying them on the soft ground was safer than the fish sliding all over the place on to the concreate. All my fish were caught were unhooked in the landing net and returned as were mikes and claudia's only the ones that photos were taken were placed on the grass. because if they were placed on the mats, they would have started to flap around and possibly caught them selves on the concreate.
Shearwater is one of the few places i see every time i fish there the abuse the fish receive there, Carp that have no mouths, carp with the skin grown over the mouth that the fish cant feed, dorsal fins ripped to shreads, So i know that care must be taken. I know that the fish we landed and returned went back in good condition.

We all take our hobby seriously and lets not get into slagging war, all it does is upset people, this forum is and has always been a friendly forum. Please can we keep it that way?