To chin or not to chin

[Graeme]

Has anyone read the TCF Species Guide (March 2007) article on the pike, specifically the “care for your catch”? I quote “what we do not need is the age old habit of chinning for photographic purposes whereby the angler puts 2 or more fingers of one hand inside the gill area to support the pike’s head while the other hand holds the lower body of the fish.” 4 pages on there is a picture of an 8lb pike being chinned and supported by the lower body. I am, to say the least, confused.

I caught my first pike last year and was shown how to chin it to get the hooks out, I then returned it to the water, held it by the tail until it was ready to go and released it. I was advised to look at the PAGB website and got some great information from it. I also have watched countless programmes on pike fishing watching the likes of Matt Hayes and Mick Brown chin the pike but this article seems to be saying it is bad! Every pike I have caught or handled has been treated with respect and returned on the minimum handling = maximum conservation principle as preached on the PAGB website but it has been chinned.

My question to the more experienced or indeed anyone out there is what is the best way to handle the pike? Should I keep on chinning or is there another method because after all I want to return the fish in the best of health to live to fight another day.

[fishypaul]

well Graeme you have raised an unteresting point,
after years of netting my pike i came to the conclusion that chinning was by far the quickest and humanist way of dealing with a fish,
i have had a few instances where a pike has thrashed and done a sort of death roll in the net , when they do this with a treble outside its mouth it can result in a tightly wrapped net with a stressed pike in the middle.
i now chin almost all of my pike,the small ones that dont even need weighing don't even come out of the water, i just grab the trace with one hand chin the fish and unhook it with only its head and shoulders out of the water
the bigger ones are lifted out and quickly supported before unhooking,
i only ever use the net these days in swims that are too high to reach down,too snaggy in the margins or if i hook a real biggie,
i have wondered in the past about holding a large pike in such a way,whether the combination of its weight and its jumping about would do some damage in the gill area because they can be a handful when they thrash around ,
but they are dealt with quickly and are back in the water with little time to get stressed

i havn't seen this article but in my view take little notice of it,everyone is entitled to their opinions but the PAC has the wealth of experience of pikers from all over the country,thats the one to take notice of

yes mate,carry on doing what you are doing

[baitmaster]

paul has sumed this up very well

i have to say most if not all anglers now do treat fish properly and with the latest forcepts , net materials and unhooking mats great care is taken to insure that the fish are looked after for the short time they are out of the water .

i have occassionally held big fish in such the way you are talking about and as you can see from the picture that although the fish is being held this way most of ,if not all its body weight is being supported across my leg and held close to my body so the head area is taken none of the strain


and again as paul says carry on doing what you are doing

tightlines
kevin

[Graeme]

thanks for the advice guys. My mate and I pike fish together so we can handle most situation and we caught our biggest pike 9lb 8oz the other day and ended up cutting the trace and hook to get it all out. We had to net it as the bank was to slippery but once we had it clear we reverted to chinning, mat, forceps and side cutters. I think the fish was out the water for 5-6 minutes max due to the problems with the trace and hooks and we made sure the pike was ready to swim before releasing it. the last thing we want is to damage the fish and when you get conflicting information from monthly magazines it does not help.

[baitmaster]

i use this net mesh now and its absolutely brilliant hooks do not get stuck in it either like it does in most other types of net make using a landing net a better option knowing it will not cause the problem with hooks tangling in amonst the mesh
made to fit 42 inch (large) and 36 inch (small) triangular frames.

LUREWEAVE LANDING NET MESH Large: £19.25
Small: £17.25



here,s D.lumbs website if you need one for next season http://www.dlst.co.uk/nets.htm

tightlines
kevin

[Wayneg]

I have not read the article in question but have read various others on the subject and I have mixed feelings.
99% of my larger fish ( anything into double figures ) are normally landed by net but this depends if there are any flying hooks. Most others are normally chinned out which as said in previous replies, if done swiftly will not harm the fish.
If anything it is better for fish welfare as they do not become entangled in the net as does happen with finer mesh nets.
Most of the other passages that I have read regarding chinning was to do with the lifting of the pike whether for unhooking or for Photo's.
There is a big debate going right now as to what happens to all the biggies from the reservoirs as very few are caught again.
This was being blamed on the way people were posing for the camera's. One hand under the chin with very little weight of the fish being supported elsewhere.
A good way to photograph fish is to hold the pike by the chin and lay the Pike close to ground across your body supporting the pike by the mid section, this spreads most of the pikes weight on your own body and gives a good definition of size.
I hope this is of help to you.