Runs but no fish.

[GerryT]

I hope Andrew can come on and tell us the fish wasn't dead but it certainly looks like it.
Andrew, you say that the fish was "the biggest one of eleven caught last night" but the photograph was obviously taken in daylight so did you sack the fish up or something ?
Please come on and tell us what happened.

[NICK R]

What a waste of a great fish
even if it aint dead you would/should never hold a zander like that ,
Treat fish with the respect they deserve

[andrew@abcomplete.co.uk]

Oh yea of little faith, the fish is alive and kicking.
There is a lot of glare in the photo probably from Dave's bald head!
We do take some fish for eating, I love barbecued Z'd, in passing we are fishermen not anglers and sometimes eat our catch.
Hawk you are miles out saying its the Glos canal, it IS the Severn and I was home in bed by eleven.
The green thing in the back ground is not a tent it is a boat with a cover on it, it's our boat.
We have spent quite awhile finding where the fish frequent using sonar and various other methods.
We have purchased the fishing rights on a stretch which looked to offer us the best fishing.
We have a bit of a concoction we bait with on the day we fish, it works very well in moving water.
I am surprised at the reaction from some of you, then again forums bring out the worst in some people.
Up until these posts and the accusations they make we would have been pleased to offer anyone that would have liked to join us the chance of having a go on our little bit of the Severn, however now I am not so sure.
I have never fished the canal but may well do so at sometime..

[andrew@abcomplete.co.uk]

Just read Gerry's post.
We photograph all our fish that are doubles what ever species, this one just happens to be the biggest of the day.
We tend to keep a record of what we used bait wise, water temperature, the amount of bait fish and species we catch and other silly things like that, it never really helps but its fun.
Does anyone else tag their fish for future reference?

[suffolkzander]

caught at nite, photo in day time is perhaps not ideal, but i guess its summer so "nite" spans the early hours, i prefer a zed by night under a flash of a camera, i think it adds to the atmos and is a key part of zedding, sadly have to agree the zed does not look too healthy ...i'd be happy to be told otherwise !!

[andrew@abcomplete.co.uk]

The fish was not caught at night it was 6:15 pm.
I will be fishing the same spot tomorrow in the day, the attractant we have sorted more often than not allows us to at least get runs in the daylight.
I am beginning to regret having even started this thread, I am not sure why the comments have been so scathing from some.
If we had chosen to take the fish to eat where's the problem? It was caught in a private stretch of water so it would be unlikely someone else would have even had a sniff of the fish in the future. Had it been one of you that caught it I would have slapped you on the back and asked if there was any chance of me having a go on your bit of fishing. I find this very strange. We have taken many double figure fish from the stretch some of them have been caught numerous times. We have a pike in the area that has fallen to a bait at least half a dozen times, the last time it was caught it weighed 27lbs so it ain't no baby, the fish is taken from under the same over hanging willow tree every time using the same type of dead bait sink and draw.
We can look after fish as well as the next man we use unhooking mats and anything else we can to preserve the fish.
I have had a call from a person we took out with us last year to say this topic is being continued on the internet elsewhere, why? Just because a photo from a phone camera isn't as high a quality as you seem to expect, the next photo I took has the dorsal fin raised and my friend struggling to hold the fish I would have used it but its blurred.

[croc hunter]

andrew it could be the green eyed monster thats lurking about if its your rights then you have every right to do what you want aslong as you respect the fish personally i dont see what all the fuss is about

[headless]

The Zander you caught is a stunning fish, I know many and have been informed that there are many anglers out there that have spent many years trying to catch a Zander of thirteen pounds + and have not yet succeeded. The way the Zander is held up in the picture is what most anglers are upset about, the zed doesn't look too healthy but like you said picture quality etc... is not good but gives ammo for anglers to comment

There are numerous good comments on this forum regarding the welfare of fish, photos that show anglers with fish standing for a picture with Carp and Pike, the captures are normally greeted with a pat on the back with a polite comment on the fish welfare, how to hold and kneel down when pictures are being taken

I have been lucky enough to catch a few double figure Zander and feel privileged to have caught them. The catches you have mentioned are terrific feats and you do deserve a big pat on the back but kick in the bollocks for the way the fish is being held up

This is a good forum, I have learnt so much from the other anglers on it, and I do try to put something back. I am a member of the other forum that has mentioned your picture, I have met the angler that posted the thread several times and he is a first class angler. I feel that there would have not been any intention from him to create negative feed back but like I have said a lot of anglers have not caught the size of fish you have. it is not them being the green eyed monster, it is because the fish was a stunning fish being held in a way that goes back thirty years or so and most anglers disagree with it. The picture not being the best quality the fish looks, well dead

most anglers on that forum class a 8lb Zander a good fish, a double being stunning, 13+ awesome

I hope I have not offended you with any of my comments, I wish you all the best for future Zander catches but please show the fish a bit of respect when photographing

Darrell

[andrew@abcomplete.co.uk]

I will hasten to aid its not me holding the fish however your point has been taken on board, the fish is being held with a thumb in the jaw (Hence the gloved hand)and a rolled finger along the gill cover there is no intrusion into the gill chamber. We will make sure that in future any photos posted will be of fish been double handed!

[andrew@abcomplete.co.uk]

Does this make you any happier? From the same spot but from a boat.
Fish is being held flat handed with a thumb along the jaw.
Bait catch yesterday was small roach.
See I told you it wasn't the Glos Canal.