Some Fishy Facts
By definition a fish is a cold-blooded, water-dwelling animal with a
backbone and a skeleton. It breathes oxygen from the water through its
gills and moves by swimming. Fish are called cold-blooded because,
unlike mammals, their blood temperature fluctuates with the
temperature of the surrounding water. This allows them to adapt to
seasonal variations. Fish breathe by taking in water through their
mouths and passing it out through the gills. The oxygen from the water
is retained and passes into the fish's bloodstream.

There are of course a huge number and variety of fish species in fresh
and sal****er habitats across the world but they have, with certain
exceptions, the above characteristics in common. The most important
point to remember is that they all have the capacity to suffer pain
and stress.
What is Angling?
Angling is the catching of fish by the lips with rod, line and hook
and can also be called fishing. It is undertaken primarily for the
enjoyment of the angler, who gets pleasure from outwitting a fish into
being caught. There are three kinds of angling which are undertaken
for pleasu

SOME COARSE FISH
barbel
pike
bream
rudd
tench
SOME SEA FISH
conger
eel
shark
bass
plaice
GAME FISH
sea trout
rainbow trout
brown trout
salmon
grayling

a) COARSE ANGLING. All types of freshwater fish (i.e. from rivers,
streams and lakes) are hunted by coarse anglers, with the exception of
salmon, trout and grayling. Most are considered inedible so are
usually thrown back. All coarse anglers have to buy a rod licence and
they can then fish wherever it is permitted. All coarse fishing used
to have a close season when there was no fishing allowed while the
fish spawned (produce their eggs). However since 1995 this has been
scrapped on still waters (lakes, ponds and reservoirs). There is still
a close season on rivers and most canals from 15th March to 15th June.

b) SEA ANGLING. This is practised from beaches, rocks, piers and
boats. All types of fish are caught, from flatfish to huge sharks. Sea
fish are seldom returned alive to the water as most are considered
edible. No rod licence is required and there is no close season for
sea angling.

c) GAME ANGLING. This is considered by many to be a specialised branch
of angling in which trout, salmon and to a lesser extent, grayling are
hunted. These species are considered edible, so are usually killed
when caught. Game angling is thought to require more skill than other
types of angling and rod licences are more expensive than for coarse
fishing. Even so, trout fishing is becoming increasingly popular. Game
fisheries are restocked with hatchery reared fish. To keep the game
fish 'safe' for the anglers fish eating birds and mammals, together
with other predatory fish, are ruthlessly killed. The close season for
game angling varies according to the fish being hunted but tends to be
during the winter months between September and March.





Anglers' Equipment.
As mentioned above, angling involves the use of a rod, line and hook
with usually a reel holding the coiled line.
Hooks.
These can be barbed or barbless, with the former causing more damage
to fish and being banned at an increasing number of fisheries. Anglers
keep forceps and disgorgers to remove hooks from fish, as this often
can not be done by hand. Hooks are regularly swallowed by fish and
their removal can damage internal organs and lead to fish deaths. The
huge hooks used in shark fishing often cause the animal to vomit up
its entire stomach in a desperate attempt to get rid of the painful
hook.

Classic Quotes.
"I livebait and I bet you do too. It's barbaric and we
shouldn't but we are there to catch pike."
John Bailey, Coarse Fisherman, May '91.

Baits.
A variety of baits are used to disguise the hooks and lure the fish to
the line. Baits include maggots, worms and artificial lures made to
look like fish. Even small live fish are impaled on treble hooks to
catch predatory fish, such as pike. Here, the 'livebait' fish swims
around until it is eaten by a predator or it dies of its injuries. In
game fishing, artificial 'flies' are created from materials such as
fur, feathers, silk, wool and tinsel.
Landing net.
A landing net is used to help bring fish onto the shore or bank and is
a bag-like net attached to a handle. Salmon, sharks and other large
sea fish are usually landed using a gaff, a huge sharp hook on the end
of a pole, which impales the flesh.

Classic Quotes
"..some treat their captives abominably. The fish are held
for far too long in keep-nets. Then there is the 'weigh-in'.
Photographs follow. And finally the fish are thrown back. Not
surprisingly fatalities are common...Competitive angling does treat
fish like animate golf balls."
Malcolm Greenhalgh, Salmon, Trout & Sea Trout, July '93.

Keepnet.
A keepnet is a long mesh net used by match anglers (who compete to
catch the largest weight of fish in a certain time) and pleasure
anglers, to keep the fish imprisoned in the water until the end of the
session. The purpose of keeping the fish during a match is to weigh
all fish caught to establish at the end who has netted the heaviest
catch. Other anglers just like to keep their catch by them until they
pack up and go home.

Pisces
BM FISH, LONDON, WC1N 3XX
Tel: 01792 464 176
E-mail
Web http://www.pisces.demon.co.uk/




Cheerio,