C&R

Catch and Release will be a major principle of the tournament in Finland, and it was one of the most important reasons why decided to participate in the first place. In Scandinavia it might be something relatively new, but here in Holland almost all fishermen release their pike and have done so for ages.

Now don't get me wrong: I don't object to taking a pike home for dinner at all (they're delicious, by the way), but if most pike-fishermen would do that here in Holland we simply would not have any pike left in our waters within no time. We're a terribly crowded country, and, despite the fact that we do have a lot of water, the fishing pressure is huge.

So we put them back. But there's more to it. Especially with C&R we don't like the pike to get damaged during the process. The pike doesn't like that, nor does the fisherman who's next in line to catch the same fish. We want nice, undamaged fish, not only to admire the sheer beauty of mr. (or even better: mrs.) Esox, but also to hang on to the illusion that the fish we so skillfully outwitted hasn't been caught before.

So we try not to put them on the ground or on other rough surfaces (no pics of that kind on this blog). And of course we only fish with single, barbless hooks. There's really no reason not to when you intend to put the fish back. Sure, you might lose a jumper every now and then, but when that happens you already got the best of it anyway. And let's face it, the occasional loss of a fish caught with a barbless hook is nothing compared to the frequent hassle and damage (to the fish and sometimes even yourself) you'll experience when using barbed hooks or - even worse - doubles or trebles.

Allright, so much for the preaching, let's get to the fishing. Tomorrow we're up for another, albeit short, session. Since we consider friday to be the best piking day of the week (5 days have past since the previous weekend), I'm afraid there's once again no excuse for a skunk.