Interesting one this, where it is impossible to isolate a single cause behind the damage to fish, especially Carp's mouths currently seen in all types of water but particularly busy commercials.
Tackle choice certainly plays a part, heavy semi-fixed style leads on short links cause wear in the course of playing. As does hauling fish, whether out of weedbeds, away from snags or match baggin' tactics. Barbed hooks, special bends, micro-braids all lead to damage.
Adam Penning wrote a very good piece in AT, about the nonsense once promoted by a handful of the self appointed Carp Hierarchy that barbless hooks move about while a fish is in play, causing more damage than a barbed variety. What complete and utter rot, by people lacking the confidence to use barbless for their style of fishing and doubtless never actually tried them at all, so couldn't possibly know. I suggest they get one of their favourite pattern in barbed and barbless versions, stick 'em firmly in their own lips up to the bend then try to remove them? When they've returned from A&E to have the barbed pattern removed, then they can tell us which causes the most damage?!
As Adam pointed out, with barbless the hook often comes out of the Carp while still in the net. The real critical factor when it comes to mouth damage is simply poor handling, not helped by either barbs, thick wire, or some of the fancy bends now in circulation.
Carp fishing and commercials in particular now attract casual, inexperienced anglers, especially those with a caravan site ime. A mate in the EA told of one small water on such a site, where the Carp's mouths were so badly damaged as a result of some tourers using 30lb Braid and boat rods to fish for them when easy stockies!
So where you have inexperienced anglers, often of the instant Carp Angler variety, they simply lack the experience to either play or handle hard fighting fish on the banks without damaging them. The desire to fish for easy Carp on commercials as if they were 50lb+ chunks in Wraysbury or Chanty does oft caught fish no good at all. I've seen gear used, with which you could confidently tackle a 300lb+ Bronze Whaler from the shore, in a water where you should land anything you hook on a s10 barbless and 6lb BS line as a maximum.
When I started out, there was the notion of serving an 'apprenticeship' in fishing, you worked your way up to big fish over several seasons, with Carp regarded as the pinnacle. In the modern world, with money the driver many just jump in the deep end and effectively start at the top.
Another thing you'll rarely hear mentioned these days is 'balanced tackle' rods and lines matched to your quarry on which you can confidently play fish with a bend in your rod. There is absolutely nothing 'balanced' about threading 20lb mono or 30lb braid through the rings of a Carp rod. If the hook is strong enough, you can pretty much point the rod at the fish and walk backwards 'til it's in the net!
Rods designed principally with hurling heavy leads or method balls, simply don't have the give to absorb a Carp's lunges that the old school compound models do. Witness just how afraid of putting a bend in these baby beachcasters Carp Anglers are on programmes like 'Monster Carp'. Generally trying to trick fish in 'dog on lead' style rather than have them wake up and give a proper s
. Not my idea of fun.
The actual process of unhooking is where most damage is done. You can have the most expensive Carp cradle on the market, it won't stop you damaging a fish if you don't know how to remove the hook properly. Barbed beaked point hooks, with a fancy almost circle style bend in thick wire, are the worst culprits and look more like they were designed with long lining for Goliath Grouper rather than catch and release angling. They have to be removed the way they went in which is not the direct root of a straight point and shank pattern. Hence, if you try to pull them straight out or rive at them with forceps, you'll both struggle and tear/damage flesh. Pressure on the eye with your thumb tends to pop them out easily the way they went in. First shown this with the old Au Lion D'Ors popular with Carp lads in the early '80's. Just getting into it then, I struggled to remove my mates hooks when acting as gillie for my mentor, until I studied his method which made it look very easy.
Rigs are an issue here too, I tend to hook Carp in the bottom lip, or occasionally the roof of the mouth when floater fishing. What you notice with many damaged fish, is it is at the corner of the mouth rather than the bottom lip the worst mangling occurs. So much wear occurs there, with the rate at which repeat catches occur, that eventually the bottom lip almost appears to hinge like a Pike. Hooking fish in this part of the mouth was typical of the so-called 'bent hook' rig, created by down turning the top third of the shank towards the point on a trout lure hook. This would enable the hook to twist and catch in the corner of the mouth and was revealed as the next big thing in Rob Maylin's book Fox Pool in 1989. Very quickly it was found to twist and re-hook itself in the process of playing the fish sometimes outside the lips and often you'd find the fish bleeding where it was hooked once landed. Of course, removing such a twisted in barbed hook didn't do the fish any favours at all. The practice was very quickly dropped and with development of Jim Gibbinson's Line Aligner and the so-called Knotless Knot, a safer version that still kicked the hook, point side, was available. Never used the 'bent hook' myself, saw it in use and witnessed enough damage to know it wasn't for me.
Sadly, with Carp Fishing now worth mega bugs, there are hooks now marketed that are perilously close to the 'bent hook' in design and effect. You'd think the firms responsible for marketing them would know better, given their claims to care but money rules and big fish at any price, sells. At one time some Carp Lads favoured an Owner Cutting Point pattern, a rank hook, with rank barb, again looks like it was aimed at commercial long-lining rather than angling. Worse, the inside of the point was sharpened to a knife edge to 'cut through bone and flesh'! Rather makes a mockery of the users pretensions to care for the welfare of their quarry, which they often do and get on their high horses about too, when it comes to other styles of angling.
In the past, an individual big Carp that was caught 3 or 4 times a season, was regarded as a 'mug' now that can easily happen in a week on some commercials, so evidence of wear and tear is inevitable. The current record Carp is named 'The Parrot' due to some appalling mouth damage in its' past, seems to be at least one such abused fish in every water these days. Most fish these days, just never get a day off and are pursued relentlessly. In so-called proper commercial Carp waters, there's no closed season, night fishing is what most seem to want and some still flog away right through the winter. The poor fish just never get a days' rest, no wonder some have such grotty mouths.
To me, one of the things not instilled in many anglers these days is a proper respect for your quarry. Sometimes, it's just best to step back and walk away if you don't like what you see at a given water. In this age, if you still persist in using barbed hooks on pressured fish, then their welfare really isn't your concern, is it? The barb, btw, was designed to keep live bait on, not the fish once hooked. They may still have a role in retaining your catch in commercial long-lining, where often it won't be retrieved for hours. The barb has no place whatsoever in catch and release fishing, if you want to minimise damage to your quarry.
The worst example I came across recently, was this Carp I caught off the top last season. It beggars belief how it could end up in such a state? It was extremely thin in condition, suggesting it struggled to feed. Not only did I decide I no longer wanted to fish what is a great top water but had me questioning whether I really wanted to fish at all, any more. Of course, I got over it and have been back to the place this season, where there is no match fishing. What looks promising now, is the fish are clearly starting to wise up and present more of a challenge to the anglers and get tricked less often. Condition is notably improved but obviously they still show the testament to being mishandled in the past. When you look into a Carp's mouth and see black/grey flesh, that's scar tissue and a little potted catch history, in its' own way.
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