Freshwater edible fish

[lub0]

Hey all.

A couple of friends and myself are going on a fishing/camping trip tomorrow, for a couple of days. We'll be fishing the river Trent and I was just wondering if it's safe to eat any of the fish. We don't plan on a vast fish feat but rather one of two to accompany the boiled potatos and beans I'll be bringing along.

Are Perch tasty?

[tenderfoot]

All i can tell you is this. My company had an awayday whitewater rafting on a section of diverted river Trent water. Many fell in - how we laughed.. Until the following day when nobody came into work as they all had diarrhoea and vomiting.If you intend to eat anything from the Trent i suggest at the very least you cook it VERY thoroughly.

[wickerman]

i would say it would be ok we eat fish from the sea and that is well polluted

[lub0]

Yes the Trent is absolutely vile I have no doubt. I read lately how a sewage leak late last year poisened it further with cyanide. Bloody awful stuff.
yeah that puts it into perspective quite well, wickerman, thanks.

I've packed a nice sharp serreted knife to cut and gut the little blighters properly, and of course I'll be cooking them shy of a crisp to be safe!

Thanks guys.

[nitrambur]

It's usually in the rules of whoever is granting you permission to fish that stretch that you return any coarse fish unharmed.

[Damascus]

Guys if you fish the river at the moment you will be breaking the law the freshwater season (Rivers) is from 16th june to 15th march so currently out of season.

D

[spiritwalker]

yep as above its closed season and people dont take to well if you eat coarse fish you will need permission i guess also check you have a permit for the stretch as well as a rod license. Best bet is to go the estuary or sea where you can fish for sea species for free and eat what you like providing you stick to size limits

[Colin.W]

From a survival point of view food is food but there is something about fresh water fish, apart from trout which I am quite partial to and fresh water shrimps and cray fish which are not really fish there isnt a lot that I would eat. I remember eating a pike we hooked out years ago it was steaming hot when I took the first piece but stone cold by the time I had spat the bones out from the first mouthfull

[lab72]

you would be asking for trouble if you A -fished in the close season and B-taking course fish from the river is frowned upon ! may find is illegal to .:soapbox:

[leaf man]

Ok, i am very new to fishing, so could it be explained for me please.
I understand about the season, clear enough. What is the difference between fish? Course?? If you catch it, ie brown/rainbow trout , perch, pike, out of a river why cant you clonk it and chuck it in freezer?

[nitrambur]

Ok, i am very new to fishing, so could it be explained for me please.
I understand about the season, clear enough. What is the difference between fish? Course?? If you catch it, ie brown/rainbow trout , perch, pike, out of a river why cant you clonk it and chuck it in freezer?

Because someone owns the fishing rights to that bit of water and they have rules on what you can and can't do. If everyone took a few fish home there would be none left and the owners would have to re-stock regularly, which wouldn't be very ecologically sound, could possibly introduce new diseases to the present stock in the process, and would cost lots of money.

They're called COARSE fish because they were considered in-edible (according to Izaak Walton), they usually have small bones or odd tasting flesh.

[bmartin1uk]

Fishing season aside, most course fish taste a bit too muddy for me, except for the cleaner gravel rivers where trout (and trout clubs) flourish.
You might also want to take this into account as lub0 said:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/news/111917.aspx

[leaf man]

D'oh! I am wanting to get into fly fishing to supplement our healthier diet and for recreation. Looks to be more than just catch and scoff then. Might have to rethink this one

[nitrambur]

Here's a trout fishery in the Barnsley area, £12 a day for a two fish limit http://www.barnsleytroutclub.co.uk/

[Silverhill]

Sorry to jump in a little late on this one....

The Trent has an excellent reputation for fishing, but predominantly coarse fishing. As others have rightly said, the river can be pretty polluted in places, which isn't surprising since the river itself runs through Stoke and the Potteries, is then joined by tributaries from the Black Country before flowing past Derby and through Nottingham before heading north to the estuary. In the recent past, it's been subject to discharge from coal and gas power stations which was generally noted as being very warm and well oxygenated which lead to all manner of micro-nasties breeding. Much like tenderfoot, my first time at Holme Pierrepoint lead to an insane case of multi-orifice extrusions the following day.:yikes:

With regards to the fishing, you can see the full list of the Midlands regions byelaws here:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Leisure/midlands_byelaws_795945.pdf

In summary, the only fish you can catch and take (subject to the rules and regs of the fishery owner) Eels from rivers in the coarse fishing closed season if you use a hook with a 1/2" gape as well as the following baits included in the byelaws thus;

ii) in fishing with rod and line for trout or any fish other than
freshwater fish during the annual close season for freshwater
fish, use any float or bait (which term includes ground bait)
other than artificial or natural fly (which term excludes
bloodworms, jokers and other midge larvae), spinners,
minnows, worms, prawns or shrimps.
(taken from the above weblink to EA Midlands region byelaws)

I've eaten all manner of fish in the past three decades, some of which have been culinary disasters (Perch), and some have been triumphs (Zander), but all species require research, understanding, preparation and of course respect for their breeding patterns and habitat before fishing and potential consumption.


I hope that this info clarifies the subject a little. I'm sure that most of you fellas will agree that the rules are mainly in place to protect the fish and to educate the newcomers to the pastime.:D

[bikebum1975]

I live in the states and there are some bodies of water I wouldn't eat fish from here. But man sucks that you guys across the pond have so many regulations against fishing we can pretty much fish anywheres here long as it's not posted even then we still do if you know how to hide lol Not saying I have which I haven't but some do lol.

[cakey]

Hi new laws just in,
Environment Agency News Release
New national byelaws are coming into force at the beginning of the new fishing season. From 1 June, anglers will be restricted in the number, species and size of freshwater fish they can remove. The byelaws apply differently on rivers and stillwaters.

On rivers, once the season opens on 16 June, anglers may only remove each day:
* Up to 15 small fish (up to 20cm) of barbel, chub, common bream, common carp, crucian carp, dace, perch, pike, roach, rudd, silver bream, smelt or tench
* Up to two grayling of 30-38cm
* A single pike of up to 65cm

Anglers who remove more or different fish than this, will be committing an offence and risk a substantial fine.

Anglers can still remove:
* ‘Tiddler’ species, such as gudgeon
* Non-native species, such as zander
* Ornamental varieties of native species, such as ghost or koi carp
Anglers will still need the owner or occupier’s permission to remove fish from private waters and fishery owners may also impose their own stricter rules.
On stillwaters, anglers may only remove fish if they have written permission from the fishery owner. Someone who takes fish without such permission will be committing a byelaw offence, as well as one of theft.
To protect threatened stocks, from 1 June all rod-caught eel and shad must be returned to the water alive, including when they are taken from estuaries and coastal waters.
Environment Agency Fisheries Manager Adrian Taylor said: “These byelaws achieve the right balance – they allow anglers to remove some freshwater fish for the pot or for bait, while still protecting valuable coarse fisheries. Stillwater fisheries will also be protected, but fishery managers will have the flexibility to allow anglers to take fish away.

[wingstoo]

We used to take and eat several types of "coarse" fish for eating, game fish as well.

Trout, and Salmon are classed as "Game" fish most other things are "Course".

Grayling are technically a game fish as it has a second smaller dorsal fin like trout and salmon, but for as far back as I care to remember are course fish.

So, what course can you eat, the bigger ones that spring to mind are Perch, Pike and Eel, but Tench, Bream and other such fish have been eaten for centuries, take a look at the Monastry fish ponds that the Monks used to have in the grounds for eating on Fridays.

I hear Minnows can be tast, but you need a bucket full and eat them whole.

I have eaten Pike, Eel and Grayling in my early years, Always avoided Chub though as they are particularly boney. A lot of Europeans still eat a lot of Carp, though it is frowned upon in the UK.

tench, bream, carp - not really worth the effort and pretty muddy unless you're very hungry, problem with bottom feeders.

But the main thing is to abide by the rules of the local club if fishing in their waters, if they say no, the answer is no, ne exceptions, if they say you can take Eel, Pike and Grayling then only have what you need.

"Sport fishermen/women" get their knickers in a knot if you take what they feel is theirs, I would only fish for food, but that is my personal approach.

Wings

[jonajuna]

We'll be fishing the river Trent and I was just wondering if it's safe to eat any of the fish.

all of our fresh water fish are safe to eat, whether youd like it r not is a different question......legality and permissions have been covered



Are Perch tasty?

yes, if you like the taste of mud ;)

[forestwalker]

Apart from the "normal" pollution, what is the mercury status of UK waters? Around here (Sweden) they suggest that women in reproductive ages (or before) should only eat freshwater fish sparingly for this reason.

[Neumo]

Apart from Trout & Salmon I have found that Zander are the best tasting freshwater fish

[Outdoor_Guy]

Mirror Carp are often eaten and made into Fish Cakes or the likes of. I was travelling in the Middle East and they have live tanks full of them... I guess they are tasty.

[Cledan99]

Carp were brought into this country to eat, Via monks etc.

The main reason they are no longer eaten is the people who sport fish for them, angling clubs spend huge sums buying these fish, which can live for 50+ years, their investment is then payed back by selling tickets to catch em...If someone clonked a large carp and it became known, then there would be big repurcusions. #
Angling in Britain is very much about sustainability, we have many more people wanting to fish, than fish to go aound, hence the stocking of ponds with non native rainbow trout from fish farms. The weird thing is wild brown trout are far tastier, yet it is frowned upon to take, what is a very limited resource.
I have heard that zander,grayling, perch are good table fish, pike would be but for the bones, yet I will never try one due to the above comments.
I do catch and eat trout, and many sea fish, but interestingly the last fish I caught was a 5+lb mullet, and although I'd love to try mullet, I just couldn't kill such a stunning looking fish (prolly 15 years old) without need.
In a true survival situation you would, and should, have a go at most things, but it is very important when dealing with finite resources we tread lightly, and are seen to do so

[susi]

Perch - very good eating, probably the best fish we regularly catch
Zander - good
Roach - too boney, flavour ok
Pike - good eating if the right size (too big = tough, to small=too many bones)
Carp Bream - ok eating, good when smoked
Burbot - ok, but ugly :)

[DaveBromley]

As above really Ive regularly had Perch, Pike and Zander. Eating perch is frowned aupon but tastes REALLY sweethowever pike and zander are predatory fish and i got told as a kid that if you catch a zander you HAVE to kill it or it will eat every other fish in the lake/river/reservoir, Pike has the consistenc of a really meaty chicken but tastes like Sweet cod in my opinion

all in all good eating!!

Dave