Freshwater Fish?

[philaw]

Do any of you guys know of anywhere to get freshwater fish to eat?

My wife is Chinese, and is used to eating loads of it, but the only one I've been able to find for sale is trout. Are rivers in the UK all catch-and-release, or is it legal to nibble on what you catch? I've never been fishing, so I'm totally ignorant of all this stuff. I know she likes carp, but would probably eat most of them!

I'm going to ask the local butcher's and fishmongers if they've got any suppliers, but bright ideas are all welcome.

Cheers!

Phil

[mayfly]

I believe you can get farmed carp for the table from Upper Hayne Farm, Blackborough, Cullompton, EX15 2JD, 01823 680888. You can also get canned freshwater fish in some Chinese supermarkets I believe.

Chris

[philaw]

Cheers, pal. I just called the local fishmonger and he says he should have carp tomorrow, so that's one more variety. Maybe it's from that farm!

[Jembly/Sloth]

If you know some fishermen ask them. A lot of people don't seem to bother taking their fish home now even if they don't fish at catch and release sites, not sure why this is I think a lot of people in this country are somewhat anti the whole fresh water thing.

Pike is good if you can get hold of it, preferably from a fairly fast-flowing and not too muddy source! Otherwise as a old poacher once told me, take it home live and pop it in the bath in clean water for 24 hours which should apparently wash out some of the earthy taste that fresh water fish can often have.

Remember to tell everyone it's in there though

[sharp88]

I don't get people's attitudes towards freshwater fishing these days. WHY STICK A HOOK THROUGH ITS LIP IF YOUR NOT GONNA EAT IT!?!?!? Its more cruel in my mind to just skewer a hook through its lip n not even cook it up.

Trout can be really good cooked over a fire in the way as Ray Mears does it in the Swedish lakes in Varmland I think. Wild stuff tends to be muddy though.

[philaw]

My wife thinks it's bizarre that we don't eat freshwater fish here. Alright, we're an island nation, but still...

China being as big as it is, there's no problem finding space for fish farms, so any little market will have a choice of half a dozen kinds of live freshwater fish and some skanky, dead seafish.

It's says something about the food culture in this country. I'm not normally one for having a whinge about modernity and the state of Britain (it's better than most of the rest of the world), but it's almost like we've been economically developed and urbanised for so long that our tradtitional foods are tinnned foods (baked beans) and frozen foods (fish fingers). When 90% of the population live in cities and have no proper access to fresh native plant and herbs, we shouldn't really expect them to eat anything other than microwave meals.

Just some thoughts!

[penvisser]

I don't get people's attitudes towards freshwater fishing these days. WHY STICK A HOOK THROUGH ITS LIP IF YOUR NOT GONNA EAT IT!?!?!? Its more cruel in my mind to just skewer a hook through its lip n not even cook it up.

Trout can be really good cooked over a fire in the way as Ray Mears does it in the Swedish lakes in Varmland I think. Wild stuff tends to be muddy though.

May I ask how do you catch the trout?

Penvisser ( = man angling with a float on carp in Dutch )

[Cairodel]

I think the biggets problem with freshwater fish is PARASITES...
Correct me if I'm wrong..

[Arth]

Try your local fishery I'm there must some in the Yellow pages most likely under "fisheries"

[Bernie Garland]

I think the biggets problem with freshwater fish is PARASITES...
Correct me if I'm wrong..

can't you eat them then

[Gibbsy]

Try the fish counter at MORRISONS believe it or not there was a massive carp at the totton store today...

Do any of you guys know of anywhere to get freshwater fish to eat?

My wife is Chinese, and is used to eating loads of it, but the only one I've been able to find for sale is trout. Are rivers in the UK all catch-and-release, or is it legal to nibble on what you catch? I've never been fishing, so I'm totally ignorant of all this stuff. I know she likes carp, but would probably eat most of them!

I'm going to ask the local butcher's and fishmongers if they've got any suppliers, but bright ideas are all welcome.

Cheers!

Phil

[Cairodel]

can't you eat them then

A number of years ago, I asked an old water bailiff friend, some 30 years my senior, the same question, "Why does everybody put coarse fish back in the water..??"
His answer was basically, that from a fast-flowing river, some fresh-water fish are safe to
eat, but from lakes or ponds, many are infected with certain types of parasites that you
cannot guarantee to kill by cooking...
Reminds me of the Monty Python sketch... Guaranteed slimming method... send only
five pounds today, and get your tapeworm eggs by return post..
I have to say, I'd much rather defer to his opinion and experience.

[Yorkshire Boy]

Before you condemn sport fishermen as cruel, remember they are the ones who care and pay for the long term welfare of Britain's fish and rivers.
Which other water using groups pay money to the Environment Agency to pursue their hobbies?

Anyway...

Get yourself a rod licence and join the local fishing club (this will give you access to more places to fish, my local club cost £25 for the year). There also free stretches to fish as well.
You should be allowed a bag limit of fish to take home. Like any resource there is only so much you can take before there is an adverse effect.

Most people never take home freshwater fish, they put back the fish they catch because quite rightly, they want to catch the fish next time.
The only time I took home freshwater fish was when I was 14yrs old and caught 6 small rainbows from the River Wharfe near Ilkley.

Barring pollution you can eat all British freshwater fish.

Ones to try are grayling, perch, eels and has been said before, trout, pike and carp.
Others like chub, bream, barbel rudd and roach are going to be bony and bland or muddy tasting.

Personally I would stay clear of slow growing species, these are more likely to be have pollutants in them.
Also, a freshwater eel could be older than you, and current stocks are at 1% of what they were 100 years ago.

If I was to take freshwater fish for the pot it would be trout, grayling, perch and pike. In that order.

I do enjoy lure fishing for perch, chub and pike in freshwater and in saltwater for seabass.
Any bass that's over 45cm comes home with me. At 45cm they've had at least one chance to breed. The legal length is only 36cm .

It's a great pastime/hobby/sport, (whatever you call it) and you get to see some amazing wildlife and scenery.
YB.

[wingstoo]

We used to river fish for food when I was a kid, Okay there were not that many river fish that were edible, but saying that there were Grayling, Perch and Pike to name three, but in the days of old they would eat Tench and many others that the BIG houses bred in their own ponds and Monks would eat at the Monastaries...

If you want "edible" Carp why not try the Eastern European food shops that are popping up around the country, they eat a lot of Carp in Europe.

Have fun finding fish in our rivers, not seen much more than a few Chub for years now.

LS

[grebo247365]

My local Tescos were selling farmed mirror carp in the fishmonger section, I believe they are popular with the eastern european community.

[greeneggcat]

Zander are good eating. Like pike these are predators so you need to dead bait (fresh water fish eg roach) for them, they do go for lures. If you aint to squemish live baiting works as well. Good time of year for them especially at dusk. Dont bother taking any thing over about 6lb in weight, same rule for pike. Any thing over this size aint worth eating.

Taking fish from the rivers is a bit frowned on at the moment due to some incidents of abuse by immigrant communities. One lake round here was totally wiped out by folk taking too many fish. And there is evidence of some people just killing whatever they catch then throwing it back.

Treat the rivers and fish with respect, they work in a delicate balance. If you are going to fish take the time and effort to learn how to do it properly. Dont be greedy. A couple of 4-6 lb ers is a good bag.

If you take the bigger pike over 6lb it is not good to eat and also they take years to grow that big, so you will unbalance the local eco system probably leading to an explosion in jack pike, with the knock on effect of lots of active hungry fish on the prey species. Domino rally all round!

Perch are good for fish cakes, but you will need a few because 4lb is considered a specimen size and if you can catch a river carp, good luck to you! ( ive only had one this year)

Take into account the effects of man made pollution, we had bad floods here earlier in the year, and apart from from having to rescue stranded fish i have come accross a fair few with dodgy sores.

More and more retailers are starting to stock carp and other species to cater for the demand and to take the pressure off our rivers.

All in all its worth having a go. But i would never recomend taking a live pike home! Sort it out, guts and all at the river bank.......................... .

..........................One, two, three, four, five...........once i caught a fish alive....


Which finger did it bite?............. All of them the lively little ********

[philaw]

Thanks for all the tips, guys. I'm a bit closer to getting hold of some now. It had never ocurred to me that the supermarkets might be able to order them in.

[woodstock]

The local Tesco has started to sell carp and pike very reasonable to

[fishfish]

I think the biggets problem with freshwater fish is PARASITES...
Correct me if I'm wrong..

yer wrong!lol!!!! all parasites will be killed by cooking,sea fish suffer just as many parasites if not more,ever seen cod worm?

on a different note ,the attitude towards the taking of course fish is a modern phenomina,it came into being with the start of the comercial fisheries,and spreaded to established clubs and fisheries.you see theres money to be made in fishing,many fisheries actually are business and buy in fish for the anglers to catch,and they arent cheap! a 20lb carp costs over £2000.00 and a 30lber over £3000.00!!!
Many eastern europeans have benn caught taking course fish and have been prosecuted for 'theft of fishes' which after all is said and done are the property of the fisheries.allthough only heafty fines have been levied at this time its onlya matter of time before custodial sentances are handed out in order to deter this.people think because they caught it it theirs to kill and eat,but surely the argument is flawed,ime sure no one would view stealing a cow or sheep as anything other than theft,well its the same thing both are owned by some one and put there for the benifit of their business.

[mick miller]

As an angler from age 5 may I direct those wishing to remove coarse fish to eat here:

http://www.factuk.co.uk/asp_pages/news.asp?type=5

In my humble opinion its better not to over pressure our rivers and lakes, they already face enough problems from pollution, abstraction and general malpractice carried out by the general public (trolleys, waste, batteries, oil it all goes in).

If you want to catch, kill and eat go to a trout fishery.