Max mål i staden for minstemål

[aurebu]

Sorry about writing in English, the alternate would be Norwegian, and my English spelling is better than my Norwegian.

Whenever my buddies and I go fishing there is one fishing rule that we ignore, and that is the minimum size of fish allowed to take with you. Usually the minimum is 30 or 40 cm for brown trout and Arctic Char. In stead we never take fish smaller than 500g, OR LARGER than 2 kg !
The reason for this is simple. The big fish carry genes to grow fast and and get big. always taking out the biggest fish will eventually destroy the good fishing in a lake or river.

Lets say that a big trout lays 1000 eggs. if the parents are big predators, and have grown fast 90% of the eggs will have the same genes, while the remaining 10% will have genes for growing slow, and not getting bigger than maybe 40cm.

If the parents are small insect eaters, 90% of the eggs will have the genes for growing slow, not predator instinct.

The best fish for food are also the ones between 500g and 2 kg.

By taking out all the big predator fish you are selectively breeding the stock of fish in the river or lake to have a smaller average size. Specially in regards of trout or arctic char in waters which also contain pike it is important to take care of the big fish.
I've often seen how people grab everything they can get of big fish in such waters, and with the pike taking the small fish one soon has found that the lake or river has lost it's trout population entirely.


Feel free to reply in Swedish. I read Swedish and Norwegian very well....

[Lundblom]

Jag håller helt med dig om att men inte ska ta upp de stora exemplaren. Sen så vad som är stort och hur mycket fisk man kan ta upp ur ett vatten varierar mycket från olika vatten beroende på fisketryck, hur mycket vattnet produserar mm. Vissa vatten kanske tål att man tar upp någon enstaka matfisk medan andra knappt tål något uttag alls. Så ska man vara på den säkra sidan så är det best att ta upp så lite fisk som möjligt. Jag vet inte var du fiskar men där jag har fiskat så har fiskar på runt kilot varit stora och jag tror att i många svenska fjällvatten så får man inte ens så stora fiskar pga att uttaget av fisk är för stort.

[aurebu]

I fish in Härjedalen, and on the west coast of Norway.
Here in Härjedalen there are a few lakes with natural population of trout and arctic char (Röding). These lakes are extremely heavily fished. Most locals grab anything they can get while pike are tossed ashore to rot. Very few people follow the bag limits or minimum sizes. The result being that there is very little fish to be caught at all, and the few that are caught are usually between 500g and 1 kg.

On the west coast of Norway the story is quite different. the lakes and rivers there are usually over populated of small trout. There we usually let all fish over a certain size go back, depending of the average size of fish in the lake or river. All fish that are smaller than the max size are taken. either as cat food, for human consumption or just tossed ashore.

In regards of water health it is in best interest to keep as much fish in a lake as possible. Specially big fish. Big fish produce lots of small fish which in turn are food for the big ones. The more fish in a lake the less biological mass in regards of plant material (Everything from mud on the bottom to living plants and plankton).

Usually a lake has a more or less fixed amount of biological mass. when fishing biological mass is taken from the lake as fish. Biological mass is also lost in water running out of the lake.
Biological mass is usually added to the lake naturally as leaves and branches falling into the water, and in water running into the lake. from streams and ground around the lake. For a biological rich lake one usually want as much biological mass in living organisms, and as little as possible in dead material (mud etc.)