From The Nenagh Guardian Sept.2008

Killaloe angler's appeal on fish care

Killaloe angler Herman Molenaar struck it lucky recently when he landed a massive pike over 20lbs while fishing on Lough Derg.

Herman, who runs a business bringing visiting anglers out to fish on the lake, has appealed to anglers to be responsible about handling pike when they catch.

All fishing clubs around the lake now fish for pike on a catch-and-release basis after fears a number of years ago that the population of the species was in decline.

Anglers taking part in official fishing competitions on Lough Derg now weigh their pike at designed weighing points before releasing them back into the water.

However, Herman says that some anglers are not being responsible in the way they handle the pike they catch.
"Catch and release is a good thing, but I also see dead pike on weighing points." Herman told The Guardian this week.

He suggests that the prizes are so lucrative in some competitions that anglers who catch fish are not waiting around long enough to fully revive their pike and some end up dead.

Herman, who also runs a fishing tackle shop in Killaloe, says all anglers should have a landing mat in the boat so that pike don't get injured when being unhooked before their release back into the lake.

A man with many years experience in pike fishing, he has appealed to all anglers to use a long pliers

to remove hooks and to have a cutter in their boats to cut hooks if they get caught in the gills of the fish. "The gills are a very important organ for the survival of pike and hooks should be cut away even if they are near the gills," he said.

Finally, he has appealed to anglers to return fish to the water gently. "Don't throw pike back in the water. Put it gently back and hold it by the tail and move the fish in the water so the water can run through its gills so that it can get oxygen and stay around for a minute to ensure that it swims away."

Herman added: "In competitions I see so many pike struggling with their bellies up. They are left too weak to turn up the right way and swim away".

By Peter Gleeson

An additional note from Herman:

"After the publication of this article in The Nenagh Guardian, I received a lot of reactions.

I'd like to clarify that I see of course much anglers who do take care of their caught pikes and spend a lot of time to give the fish so much support, almost treating them like their babies, so that they can swim away with their own forces.

It happened to myself that I hooked a big pike and even following all the rules and staying around as long as necessary, the pike unluckily died. That's Bad Luck!!

Some pikes are weaker than others, and in that case you can really do nothing accept crying."

Herman