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Unhooking mat or not?

I don't think anyone is preaching Andy, it has been shown that some grasses (whatever they are) can damage the eye of a fish. Unlikely one might say, but have you ever cut your finger on grass? I have.

But my first post in the thread asked a question, only Terry actually gave an answer.

Question was (and this was the whole point of the thread, NOT to say that people must use one just because I, or we, do)

".....can anyone give a single reason NOT to use one?"
 
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I dont mean preach in this thread i mean generally online paul. And sorry can't agree with your grass eye cutting comment but if you believe it 👍😁
 
I’m with terry with the point about unhooking in the water when levels allow. Unless the fish looks like a double then I’ll just rest it up and release it. But if it does look a double then it’s coming out the water so a mat is needed. If I was to forget my mat I would still fish but would find a peg with a good bit of soft grass to use. I don’t like seeing people land barbel and pull them out and put the net on hard ground
 
Also going on what cliff said about steep banks and mats being a problem. Iv had this problem before and what I normally do is kneel down below the mat and lift it over my knees so the fish slides into the dip. You need waterproof trousers though or you will end up soaked
 
Extracted this from an old BFW thread

"Still surprises me that some forget that most fish can't close their eyes and a piece of stubble in that wet grass is all it takes to blind an eye,..unhooking mats are a must."

It's not a new notion, I learned it a long while back, and from then on .....

I'm with that previous poster, I now use a Korum Fast Mat (not that I catch many fish these days ) :(, with the added advantage that the sides can limit the chances of a lively fish flipping off the mat and onto whatever. I recently assisted a pal with a near 17lb fish, a lively bugger, and the Jorum mat really showed it's worth.

Been fishing for over 50 years, and yes I used to lay a fish on the grass too (plus used knotted mesh nets when they were the norm) but I wish I'd had a Korum mat right from the off :)
 
BTW... to answer the actual OPQ ... I carry a Korum Fast Mat (brilliant bit of kit) with me on every barbel sesh. I'm of the same mind as Jon ...if they don't look like a double, they don't get weighed (although I have got it wrong at least 4 or 5 times this year, weighing mid/high-nines :) ). If they're not going to be weighed, they get unhooked in the net (or unhook themselves more likely)
N.b.. another bonus with barbless is, hooks don't get stuck in the landing net mesh 😍
 
I agree with Paul. I too used to lay fish on the grass but for the last 30 years at least I’ve used a mat of some sort. I started off with a roll up one which I could fit on top of my rucksack and this year bought the Korum Fast Mat. It is a brilliant piece of kit which folds up to about a foot square and clips onto my chair for carrying. It’s plenty big enough for a large barbel (I had a 17 pounder in there this year) and prevents the fish flipping all over the bank if it’s a bit lively!! As others have said - why wouldn’t you use one???
 
Terry Simner said:
BTW... to answer the actual OPQ ... I carry a Korum Fast Mat (brilliant bit of kit) with me on every barbel sesh. I'm of the same mind as Jon ...if they don't look like a double, they don't get weighed (although I have got it wrong at least 4 or 5 times this year, weighing mid/high-nines :) ). If they're not going to be weighed, they get unhooked in the net (or unhook themselves more likely)
N.b.. another bonus with barbless is, hooks don't get stuck in the landing net mesh 😍
Click to expand...
I remember the first time I went piking and after netting a fish one of the trebles was stuck in the fishes mouth and net and the lad who had took me was having a go at me for taking too long trying to unhook it. Had to cut the net in the end.
Also Iv ended up weighing fish that were 8lbers this year thinking they looked doubles and nearly not weighing fish that ended up low 10s that I only weighed cause they felt heavier than they looked
 
Here's a question for you guys people go on about the welfare of fish and how it might hurt its self laying on the grass but we are all happy to strike a sharp piece of metal through its lip. Suppose we except one and ignore another.
 
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Andy Bebbington said:
Here's a question for you guys people go on about the welfare of fish and how it might hurt its self laying on the grass but we are all happy to strike a sharp piece of metal through its lip. Suppose we except one and ignore another.
Click to expand...
Sticking a sharp piece of metal through a fishes lip is the way we catch fish - there’s no alternative to that. However, once hooked we should be taking great care that no other damage is done.
 
Just my point mac fish welfare is a matter of opinion some agree some do not.
 
There’s plenty of reasons or shall we say situations when one isn’t needed like mentioned throughout however there isn’t any reason why one shouldn’t be carried should the situation change.
They can be extremely light and modular and portable.
If I left home without mine I wouldn’t cast a line...... I swear to that too.
Most of my fish don’t get to see it as they are often unhooked in the net and never leave the water.
Fishing for bits as Chris said is fine but that doesn’t mean your always just going to hook bits so the mat needs to be close but not necessarily always used.
What’s not acceptable in my view is fish leaving the water and been laid on the ground.
Any fish that is. Chub, bream, perch carp barbel etc. if you must put them down then they must go on a wet mat.
Yes I think they should be compulsory unless you can 100% say there’s no physical way I’d actually ever need to use it. Wading for example where all catches are unhooked in the water.
 
Oh and for a bit of fun.
11ft or 12ft rods. 11

Centrepin or fixed spool. Pin for trotting fixed for everything else

Arsenal or Spuds (well obvious really :) ). not interested

Chairs with arms or not. Not

To pre-bait or not. A swim or two on the same day yes. Through out closed season no.

Barbed or barbless barbless

Triangular or round. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Couldn’t really pick a favorite tbh.
 
My view is that taking a large fish out of the landing net and placing it on a mat is much less good than unhooking it in the net. Barbel as opossed to Carp are less resiliant to this sort of handling with a mat, lets face it the main reason the mat is used is getting it ready for weighing and photographing. If I catch a fish that I think deserves a picture and a number, it never leaves the landing net. The mat is used for extra safety underneath the net. Faffing around taking pictures and weighing is not something I feel comfortable with.
 
Having been brought up using unhooking mats I feel I should not go fishing with out one I have several different mats ranging from small 2 foot by 1 foot up to the all singing cradle the one with dragged mesh not the fish boilers I think they should be compulsory it with then also help novice and new anglers protect fish from the off when they don't realise what harm there doing to the fish albeit naively were all guilty of an accident but prevention is always better than cure
 
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