Bigger Fish In Europe?

[nelly]

It seems to me that the fish are bigger in Europe. Does anyone know if this is true on an average. I have notice the much larger perch, zander, pike and carp. Do you you think there is a way that we could do the same thing in our lakes up here? What is the major difference between the zander and walleye besides the size? It would be great if could introduce them in our waters.

 

http://www.prologicfishing.com/galleryBig....=Picturegallery

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[setomonkey]

Don't know the answer about differences in North American and European fish, but I would be cautious about trying to import species into our waters.

 

We've got a poor track record of knowing what the impact is of these kinds of transplants, whether on purpose (introduction of smallies into trout waters, for example) or by accident (gobies!).

 

Mike

[Tybo]

Europeans have been practicing C&R longer the use.

The Zanders are a different strain.

Also most of Europe have longer mild season them use.

Most species in are country do very little or no growth through the cold months.

 

I've seen tons of old photos of 55" pike from here in Ontario.

[mattyk]

They have some huge perch. Maybe they practice more C&R. Their pike are the size of our muskies.

[Northhunter]

I'm not sure what the major difference is.. the southern states have a longer growing season, milder climate, etc., but with the exception of largies don't produce fish like that.

 

More productive waters? Different strains of fish? Likely a number of things. Bigger fish a cool, but I wouldn't bring any over. Their perch alone would probably out-compete and seriously screw up any fisheries they were introduced to.

[urbanangler1990]

im from eastern europe, and not a chance that part of europe is C&R at all, they keep all catches, if ones too small they tell us its for the cat!

[lunkerbasshunter]

not as many lakes and rivers to fish. means more crowded areas and all the big fish get caught.

 

If you look at all the lakes and the size of the lakes here in ontario. you cant tell me that there are not thousands of record fish here.

 

They are probally over there thinking wish they had bass the size of the ones here. or with they had musky in the numbers the canadians have.

 

as for importing new species into waters here? why mess with a good thing? you never know the downside of importing species into different water bodies. it could be very harmful.

 

Cheers!

[nelly]

With our declining walleye and small average size, I thought it would be neat if we could cross bred our walleye and their zander. We have splake and we have tiger musky, so why not try a test project for 3-5 years of 5-10,000 fingerlings total. We could name the new species wall-der or zand-eye. Think this might work? Last thing I would ever want to happen is to screw up our eco system but those jumbo perch sure would be great to catch.

[007]

Good topic. I'm from the UK and the issue of bigger fish (and less catch and release) has played on my mind since being and fishing in Canada and learning about how fishing is done here. I think there are a number of reasons - most of which have been mentioned. I talk about the UK but I'm sure much of western Europe is the same.

 

1) In the UK we practice catch and release by law and have done so more a long time on most fish species (except for some trout and salmon fisheries) and therefore fish are allowed to grow - I bet if less small perch were taken from Simcoe they would bigger than the dinks I caught this winter.

 

2) Fish are probably more productive because of milder conditions, less severe winters and generally more productive waters/food sources allowing them to grow faster and bigger.

 

3) Many lakes in the UK are stocked with fish - bred for growing and anglers to catch - whereas in Canada your lakes are wilder and most fish are allowed to replenish naturally (except for stocked trout and salmon of course).

 

4) In the UK with smaller bodies of water and lots of fishing pressure the fish get caught more often and therefore we see how big they are - I bet there are lots of record fish in Canada that no one has seen.

 

5) In the UK the style of fishing is different - we put lots of groundbait (referred to as chum over here) or loose feed like maggots into the water to attract fish to where we are fishing because on the small heavily fished lakes we can't move around as much, where as over here you tend not to do this (except for carp) and tend to be more mobile to find the fish. Therefore anglers are actually feeding the fish much more!

 

I enjoyed fishing in the UK (finesse fishing and some great fish species that you don't get here) but I have to say that despite larger fish being caught more often in Europe I prefer fishing in Canada. Being able to find a lake that is publicly accessible anywhere in Ontario and being able to fish not knowing what I might catch and how big it will be is great.

 

I'm not looking forward to going back to the UK and having to buy not just a fishing licence as I do here but also a very expensive membership to a fishing club or day permits which allows me to fish a few local rivers and lakes that I pretty much already know what fish are in there and how big they are.

 

Fishing is more fun here, though I do wish more catch and release was practiced to safeguard fish species and increase the size a little.

 

If there were LM/SM bass in the UK (which there aren't) fishing would be more fun, but I'm not sure I would want us to stock bass there as that would upset the balance (albeit slightly manufactured already) just as much as I wouldn't want to introduce anymore European species and spoil the much more natural ecosystem that you have here. As for Zander they're pretty much the same as Walleye anyway and you got lots ot them...(so I hear - still haven't caught one LOL)

 

You should be happy with the great fishing opportunities you have in Ontario - you don't know how lucky you are and should do everything to protect it (even if that means putting a few more back). I'm so glad I have been lucky enough to fish here and awaken my childhood passion for fishing once more.

 

Just a few of my thoughts....

 

007

[007]

Crikey - just realised how much I just wrote!

 

Obviously got too much time on my hands - when will there be some warm weather and a chance to fish!!!!!

 

Cheers,

 

Frustrated English pretending to be Canadian angler! (a.k.a - 007)

[BLACKFISH88]

WOW! 007 I found this a very interesting read and makes me very proud to be CANADIAN (ONTARIAN)! Although I've seen the pictures of the European fish and lusted to catch some that big what you say makes alot of sense and kind of changed my perspective and can't help but feel like, jeez I love where I live after reading that. If your ever around Belleville I could always try to make some time to help you catch that walleye your after too. Loved the report cheers! I didn't catch this fish a friend of mine did this winter and there was about an inch of blood in the bucket this is the only reason it was kept you might be able to see blood in picture but I guessed it was about 14 lbs. I weigh about 215.

[Zib]

I don't know about pike & perch but according to carp anglers in Europe, carp are bigger in North America than in Europe.

 

A lake here in Michigan, Kent Lake (about 45 min drive NW of Detroit) has some huge carp in it. A few years ago there was an article in the paper about this group of European carp anglers that fished Kent Lake & they were amazed at the size & numbers of carp. They had stated that the average size in Europe was smaller than in North America. A Michigan fishing show also featured a group of European carp anglers & they stated the same thing.

Edited March 18, 2007 by Zib

[007]

Thanks Blackfish 88. If I'm BOQ/Belleville way I'll give you a shout - definitely going to catch a walleye this year - I can feel it!

 

You have a point Zib - a lot of European anglers love the carp fishing in N America. I think its because you've got a lot of fish here that are freely accessible at a choice of different lakes and the larger lakes you have can support them. Also I get the feeling that until recently many people haven't fished for them and therefore they have had a chance to grow and are pretty exciting to catch. Even an 8 pound fish (not a big carp) I caught this year seemed to fight a lot more than ones I caught in the UK.

[Northhunter]

With our declining walleye and small average size, I thought it would be neat if we could cross bred our walleye and their zander. We have splake and we have tiger musky, so why not try a test project for 3-5 years of 5-10,000 fingerlings total. We could name the new species wall-der or zand-eye. Think this might work? Last thing I would ever want to happen is to screw up our eco system but those jumbo perch sure would be great to catch.

 

One of the main reasons for the declining size and numbers of our walleye is fishing pressure. Limit the pressure, and you'll get more and bigger fish.

The slot that was placed on the french river a number of years ago increased walleye abundance by 45% !!!

Nipissing's just starting to really see the benefits of the slot placed there, but a high number of the 'eyes caught are still dinks. The 3-4lb fish that would have seen the dinner table 5 years ago but are being released now will be 8-10lb fish someday.

 

We already have a walleye/sauger hybrid.. in the states anyway. It's called a "saugeye" and grows faster, much like a splake, except it can "back-cross" with native fish and screw with the gene pool.

[mattyk]

I think ontario is the best place in the world to catch a fish. I may be a little bias though.