A topic you don’t see or here about with all the mainstream carp media is how we protect our fish stocks from infections and disease that can be carried from one fishery to another by anglers on the tackle we use.
Stink Bags
Recently I’ve noticed more Arugulas infections on some fish I’ve caught. Over the last few years there are more protective bags on the market to stop nets and slings soiling our vans and cars commonly known as stink bags. Its easy to forget to take them out when we get home to completely dry them. The issue I’ve have had recently is the bag itself isn’t easy to dry completely on the inside, leaving it still contaminated when the dry net or sling is placed back inside. I noticed my sling had several live Arugulas stuck on the net after being clear when it was dried, so they had been stuck to the inside of the stink bag.
Net Dips
The bags are a good piece of kit, more recently introduced to our rising tackle mountain, but its a issue we need to be aware of. Some fisheries have introduced net dips for anglers to use, but in my experience unless a bailiff is on-site overseeing proceedings, most anglers ignore them, not realising the risk they are putting on the fishery and most importantly the health of our carp. This is not a criticism, just highlighting a potential issue – even after drying our kit, after a session on our waters. More important if you fish several different waters as I tend to do these days.