In reply to Post #71
Assuming the weight of the fish was over the specified guidelines, which I'm not sure it has, yes it could of been avoidable. But, on other waters that dont require the fish to be photographed etc in the water, for me it was just a complete freaky accident, that could happen to any of us, and if it happened to me, I'd would end up seriously considering hanging up the rods

In reply to Post #73
No idea who the bloke is

Of course he hasn't set out to do it on purpose but it was not an unfortunate accident it was an avoidable accident. If it happened on a water where the rules allowed bankside photography then that could be described as an unfortunate accident.

Having said that it was retained for, "a few hours" apparently

In reply to Post #77
Holme Fen rules state any fish over 40 is dealt with in the water..

In reply to Post #78
Wonder what the justification for retaining it for that long was

In reply to Post #79
Yes I saw that, but has the weight of the fish been confirmed? Or are we assuming it's over 40lb? Genuine question

In reply to Post #81
From someone who was there it was 54lb

In reply to Post #82
👍

In reply to Post #82
Has he been banned?

I don't get all this photo stuff. A quick couple of snaps and get it back. These pictures of scales,mouths and down the flanks are for the anglers ego. Retention slings are like everything in
Life dangerous in the wrong hands. If you are gonna use one use it for 5 mins to get your camera ready.

In reply to Post #82
Not any more it's not

Whether it's a stiff sided Matt, soft, flat whatever what happened to the old way of having at least one ‘goalie' just out of shot like I said earlier can find plenty of footage(often of car park lake fish) with someone just out of the shot at the ready in case the fish goes mad so it can be put down safely. And sorry people saying it was avoidable but the angler isn't to blame are mad. Rules state anything over 40 has to be in the water he went against that totally 100% his fault

Just watched it on me Facebook news feed. A lot of comments were saying it was faked... Why...

Just looks like an unfortunate accident to me
Didnt look like the angler was doing anything wrong. In my view that tail was already damaged and the fish flapping on the matt caused it to happen. A few comments were blaming the sling.. Why..

In reply to Post #88

"Didnt look like the angler was doing anything wrong"

FFS do you even bother to read the thread?

Venues rules state any fish over 40lb to be dealt with in the water (according to Spod)

In reply to Post #89
How many fish over 40lb on a daily basis get dealt with perfectly fine on the bank and go back no worse for ware.

Ok, it seems the fella apparently broke a rule and no doubt he will get dealt with accordingly. It was a freak accident could of happened anywhere.

In reply to Post #89
Not according to me mate, rules are there on the Holme Fen website for everyone to see along with how long you can retain the fish.