Bernd Ziesche | Wednesday, 15 September 2021
10 anglers = 20 different opinions. Having said so, this usually was what I was facing in all angling club annual meetings. For the past 5 years I was putting a lot of effort in getting acceptance for new rules about killing Zander for eating in our homewaters. New rules means more limitations!
Just 2 years ago I for a third time forwarded an official recommendation to our annual angling club meeting about no longer being allowed to kill (and eat) Zander smaller than 50cm or bigger than 70cm. I wanted to support the Zander to get at least once a chance to spawn and in addition the bigger ones to spawn more often.
The voting turned out to have precisely 98% of my fellow club members (those participating in the annual meeting) against my reccomendation. Of course I didn't give up and was talking to many of my fellow club members afterwards helping them to understand the importance of supporting the stock of our Zander from further decreasing.
Hard to believe for myself still, but from 98% fellow club members being against my official entry for voting about accepting those and other similiar changes just 2 years ago, I now succeeded to get 100% positive votings all supporting those my reccomendations!
From next year on we will have to release all Zander smaller than 50 and bigger than 70cm. In addition we will no longer be allowed to kill 2 Zander + 2 pike + 2 carp every single day, but 4 fish (carp, pike or Zander) in summary per month. Also every kill has to be signed in a paper immediately. That way we can control and monitor much better, what happens to our Zander.
Besides all this I am about to start a group to further support important changes in making it easier for Zander to change position between their spawning-, winter- and summer spots. This will need tons of important work, authorities involved!
Zander have given me so much during the past years. I obviously owe them some serious help! Hopefully one day not too far from today we will have our old full stock (numbers and sizes) back in town.
Changes in human behaviour need time. That's fair. I knew that right from the beginning, but it was well worth not to have considered giving up!
Special thanks to my buddy Hansi. I could not have succeeded without all your support!
Besides working hard for the annual meeting last week, I was teaching double hand casting and fishing for asp myself.
Hopefully you had a great week as well!
All my best
P.s.: Wonderful creatures, aren't they!?
