I haven’t had chance yet to comment on the Irish haddock record being beaten aboard Colin Barnes’s boat The Holly Joe by angler Tony Santry a few weeks back. This is a very significant record to be broken as haddock are one of the traditional rod and line fish, the existing record set back in 1964 and as far as I’m aware it never came close to being beaten previously.

My contacts in Ireland tell me that currently the deeper water off the southwest coast is well stocked with big haddock and it’s indicative of two things, that when conditions are right and commercial fishing does not specifically target a certain species, their numbers can suddenly explode.

I remember 20-years ago struggling to catch a haddock as they were so very scarce and my first came from the banks off Arklow and might just have made a pound. Some years later I had them to 3lbs from deep water off the Donegal coast, and then caught a few up in Orkney but the quality of the fishing off the southwest of Ireland is unprecedented in recent memory. Normally you’d have to go north to Norway to find fish in excess of 7lbs.

This great catch bodes the question what other long time records could be logically beaten?

The angler fish record was set back in 1985 and I think that could go, but few boats or anglers get out to deep enough water to target the biggies. If it is ever broken it will be to a whole fish bait fished up off the bottom, or to a pirk and probably come from Scotland’s west coast.

I think Martin Larkin’s shore record conger at 68lbs 8ozs set back in 1992 is another that’s vulnerable, but again you have to have the anglers deliberately fishing for these fish just as Martin did to get one out. Dedication is what it takes and Martin Larkin had it a plenty!

I’ve always felt the boat garfish record looks feasible. It stands at 3lb 9ozs, but was set in 1994 and I know of several very big gars that have been cut up for bait would you believe that might have run it close by anglers who had no idea what they’d caught. Again it’s a fish few anglers target.

I think the consistency of the big blue sharks that are being caught off Milford Haven in southwest Wales with numerous fish over 200lbs recently caught after decades without any surely indicates this record set at 218lbs since 1959 is on borrowed time, though whether many anglers or skippers would choose to kill such a fish these days is another factor.

I believe a new UK bass record is in the throes of being ratified, but I don’t expect this to last too long. I think a bass well over 20lbs is going to be caught in the next few years. For the Irish Bass record, my first bet would be from the Cork coast in southern Ireland where specimen bass are now being caught frequently. As for the UK record possibly from the Hampshire or Sussex coast, this latter fish being from the more prolific French stock. An outside chance would be from an isolated fish off the Welsh coast.

The killing of a record fish is rightly very emotive and I don’t need to reiterate my feelings on conservation after nearly three decades of being involved with angling and general conservation. What I would say is that in certain cases, such as cod and other bottom dwellers that prove difficult to retain, it’s not all bad to take a record breaking fish. What it does for the good is to push up the specimen weight ceiling and therefore reduces the overall numbers of some species being retained by anglers who like a piece of paper to remember their catch by.

Another argument is that a record breaker will be approaching the end of its life and can also be used for research purposes and again in that way can help preserve stocks in the long term from information gained. We owe in part some of  our current advanced medical knowledge to the grave robbers and body suppliers such as the infamous Burke and Hare who’s supply of fresh bodies were dissected by the students of the day to learn of the workings of the human form. In the future knowledge of our fish species will become vital in their preservation. But you need the giants of their species to get the appropriate information.

I personally take very few fish and wouldn’t dream of killing fish such as sharks, tope, or any other predator that will go back alive easily. If someone catches a record cod or other fish in deep water, then I see no problem in them keeping it if that is their choice and it will not in any way be wasted.

Look at how many records are broken each year, one or two at best. Will one or two fish even if monsters make any difference to the overall scheme of things? Of course not! What we need to be more concerned about are the few greedy anglers who still want to take a bag full of fish home for the so called cat each and every trip and the ridiculous state of discards within the commercial fishing industry. That’s where the real criticism needs to be aimed.