The death of Benson, the immaculate common carp from Bluebell Lakes back in August this year ignited the uncooked particle debate once again.  You can read the Daily Express article here.

The article contains a couple of quotes.  The first come from an anonimous Web Poster;

“Tiger nuts and peanuts are not swallowed whole, they are crushed up by the throat teeth, so how can these small pieces swell anyway? We have all seen carp excrete these and other baits out on the mat. The whole nut thing is rubbish in my opinion. You would need to use sackfuls to have an adverse affect.”

The second comes from the well respected fish expert, Dr Bruno Broughton;

“I strongly suspect that in this case, given that the last couple of times it had been caught it was less than maximum weight, it was probably nearing the end of its life anyway,” says Dr Broughton.

“The claims about unsoaked dried nuts swelling up in the intestines of a fish are largely exaggerated and it is pure speculation that Benson was killed because of nuts. I don’t know all the facts but my own speculation is that it probably wasn’t the cause.”

Here’s a couple of view points from regular contributors to this Blog;

Big Ron writes;

This is a subject I have had several discussions about with a good friend of mine, Dr Bruno Broughton.  His thoughts are that it is most unlikely that nuts ( soaked or raw) would actulay kill a carp, because as they swell they would have to be passed normaly.  Just like us…if your full up of food you naturaly go to the loo.

And here’s a point of view from the owner of Beaute, Alex Mills, who has 40 years carp fishing experience;

On several occasions over the years, I have seen fish belly up, still alive and manage to expell some of the feed that they have been munching. One particular species, sturgeon, sweep up all that they can. The nuts swell up in their bodies, this is a well known proven fact.  To prove this theory for yourself, get some fresh uncooked tiger nuts and leave them in a bucket of warm water overnight and see how much they swell. The sturgeon I found was lucky enough to express the nuts from, and after I kept keep an eye on him for a couple of hours, was ok again.

I have had great concerns about particles that are cheap and easily available to everyone. I would like to see one day that they could only be bought from a company like Hinders that do a good job in preparing particles, and not by individuals. Not all, but some people who attempt to try preparing particles themselves, sometimes rush and do not properly cook or soak them. Even Hinders say they do the best job they can do but are not experts. I have just received an email from Big Ron regarding this topic, he has spoken to his good friend Dr. Bruno Broughton.  I am no doctor and I do not proclaim to be an expert, we are all on a learning curve and learn new things every day, but I have had first hand experience of the problems caused by uncooked or not properly soaked particles. Big Ron’s friend, Dr. Bruno Broughton, says that fish will pass these through normally, as we do. I disagree.  I have had fish belly up because they cannot pass these tiger nuts and other similar particles easily. Carp do not have a stomach as we do, they only have intestines.

Hope this helps, and I would like to know for sure myself that my fish are not just for people to catch, they are my pets and I am always willing to learn more to ensure that they get the best life I can give them.

So… whats your view?  Would you allow uncooked particles if you were a fishery owner – tell us by voting in our poll… and feel free to leave a comment below if you have a view.

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