What has been good from the beginning wants to grow in size and in greatness just like a tree in forest. It is similar in the case of campaign “Release the Mother!”. If the greatness of a tree can be measured by its trunk size and its splendid canopy, then the main values of the campaign is the ideology of catch and release angling and the number of participants, who have tested angling in the style of “Release the Mother!” – those are the trunks and canopy. Those, who have gone into it more deeply, see that the quality of fishing in favourite waters depends on our fishing manners; they understand that the permitted limit – 5 pikes, 5 zanders and a scoop of perches every day, except the prohibition period, is too much to preserve healthy populations. Those who participate in “Release the Mother!” are carnivorous fish anglers, who understand that they are not the only ones on this planet; if you, reading these lines, start considering to participate in the contest for the first time, then you are the most important person on a way to a considerate and nature respecting angler society.
In the 3rd season of “Release the Mother!”, the contest that was made for LVM waters has new followers – Burtnieks, Babīte and Alūksne lakes and Seda pond. This year the competition will take place in 8 different water reservoirs, with a total area of 100 km², and the applications sent in by anglers will be put in a united table system in a new homepage created especially for this purpose – www.atlaidmammu.lv, the application form can also found there or as previously on www.mammadaba.lv.
After hearing the opinions of participants and critics, we have increased the minimum size of the pikes that can be registered in the contest, because – do we really think that a 50 cm long pike can truly be called a “mother”? The organisers of the campaign invites to register pikes starting from 65 cm, however, smaller fish can be humanly killed to feed yourself and your family with a food that has grown in the waters of your country. But don't take more than three, because we are many.
The principle of the competition stays the same – go fishing from boat houses that collaborate with “Release the Mother!”, take a measurement trough and smart phone with you. Measure and photograph caught fish so that the measure marks on the trough can be seen well. Film the releasing of the fish yourself or ask a friend, after the angling fill out the application form (adding photos and video) and after a while look for your application – in the table of results. After analysing the habits of angling in the previous two seasons in the LVM lakes, organisers have concluded that it is not enough to count only the lengths of single carnivorous fish, thus, this year we will also focus on the total length of fish that have been registered by one angler (See the rules of 3rd season) in pike, perch and zander nominations. Namely – during one calendar month send in applications with at least 3 pikes above 65 cm or 3 perches above 35 cm and participate in the monthly competition of total lengths. We will prize the 3 best results of pikes and 2 best results of perches. This year JSC Ieroči,FishBon and Golteenn have confirmed their participation as the supporters of the competition.
In collaboration with the TV show “Makšķerē ar Olti” we will film stories about nature friendly angling activities in the LVM lakes and other water resources, and also will provide some thematic surprises. Each month we will go through the received applications and will inform you about the noticeable applications, we will publish stories, opinions and commentary of participants. News will also be posted www.facebook.com/atlaidmammu.
See you on the waters!