Banning a whole range of products that are not only effective but also lead to more fish being safely landed and not damaged in the process is crazy to say the least.
Your also exagerating the amount of fish that pay the ultimate price for unsafe set-ups on 2 counts - far less people fish unsafely than you imagine due to the amount of good literature around today and fish are a lot more able to shed hooks and subsequently rigs than you give them credit for.
not sure what lakes you fish on kev but round here the majority of carp anglers wouldn't know a safe rig if it jumped up and bit them on the nose i know how good fish are at getting rid, your trying to paint a very rosey picture but my eyes tell me different mate. you can't say how many fish die tethered, nobody can because we never see the end result do we? whenever a thread like this comes up people always defend leadcore saying 'i've never had a problem', well they wouldn't would they, its the carp that gets the problem my point is tethering known to happen and these products (leaders) are usually to blame, whats wrong with making every effort to avoid them?
Your helicopter/tubing setup that you rave to be completely safe is far from it as with all set-ups - nothing is foolproof and can snag through weedclod and tangles and many other scenarios, depending where the line breaks and how it has been set-up.
Your helicopter/tubing set-up is very poor in weedy lakes as the lead is unable to discharge.........! But do you make allowances for that - I'll guess not!
no setup with a leader is completely safe kev, the helicopter is the 'safest'. weedy lakes are a nightmare, not the place for any kind of leader really, even if its tied helicopter style. as you say nothing is foolproof, the safest way is to not incorporate any leader at all
Going back to my point above barbless hooks and lighter hooklinks will improve the safety of any set-up.
light hooklengths may help...then again, even what we consider to be light maybe too much for a carp if its tethered with limited movement? barbless hooks, they may be easier to get rid of but then again i've caught fish trailing barbless rigs on more than one occaision, just how easy are they to get rid of? i can't say....can you? swings and roundabouts mate.
Banning products is not the way to go - beginners to the sport and experienced alike now have access to information like never before so there are a hell of a lot of good anglers out there (young and old) who not only put fish safety first on the bank, but also in the thinking behind their set-ups.
sorry mate i disagree, plenty of information yes but a lot of poor anglers out there, just visit a popular day ticket water and tell me most...not all as it should be, but most can fish leadcore safely
If you have reason to suspect that someone is using what YOU deem to be a death-rig, speak to them or inform the baillif who can show them better ways.
if i see a poor setup i educate them kev, no fear of that as i am a club bailiff and i see first hand every week just how bad some rigs are
Your thoughts seem very shortsighted and misleading - you could always look at the brilliant improvements in fishing practice, but I guess your glass is half empty?
short sighted and misleading? errr no i don't think so, truthful observations based on what i see on the bank when fishing and bailiffing not what the latest mag or manufacturers dvd designed to flog this junk wants me to believe