Back when we had the "Lurker" discussion, someone mentioned that we should possibly have discussion on the correct catch-and-release techniques.
To me, one of the first and most important items about releasing a fish properly is to get the fish to hand, and back in the water, as quickly as possible. I'm sure there will be discussion on the merits of handling/not handling fish, netting the fish, etc. But, what I'm talking about is minimizing, as much as practicable, the time in playing a fish. In our discussion about Fantasy Rods and/or what we like to use for what species, there were a number of folks who seemed to use rods that I feel are too light to land the fish quckly. Sure, I can catch a Lenice 23" rainbow on a 3 weight, and although it's a lot of fun to catch a fish that size on a 3 weight, I think it unduly and unfairly stresses the fish. I would rather get the fish in as quickly as possible and minimize the stress, and get it back to its environs. That doesn't mean I would use an 8 weight, but something like a 5 or 6, again in my opinion, would be more appropriate. Need to use the right tool for the job . . . This is particularly true as the water warms up in lakes and rivers; as the oxygen levels in the water lower as the temperatures increase. Remember, fish don't have as efficient and as intricate circulatory systems like ours to get oxygen back in our system to clean out any lactic acid accumulations, so therefore they don't recovery nearly so quickly. So, adding up the long, exhaustive fight on a light rod, a less intricate circulatory system, and lower-than-normal oxygen levels in water, as well as physical mis-handling by the fisherperson, fish mortality percentages go way up. Minimizing one of these factors, the rod size, is easy for us to control. Mis-handling a fish also is a big cause of fish mortality. I've seen many fisherperson, including some experienced fly fishers, when fishing local saltwater for coho drag the fish onto the beach. The fish usually is flopping around rather vigorously, so the next step is a knee on the fish to pin it down in order to extract the lure or fly. The fisherperson then sticks their fingers under the operculum/gill plate, then moseys back into the salt to release their prize. I see the above sequence repeated by about 50% of the saltwater fisherpersons, gear or fly, that I encounter. To me, if you can wade out into the water to cast to catch the fish, you can stay in the water to land the fish. Dragging it up onto the sand damages the fish's exterior. The scales come very, very easily. Out in the water, you won't likely use the knee-hold on the fish when releasing the fish, which is obviously is a good thing. And, it obviates the need for the 'gill plate carry', and also helps to minimize the amount of time the fish is out of the water. Heck, you get back fishing faster, too! Anyway, just I thought I'd toss this out there, and wait for the arrows to fly. <grin> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary Meyers" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, December 21, 2001 11:02 AM Subject: Re: P E T A > Well, I'm probably going to creamed on this one, but... > > Let's be honest. The fact is, we DO torture and maim and wound fish. And > with C&R techniques, repeatedly. I'm personally convinced, particularly in > heavily-fished waters, that we contribute to early mortality rates. We've > all seen released "floaters." Not to mention we raise and kill specific > animals for their fur and feathers so we can fool, catch, and release more > fish more often. > > Fly fishermen, as a whole, tend to be a little sanctimonious about our > conservation and preservation sensibilities. We cloak fly fishing in poetry > and mystical Norman McClean-shadow-casting-kumbaya. But it doesn't change > what we are fundamentally doing in the water. > > I think we're a bit hypocritical. > > Myself? Yeah, I enjoy fishing. A lot. I love hammering 'em. Do I recognize > that my enjoyment of same is may at the expense of another of God's > creatures suffering? Yes. Am I a hypocrite? Likely. But, I'm personally fine > with it. > > My teenage daughter is a PETA member. I see the propaganda that comes into > the house. And the fact is, much of what they espouse makes sense. There IS > horrid mistreatment of animals around the world. Much of it institutional. > C'mon, can you really be against taking a look at the abuses prevalent in > areas such as poultry-farming and livestock production? > > Does PETA opine a bunch of fringe nonsense, as well? (E.g., banning fishing > in parks?). In my opinion, most definitely. Of course, that's the stuff that > makes headlines. And that's why they do it. GreenPeace did the same thing. > Extreme positions make news. It generates publicity. It's effective PR. > > But to think they are really going to get sport fishing banned anywhere is > in my opinion, ludicrous. It ain't gonna happen. > > Rip lips > > Gary Meyers > Kirkland > > > > >
