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Some Myths about Catch and Release

10K views 98 replies 37 participants last post by  speedbird49 
#1 · (Edited)
I know many people struggle with proper catch and release when fishing. There are also lots of myths about this practice and myths are mostly not true. Here are some myths that people believe about catch and release;

Before that, here is the government's recommendations on proper catch and release.
  • The fish is okay if it swims off
This is not true. many people have released fish and two hours later the fish turns up belly up dead. The only way to prevent things like this is to put in the best catch and release practices all the time. Failure to do that, even if the fish swims off, it is possible it might not survive.
  • Placing the fish on the rock for a short time does no harm
When you take a fish out of the water, try as much as possible not to set it on anything. Whether it is rocks, grass or anything else. Even if the fish is wet, every second it spends out of the water reduces its chances of surviving.
  • Not catching and releasing properly makes you a bad person
This is not true. As much as the goal of catch and release is to release fish so it can grow, if you fail to do that, nobody will call PETA on you and neither with the gods of trouts prevent you from catching fish. We all should just make sure we put in good practice as often as possible. There are some other myths but if you are ever going to practice a really good catch and release, it makes sense to have a good fly reel. You can get some ideas here.
 
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#6 ·
When you get your fish to the beach, make sure to coat it in sand so the sun doesn't damage its scales. The fish will often do this for you by flopping around.
Or kill it, then post on the internet asking people to identify what type of fish you caught.....
SF
 
#9 ·
when i was actively fishing the strait for salmon, unclipped to clipped ration was probably in the range of 20-1. if the fish was bleeding, into the fish box irregardless. i knew it would not survive so why release. getting a citation is not a big deal and with one WDFW officer for 2 counties, i never even saw the guy working anywhere. oh, and the fish always stayed in the knotless release net, in the water, until i could identify clipped or not.
 
#22 ·
Hi Jamie,

Actually, that is a myth. I also used to believe that barbless hooks preserved trout population.

I suspect you have taken this myth at face value, without ever questioning it because it sounds so logical. Of course barbless hooks should be mandatory to preserve trout fisheries. I suspect you never questioned this or even asked a fisheries biologist about the research proving that barbless hooks preserved trout populations. Certainly, there must be abundant evidence and studies if this is true!

Actually the opposite is true.

There is abundant evidence that the mortality difference in Catch and Release fisheries between catching a fish with a barbless hook vs a barbed hook has no effect on fish population. This has been shown to be true not only in trout but other freshwater species and in saltwater C & R fisheries.

This is a previous thread that covers two contentious issues - the use of stomach pumps and barbed vs barbless hooks.


The mortality issue boils down to the scientific fact that in fisheries with good natural reproduction, the population of trout is determined by the carrying capacity of the river system. Natural mortality in these river systems commonly range from 30% to 65% each year. For lures and flies, the aggregate mean hooking mortality in multiple studies is 4.5% for barbed and 4.2% for barbless. This 0.3% difference makes no difference in the fish population when compared with the natural mortality of 30% to 65% each year.
 
#19 ·
I think c&r works, and I am always looking to get better. I've broken two rivers into 3/4 mi long stretches and rotate between them every couple weeks. I've seen the fish I've caught and photoed before living and feeding and even caught a couple again although usually I chase the ones I didn't get. I don't think the places like the Yakima River or Basin Lakes would last long if most of us wen't doing well with this.
 
#28 ·
Today was just an average morning on the river. 21 fish in 4.5 hours. All were released and they ranged in size from 10” to 18”. Four species—Cutt, Bow, Brown and Whitefish. They came from a river with excellent water quality, strong biomass and fish density at the upper limit of capacity. If the biologists are correct that at least 1 in 5 trout (20%) die off (all manners of mortality) every season, then 4 of the fish I caught will be statistically dead next season. If C&R mortality is 3-5%, then at least one of those fish is statistically dead.

I’ve had 100+ fish days on several SW Montana rivers in the last decade and 50+ days have not been uncommon. I like to fish and I am good at it. If I worried about the statistics it wouldn’t be fun anymore.

Our education and energy needs to focus on maintaining healthy watersheds with strong diverse biomass. Living things die, so fish mortality is just part of the cycle.

Today it was hoppers, Humpys and streamers on barbless hooks that did them in. They are “killing” flies in August as the English would say!
 
#32 · (Edited)
In regards to wild coho release in the straits, I still wish they would just let people keep the first two coho, clipped or not.
It seemed crazy reading reports of people having to catch 20+ wild fish in order to get a couple of clipped fish.
That still happens today at times as well.
SF
 
#35 ·
i have fished single hooks barbless since 1975. all of my strait fishing was done with my saltwater flies, matching the hatch don't you know, or occasionally 'coho killers', small hunks of hardware also with single hooks, barbless.

one of the big problems with coho is once they spot your boat they will often times start rolling and that is where the damage occurs. a simple change in regulations, first two fish (or whatever the daily limit might be) would solve all of this and keep thousands of unclipped fish from being stressed.
 
#99 ·
I go over this thread anytime I feel guilty about a bad release and I have to agree that for saltwater boat fishermen or at least vessels past a certain size, a catch and keep policy might be better. On my Dads boat it is impossible to release fish while keeping them in the water unless you go for a swim with them. (Need to look into dehookers) Despite the laws, plenty of people are going to bring fish over the gunwales, and most of the nets I see out on the water are not knotless. (Including my own for the time being, so I don't take it out without positively identifying a keeper). I have to imagine that fighting the drag from the heavier gear used during trolling, the downrigger ball on occasions when small fish aren't detected for a long time, and the drag from the boat itself is going to also put a lot more stress on the fish than fighting a shore fisherman. And while spoons and hoochies are more common than herring, a lot of fishermen still do use bait or at least baitstrips. You also can't hold a fish and give it time to recover when you fish from a boat
 
#45 ·
I know I am over thinking this and we have beaten it to death, but I was thinking about those couple bleeders and tongue and eye hooked fish and worse that we seem to encounter. When I fish beads pegged above with a size 8 (or whatever) circle hook I always get nice corner mouth hook ups. I also find a slack line dumps the fish faster than a fly. Has anybody ever played with a tube type fly pegged above a hook. I did a quick internet search but didn't hit much. I'm guessing it would look like some of your saltwater ties? Something to play with I guess.
 
#49 ·
This was marketed as the Moffit fly system about a decade ago. It didn't catch on.
Matt,

I researched the Moffit Angling System years ago.

The Moffit Angling System was considered "snagging" by the DNR of several states including Alaska and that was the reason it was taken off the market. The legal definition of snagging is when the fish is hooked outside the mouth.


"Snagging means an effort to take fish with a hook and line in a manner that the fish does not take the hook or hooks voluntarily in its mouth."

My understanding was when beading was first used in Alaska it was also determined to be snagging under the laws that were in effect at that time. After several years, the laws were changed and now the regulations specify define how far away from the hook the bead can be.

The Moffit Angling System was patented in 2006. The Moffit Angling System was advertised in several fly fishing magazines including Fly Fisherman. It is essentially the same as beading except it can be adapted for nymphs and other non beaded flies, AND it allows flies to be exchanged without retying the rig. They are swapped out on the system.

Patrick Moffit's argument is that flies which are hooked near and outside the jaw are easier and more quickly removed than flies hooked on the inside of the mouth. So he argues that his system is less stressful on the fish.

Here is what Patrick Moffit's Patent states:

"In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, apparatus and methods are provided for improved fly-fishing.

Advantageously, a fly-fishing fly that does not require the line to be disconnected to change or remove a fly is presented. The flies can be added, removed, or pushed up the leader without the need for new knots thus greatly speeding and simplifying the changing of flies.

Another advantage is that two or more flies can be fished without tangles and without the potential of the free-swinging fly hooking the angler or fouling in the landing net when landing a fish.

Another advantage of the current invention is that the learned aversion of fish to the hook shape and to objects that do not orient correctly with regard to the water current is overcome.

The current invention also advantageously provides a soft fly body, which leads to a longer retention time by a fish, enhancing strike detection and hookups. The ability of the angler to detect a strike before the fish has expelled it from its mouth is a major factor in success.

An additional advantage offered by the present invention is that the flies assume a more natural shape than hooked flies, which better mimic the movement of fish food prey items in water.

The invention also offers the advantage of the use of small hooks with large flies, which reduce the mortality rate of released fish and the ability to use lighter lines and rods.

Advantageously, the invention also allows for easy alteration of the fly from weighted to un-weighted and from beaded to non-beaded flies using the same basic fly form.

Another advantage of the current invention is that the invention greatly reduces the numbers and styles of hooks that need to be carried by a fisherman."









One state, Colorado, even changed their laws to accommodate the Moffit system.



There are several references to the Moffit system on-line.



As far as I know both beading and the Moffit System are still illegal in the states that I fish - Wisconsin , Montana, and Idaho.
 
#74 ·
I am a firm believer of catch and release and keeping fish totally in the water. But even at that there can be mortality as that is the nature of things. That is why I am really against big numbers of fish caught days that some so proudly brag about. A certain percentage is going to die even if there is nothing apparent to cause death. Just because a fish swims away does not mean it is going to live.
Oxygen deprivation, exhaustion or maybe bleeding are all possible causes and other things too. A weakened fish is more likely to be attacked by a predator.

Case in point, more than a few times I have released a non bleeding, quickly played and released fish just to see it floating belly up 5 minutes later. And not all fish will float to the top when they die.

So I am asking people to limit their catch and realize big number days are hurting the resource. You want quality fish then fish in a way for that to occur. If you are killing 10 percent, just a number, that means 3 fish killed on a 30 fish day. Most fisheries with big fish do not have big numbers of big fish as there are limited food supplies and the bigger the fish the more food they eat, hence less fish numbers.

Dave
 
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