Photographs of fish laid on the bank - Part II

[jimmadsen]

What started with a question about why people flop fish on the stream bank to take their pictures has turned into a lively discussion about what fish can withstand, that this is a blood sport, that if stocked fish can survive the ride to the stream ? then they should survive the beating that they take at our hands once they are out of the water and dropped on the stream bank.

But stocked fish stay in the water the entire time they are sloshed around ? whether it?s in the truck or the bucket ? and when they are scooped up with a net ? it?s one that?s designed to do the least amount of damage to the fishes mucus membrane.

You can ask any fish biologist (not just the DNR guys) about the importance of fish maintaining the mucus membrane to help prevent infection.

Every see fish scrape themselves on the stream bottom against rocks? See those white spots on a trout? That?s fungus that has infected the fish. How? The mucus membrane was scraped off and made the fish susceptible.

But I know that really doesn?t bother some people. But whether or not you agree with that, I hope that there?s one thing that you will agree - it?s a matter of respect. Respect for our home waters and the fish within them.

If you respect the fish that you catch ? you will do everything you can to ensure its safe return to the water as soon as possible and with as little disruption as possible.

Here?s why I feel the way I do.

Up until the last year I called the Black Hills my home waters. They are special for several reasons - but one is above all others.

Trout are not native there?never have been. In the hundreds of square miles in the Black Hills , the streams that criss-cross the area hold some of the finest trout fishing around. And they are only in those waters because someone put them in there.

Up until the Didymo infestation there was some limited natural reproduction of German Browns in Rapid Creek ? but that has stopped. And at this point there is no confirmed natural reproduction of any trout in the Black Hills. I got this straight from the president of the Black Hills Flyfishing organization.

So if you catch a fish in the Black Hills ? it?s because someone put it in there, or that someone caught it before and released it to be caught again.

I?m now fishing new waters and these again hold fish that are only there because someone has put them in there. No natural reproduction. And I?ve seen enough dead trout downstream from the heavily fished areas to know that there IS mortality among catch and release fish.

I catch and release every fish I?m fortunate enough to catch. If I really want to eat fish ? I?ll go to the store and buy it. The reverse doesn?t work - I can?t buy the same frozen fish and put it in the stream.

I respect the fish that I catch and the waters I catch them in, so I take every precaution to make sure that every fish I catch is handled as gently as possible, is returned as quickly as possible back to the water to ensure its survival.

You can be sure that if I fish your home waters I will do the same and I only hope that you extend the same respect for my new home waters as well.

[Gramps]

I agree with you 100%. I can also honestly say i've never taken a picture of fish I C&R. Why should I? I didn't catch it to show to someone else.

[flyandtie]

I agree with you 100%. I can also honestly say i've never taken a picture of fish I C&R. Why should I? I didn't catch it to show to someone else.

well said

[jimmadsen]

Pete - thanks for the comment...

I guess I try to be careful with the fish that I catch to ensure that someone else gets to enjoy the same thrill of a tight line that you just did by making sure that fish lives to fight another day.

And yes - there are some that say "It doesn't hurt the fish" to do this or do that - but the point is that it doesn't take any more time or effort to treat the fish carefully and gently and release it.

It's no hardship or extra work. It's just a matter of having a respect for the water and the fish within.

If you're lazy or don't care - then yeah - flop it around in the grass and the rocks and sticks and whatever else is in there. Maybe it'll take care of it's own release and flop it's way across the rocks and back to the stream.

But if you respect the fish you catch then you're probably smart enough to realize that we are stewards of the waters we fish and the creatures that live within. As fisherman we should all be conservationsists. We don't have to hug a tree, but we can and should protect and improve the waters we fish.

That means picking up the beer bottle or food wrapper someone tossed aside. That means picking up plastic in the water when we see it. And both those things take effort.

What DOESN'T take any extra effort is making sure we do everything to guarantee the fish we catch are handled gently and carefully and released as quickly as possible back to the water.

It's not a question of whether or not the fish can handle it.

IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

[Gramps]

To be perfectly honest Jim. I'm content to not actually land the trout. I love the whole act of fly fishing, the setting, the stalk, the take, and the battle. If the trout escapes before coming to net. All the better for me.

If I get no takes it's fine too, because I still have the setting and stalk. More than enough fo me. Plus I have the bamboo doing it's dance, and the silk line singing it's song. What more can a man want?

[Jed]

I have a number of questions about C&R. First off, I do mostly C&R, but not for any particular moral reason.

Jim says "I catch and release every fish I?m fortunate enough to catch. If I really want to eat fish ? I?ll go to the store and buy it." Ethically, whats the difference, wether you kill a fish or hire someone else to do so? [Jim this isn't meant as an attack on you, so don't feel that you must respond. Its a general question to many of us who act this way, including myself.]

In many areas, trout do not winter over. They are raised and stocked for fishermen's pleasure and to think that not taking it home will allow it to live a long life just isn't true. While it does give someone else a chance to catch that fish in the season it doesn't rise to the level of holy grail for me.

I like C&R, I generally practice it, but at times do not. Many friends of mine do not and thats perfectly okay so far as I am concerned.

As for photos, if I'm going to release a fish, I agree that it should be done fast and efficiently. Often taking photos of oneself make this not possible. Its keep it or release it but torturing it just isn't a whole lot of fun.

jed

[Pete Hiatt]

I am a firm believer in slitting the throat so they bleed out making them taste better. Of course, a good head/foot stomping is always an option.

[Gramps]

True. A good head stomping might do you some good.

[Pete Hiatt]

Doesn't look like it helped you.

[markofpa]

fellows,fellows,fellows. oh what a good LAUGH i had at your expense.