Stressing trout in winter

[8wt]

I have been told that catching and releasing trout in winter stresses them. I kinda thought the colder water would help them more than hurting when catching and releasing compared to the warmer water of summer. Thoughts or studies?

thanks

[jeremy.badgett]

I have never heard of this, people back home in Idaho and Montana fish all winter long. I am curious to see what others have to say. I would have to agree that as a cold water species that the cold water would in my mind be better for them.

[Bluegill222]

The only thing I could think of would be removing fish from the water into really cold air might be a bit of a shock to the gills. Kind of like walking out of a warm building on a cold day and taking a deep breath. Just a guess as I don't really know for sure.

[flyfishfairwx]

BG22 nailed it, the colder it is the less time the fish should be out of he water, anything below - 10c the fish stays in the water and I do the two finger release,slide 2 fingers down the line and release the fish.. I only fish below -10c by accident, day started warmer but got colder..

NEVER NEVER PUT A TROUT ON THE ICE UNLESS YOU ARE HARVESTING IT!!!!
NEVER NEVER PUT A TROUT IN A SNOW BANK UNLESS YOU ARE HARVESTING IT!!!!
I MOSTLY DO NOT BRING MY NET WINTER FLY FISHING, WHEN I BROKE MY FINGER I USED MY NET, THE FROZEN MESH WILL DAMAGE FISH..

Note: I am mostly talking TROUT here, as that is what I know, if we do not take care of the resource we are fly fishing for why are we fly fishing for ???

The only thing I could think of would be removing fish from the water into really cold air might be a bit of a shock to the gills. Kind of like walking out of a warm building on a cold day and taking a deep breath. Just a guess as I don't really know for sure.

[Mato Kuwapi]

What flyfishfairwx said. Hooking and fighting a fish in winter isn't the problem. Cold exposure to air where the temps are below freezing is. Fish swimmimg in water are in temps above freezing. Take them out, even for a few seconds (depending on temps) and damage can / will occur. The gills freeze, as well as the skin, eyes and fins. For the gills this can be equal to you inhaling flames or super heated air. Frost bite does the same damage as flame does, ie a burn is a burn, cold or hot.

[Steve Molcsan]

Good information to know...


Thank you!

[fishdog54]

I used to do a fair amount of ice-fishing for perch in Lake Champlain in upstate New Yawk, during the winter. It was very cold and a constant battle to keep the holes clear of ice. When you pulled the fish from the hole and laid them on the ice surface, it was a matter of seconds for the fish to stop struggling. In our case, it was exactly what we wanted to happen. If water is freezing in your guides, do not lift the fish from the water. In all other cases I would just say to keep any exposure to cold air to the absolute minimum. I would not use a net in freezing weather either, although if you dip the net in the water(which you should do regardless of the air temp.) it should thaw out enough to net the fish, but I't seems like a lot of bother to me to have to mess with a frozen net. The eyes are especially vulnerable on fish. I like to use a lot of barbless(pinched down barb) hooked streamers in the winter, because I can just reach down and grab that long shanked fly, give it a slight twist upward and the fish is gone. No fuss, no muss! LOL!!!

Best regards, Dave S.

[MontanaMoose]

For me, fishdog has the same idea i have, long shanked hooks in larger sizes...i use 2's and 4's for steelhead....easy to reach down and release most of the time.

Cheers,

MontanaMoose

[JohnScott]

...releasing trout in winter stresses them. ...

really stresses them.

John

P.S. I think trout, especially wild trout, and especially big wild trout, are a lot tougher than most people give them credit for. That's not to say that you shouldn't use good catch and release techniques.

[Bamboozle]

Has anyone bothered to ask a REAL official fisheries biologist if this is an issue?

I'm inclined to agree with John.

When you think about all of the things catch & release fisherman are NOT supposed to do to ensure suvival of the species; I wonder why we are fishing for trout at all? If they were as fragile as many think, I would imagine they would be extinct by now!