Who wrote this and when was it written? I believe it is very relevant…
" Admittedly, this is still an uncommon attitude, but it is growing in the face of reality. There is slow acceptance of the idea that if a man does not practice conservation in sport, he is not likely to practice it in other ways, and when the equation is carried out to the very end he finds that it is really his own habitat that he is trying to conserve.
And so the lesson is that man and the fish must coexist, that the angler should use the resource but not use it up, that success need not be measured by the number of the kill, and that every care should be taken to guard the wild heritage of Salmon and Trout so that these best examples of nature's work shall not vanish from the earth. And Fly Fishing, with all its other inherent pleasures, is the method-and the philosophy- most consistent with this noble purpose."
Steve Raymond, ?The Year of the Angler?, winter chapters, 1973
Agreements, counter arguments?
Have a glass of wine (red) and think about it for a while?
I agree with everything but the last sentence in it’s entirety. It makes it sound like that is “the only” way to conserve the sport and I would have to respectfully disagree with that. Other than that, yup!
I do agree that fly fishing in general represents a type of fishing that is so specific in nature that it can only represent a state of mind geared for preserving the sport and the nature surrounding it.
Now that was a mouthful for me. I will leave the site for a few minutes and then come back and read what I wrote to see if it makes sense.
Fly Fishing person’s are not the only stewards of the fish.
If we were, would we risk their demise but catching them in the first place?
And in practicing catch and release, any one of us could very likely cause them to die of the fungus they can and do get from the disturbance of their slime covering.
I can see a day when pursuing the fish will be like as in diving…
Take only pictures, leave only bubbles.
Now that, is the least disturbing, and least disruptive a method as I know of.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for C&R.
But not if the fish dies and goes to waste.
It’s a thin line.
I’m just sayin… :tieone:
Fully agreed we are not the only stewards of the resource but and there is always a but , we could potentially be the best stewards, if we organize to a greater extent then we are now.
Would not the fish be just as dead if we practiced K&K, with very strict self-imposed fish handling procedures there is very little slime covering disturbance, none if the fish is not removed from the water and a Hook release tool is used…
a fish that is caught and kept for the pot or fertilizer is the wasted fish if you ask me…
I agree with the quote. It seems to me that it is not suggesting total catch and release in the “… use the resource but not use it up” section. I personally see no waste in a fish kept for the pot, and indeed, barring gluttony there is no waste in that situation. If the resource drops off, then reduce the harvest, to zero if need be, until it returns. At which point one has to modify the harvest protocol, etc.
Unfortunately, the biggest impact upon fish population, is usually due to those other than the anglers. Polution, such as acid rain, has done far more damage than taking fish home for dinner. Toxic spills into rivers, industy releasing clean, but hot, water, fertaliser run off from lawns and farms, etc, are the primary killers of fish.
Jeff you will not get an argument with any of that from me!!!
But and there is always a but… I might add that over fishing on the high seas as a primary fish killer… I am aware that this is removed from Trout but Salmon have suffered from this as by-catch, believe it or not!..
My point was that contact with the fish damages their slime covering. In trout, when the water warms as it does during the summer, they can and do die from a fungus that attacks where the slime was disturbed. I’ve caught fish like that and it is very disturbing that they are dieing such a slow death.
A death dealt by a well meaning, but misaligned, C&R fisher person.
And we’ve both seen countless pictures where the fisher person has hold of a magnificent fish with both hands, tail area and belly/gill area.
I would just as soon see that fish eaten, than to find it weeks or months later rotting along the creek.
Here is what we found in Clearlake, California one week after a bass tournament. Well meaning C&R. Terrible waste of nice fish.
There is actually 9 in that picture. Made me disgusted to find them.
I agree and have never partaken in a Spin/hardware fishing Derby or tournament… never will either… they breed poor fish handling and note that there are very few Fly Fishing Tournaments (may partake in a FF tourney, more on that later)… the nature of that activity turns me off, turn some thing that is supposed to be an enjoyable, and dare I say healing activity in to a competition is just wrong.
The example you give has nothing to do and is in no why whats so ever equal to Fly fishing…
It is not fly fishing that effected these fish it is “PEOPLE” and people by nature are lazy animals…and truly very self centered, and self serving…
and again I will ask could we as a Fly fishing entity affect a change, can you affect a change…
Sonny Plse I am only asking out of curiosity, did you report the state of the fish to the authorities or even the organizers of the Tourney… that would be a start and of course there is the media etc…
I must say I would not what to been in your shoes finding those fish I would have been broken hearted… sorry that you had to experience that…
Fly fishing practiced as S. Raymond was describing, is the highest form of conservation, and proper use of the resource…
“What think you?”
I think I am more of a conservationist than even I realize. Even as a boy of 15, when my Dad took me deer hunting for the first time, I caught 4 rainbow plants for dinner. 2 for each of us.
Dad said why don’t you catch more? I told him these were what we could eat, so leave the rest for the next guy. Something my Dad had said time and time again. Leave some for the next guy… That is one of my earliest recollections of conservation on my part.
I was raised in a way that respects the land and the water. We tread lightly before others were aware of where we went. When we took, instead of looked, it did not go to waste, we ate what we took. I was taught to fish and commune with nature on the same creek my Dad learned to fish on with my Grandfather in the mid-1930’s. Mostly what we took was planted rainbow trout raised in the local hatcheries.
All of it is pretty much academia. Semantics.
I say, fish and enjoy communing with nature. If you damage the fish, kill it quickly so as to stop it’s suffering. Then eat it, or give it to someone who will.
If that wears on your conscience, stop fishing. If you have enough for dinner, stop fishing.
Manys the time I have walked beside a stream and looked and observed the fish or watched them dart away. They are there, I know, I don’t have to catch them, but I know I could. I know how deadly I can be, or choose not to be.
Therein lies a difference.
Too many go out with the attitude that they need a tally at the end of the day or trip. I see them all the time, I’m sure we all have. I’ve have skunk days, and one fish C&R days, and many many days of just piloting my boat with the kids fishing, or piloting my boat while friends fished. Other times I love the solitude of early mornings sitting watching a piece of water and the fish that rise to take bugs floating by, with my coffee and little brown dog.
But to think that fly fishers are the epitome of fishing purists?
Sorry, I don’t think that way. To me, that is an elitist attitude. Nor do I think the extremists like the Sierra Club (for one) who would close vast areas to everybody is the right approach.
It is the individual. And there are too many clamoring for the places to fish. Too much pressure on the land and streams to produce. Last time at the reever, I crossed lines with an Asian fisherman who had 5 surf casting rods set up on a small dock with whole anchovies on them. I don’t know what he hoped to catch, but he appeared to be illegally fishing. He was cordial and we got the lines untangled, but it is so typical of some of the crud on the waters these days. :roll:
Folks tend to be so scientific. Sucking the stomach contents out of a fish to see what it has been eating? Oh yeah, that’s probably really good for the fish!
Realistic flies? OK, artwork, but what does it catch? Fishermen? I sure never saw no bugs like some of that stuff. :rolleyes:
So I practice a little different ecology. Bait dunkers aren’t bad, probably half of what they dunk winds up being eaten downstream. I know when I cleaned the bait from my hook it went into the waters as fish food.
I’ve caught fish with hooks rusting in their mouths as well. I removed it, and mine, and released them. Hopefully the next guy enjoyed them.
I fish with a somewhat limited and narrow band of fly’s, when I fish. I don’t care if I catch fish, but I like to go fishing.
More so, I like to watch the Grand Kids, or friends catch fish. More often, it’s a nice slow boat ride in those instances.
Don’t get too hung up in the semantics or science BS.
As I have said before and elsewhere, nothing wrong with the Earth that the removal of about 9 billion humans wouldn’t cure. Then the Earth would heal itself and nature would balance. Some folks actually understand that statement.
I have that Healing Waters idea rolling around in my head. I’m considering it. But for no other reason than to thank my defenders of my freedoms. Just like my volunteer work with my local VFW’s.
Nice chatting with you.
The highest form of conservation is to observe, but not disturb. Catch and release comes somewhere below that.
Me too, but I’ll be leaving Wednesday night.
So we will be like two ships in the night. Toot-Toot!
Have a grand trip and many fish!
Hope your fly’s are well loved!
the first para is a statement that we must practice conservation in all things not just fishing and the environment…
The second is stating that you can use a resource and not use it up… allow a resource to sustain it self and yes you can take a fish for the pan or return it to be enjoyed again … and that Fly fishing is the type of fishing that allows you to do that most efficiently …
and this was stated in 1973, I think it is a very important statement in the fact that we have not all caught on to what he is saying, there are still fishers, Fly fishers and other that do not see what their actions result in, they are still wearing the blinders of “Me” , the me generation or mentality…Too much going on in their life to worry about the other guy or the world, let somebody do that while I get mine… Thirty some odd years later we still have not got it… “[b]Admittedly, this is still an uncommon attitude”
This may not answer all that Sonny posted but it is a start,[/b]may not even be close I am still fishing and not concentrating on the BB as much…
