I recently joined a few new group websites that celebrate “FLY fishing”. A few things are quickly clear.
- Fly Guys hate stocked fish.
- Fly Guys hate keeping fish.
- Fly Guys don’t know how to handle fish.
- Fly Guys are critical of others that catch and keep fish.
- Fly Guys need to take a selfie of every fish they catch.
- Fly Guys want the waters to themselves.
Catch and Release is a wonderful part of fishing and especially Fly Fishing. If you do not like to eat fish, you can throw them back for another day. Hunting does not allow for this flexibility. If you tag it, you bag it.
It’s OK to approach fishing in different ways. Some anglers eat their limits. Stocked fish survive to become Wild Fish. Other styles of fishing have different required skills. Jealousy is part of competition. Bragging rights are part of every sport. There is not just one right way to fish. Other people enjoy fishing too.
I am not just critical of Fly Anglers. Many experience fly guys are excellent anglers and ethical sportsmen. There does seem to be a portion of Fly Guys, and other anglers, which seem to think that their way is the only way to fish. This is also true of other angling groups as well.
No matter what your bias or style of fishing is, at least be responsible. Cell phone selfies and videos are killing fish unnecessarily. What Is the big deal with pictures of every fish that you catch? The fish is lying in the bottom of a net every time you net a fish. At least you are using the Net. If you must video your fish, wear a Go Pro and focus on fishing.
If you plan to keep the fish, break their necks, cut their gills, or thunk them in the head with a stick. Now take as many pictures as you want. Enjoy your legal harvest for dinner.
I watched a fly guy on the river tossing his hooked trout into the air several times to take an “action picture”. When I asked what he was doing, he argued that since he released the fish everything was fine.
If you plan to Catch and Release, do so quickly and with respect.
If you drag the fish onto the shore, in the dirt, gravel, and grass, you just killed the fish. Fish flopping around a boat or in a tub/ cooler will kill them.
Long minutes of the fish out of water suffocate the fish. Once you net the fish, the clock is ticking. Forceps help remove hooks quickly. A sharp hook will remove easier.
Rags and cloth nets wipe the protective mucous off the fish and allow disease/infection that kill the fish. Use a net with a loose plastic fabric.
Long battles weaken the fish. Lactic acid builds up in the fish’s muscles which discourages fish from feeding. Over 5 minutes of battling is too long for most fish to survive. Use a proper rod, reel, and understand how to set the drag.
Big fish are less likely to recover. They also tend to get squeezed harder, which breaks their air bladders.
Barbed hooks make no difference. Use forceps to carefully remove the hooks. If the fly/hook is deep inside the fish, cut the line. The hook will dissolve in a few days due to stomach acids in the fish.
If the fish is bleeding, it’s dead. You might as well keep it. Learn what went wrong to avoid future mortality. Mishandled fish may swim away but will soon die and be swept away with the current. Raptors and predators will thank you.
Even using the best Catch and Release techniques kills 10% of all fish caught. If you caught and released 30 fish, 3 will die.
How many pictures of fish does an angler need? At some point a fish picture is just another picture of a fish. Do you really remember the story of every fish that you catch? Keep a clicker in your pocket and use it to count the number of fish caught. You don’t need to have a picture of every fish that you catch to prove you are a great angler.
Taking a picture of the fish is when the fish gets squeezed, dropped, flopped, drug in the gravel or dirt, suffocating, and stressed. You may be smiling but the fish is gasping for life. If you care so much about the fish, release it at once. You don’t need a picture to confirm how big the fish was. They tend to grow every time you tell the story anyhow.
If you care so much about the fish, prove it!
Montana Grant
