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Only if you can safely, remove the hook. It sucks when you pull a hook out of a fish and it dies anyways, I guess you're feeding the ecosystem but ruining somebody else's chance of catching it later.
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Those are Troutus Einsteinus.Years ago, a section of the McKenzie River was restricted to fly only in certain areas. Now I suspect the whole river is that way.
Anyhow, I drifted a grasshopper imitation over the head of a really big trout, who took the fly, got hooked and ran about 20 feet and went passive. I cranked him up to the boat, unhooked him and held him in the current to revive. It only took a second and he raced away.
I thought the behavior was unusual, and mentioned it to a guide at the landing. He said that some of the fish in that stretch of river had been caught so many times that they gave up and waited to be released without expending much energy.
I don't know if I believe that.
What is a paper straw person?All these "catch and release isn't ethical" guys sound like paper straw people...
Nate
In nearly 50 years of hunting I have never heard another hunter (legal ones) say they are doing it for 'sustenance'Hunters usually say they are doing it for sustenance. If a hunter does it for fun, they are usually looked down on for that.
No, really! Is that like a scarecrow or sumpin?What is a paper straw person?
That's cute you think fishing license fees go to habitatHey, I don't love having to now save up my points to draw an archery elk tag if I want to hunt central or eastern Oregon. But I do it, otherwise I'd be poaching which is unethical, not to mention criminal. Catch and release isn't really any different, at least if you are talking about native versus hatchery fish in Oregon or Washington. So yeah, doing otherwise would be unethical. As to just catch and release for other species that's fine with me. Yes, there's some mortality, but I think it's far less than 20% and more importantly, those fishing license fees are doing far more to help fish habitat and conservation than the limited mortality rate.
Yeah, stuff gets complicated.Mandated C&R shouldn't even be a thing, if there is enough of an issue with the native population, then mandate NO FISHING in/on that body, Period!
As an avid fly fisherman, as well as drift fishing, and all other forms, I find myself in waters with multiple species, some are restricted, some regulated, some not, and having to deal with those regulations is hard enough, being able to target a specific species has become a pretty fun challenge in it's own right, but forcing/mandating it is not helping anyone, least of all the fish!
Imagine your self nearly chest deep in the lower Deschutes during the spring Steelhead run, you ALSO have Salmon, Pinks, and Trout, as well as Bass and suckers and all sorts of others, your good enough to target only the Steelhead, but manage to lay into a monster Chinook which on a Fly rod or Drift is a good 45 min+ fight, you should be good enough to identify what your hooked into before ever seeing it,, just by feel, but not always, Anyway, after that Epic fight, you and the fish are worn out, and as you manage to net it you find it has a Rudder, DAMMIT, PHUCKME, All the other swearwords you can think of, Now I gotta release it as unharmed as possible, never mind the hook went through the Jaw and has worked a good inch or more gash in the mouth and now that fish is dead meat to it's brothers and any other species that catches it next, what did we actually accomplish at this point, weather or not I killed that fish now becomes irrelevant, even though I turned it loose mostly unharmed, it's guaranteed to die pretty soon anyway, so how did C&R help in any way at all? It sure as hell didn't and never will!
So, the State or Oregon, in all it's (lack of) wisdom has mandated Barbless hooks, in the hope of avoiding unnecessary mortality, but the reality is it doesn't help one single fish survive, NONE! So, it's all just a feelgood scam to get people thinking we are doing our part when we are not, and more importantly, it's the States excuse for "Allowing us poors to fish" while making it very very hard to actually catch fish!
I'm all for preserving a native population, BUT, for states like Oregon to then restrict my fishing, AND, to shut down all the Hatcheries, that's FLAT OUT BULLbubblegum, and needs to be reversed, NOW! To hell with your "Bio-Diversity" there is no biological distinction between "Native" and Hatchery at all, if both occupies the same water system, then they are both the exact same with ZERO biological distinction, in other words, it's all a god damn lie to make folks feel good, and furthermore, removes the need for C&R entirely, unless the entire system is in peril, then and ONLY then should there be some restrictions, but they should be applied evenly across the entire spectrum, not how it's actually done in practice, again, see how Oregon mismanages it all for how NOT to do it!