Catch & release?

[bigfootfish]

Quite a few OFFERS are catch & release anglers. Some are like me, who catch & release and sometimes catch & keep. We like eating fish. They are tasty and healthy for humans. If I bait fish I'll use barbless hooks and if a fish swallows the hook I cut the line at the mouth as the hook will dissolve, according to the ODFW. The Regs also give very well thought-out and intelligent methods for releasing fish UNHARMED, as on page 53. The REGS point out that a fish that will be released should NEVER be removed COMPLETELY from the water. Cradle the fish in the water and take your pic. Don't hold it up at hip-level, eye-level, etc. etc. so you can have a nice picture for everyone to see and be impressed by. Follow the ethics and code as outlined by the ODFW. Don't harm a fish just to get a pic. Please. Be kind. Be smart. Be cool.

 

[beaverfan]

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

When it comes to hatchery Salmon/Steel I'm a proponent of the ALL HATCHERY FISH MUST DIE!!!!!!!! I don't care how dark it is, I'll use it as crab bait just to keep it from spawning in the rive which we all know they do. Other than that I release 90% of the time with the exception of a bleeder or a fish that I can't revive, in that situation if the regs allow I will keep that fish. If you aren't planning on keeping it then there is no reason to take it out of the water.

 

[Drew9870]

When it comes to hatchery Salmon/Steel I'm a proponent of the ALL HATCHERY FISH MUST DIE!!!!!!

:clap::clap::clap: AGREED :clap::clap::clap:

I absolutely hate seeing a pic/video of a clipped fish that somebody..... RELEASED!!! Ahhh, there goes the gene pool.

If you cannot retain the hatchery fish (due to regs), just pluck a gill and send it down , now I didn't recommend that, I just stated it :lol:.

I know some won't like that idea very much .

 

[Spydeyrch]

I am totally a C&R guy. My friends and family are constantly getting on my case cause I never bring any home to share. But I will only bring hatchery home. And so far, I haven't caught any hatchery. I have only been doing trout so far this year so all wild.

-Spydey

 

[bigfootfish]

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

When it comes to hatchery Salmon/Steel I'm a proponent of the ALL HATCHERY FISH MUST DIE!!!!!!!! I don't care how dark it is, I'll use it as crab bait just to keep it from spawning in the rive which we all know they do. Other than that I release 90% of the time with the exception of a bleeder or a fish that I can't revive, in that situation if the regs allow I will keep that fish. If you aren't planning on keeping it then there is no reason to take it out of the water.

Couldn't agree with you more.

 

[bigfootfish]

:clap::clap::clap: AGREED :clap::clap::clap:

I absolutely hate seeing a pic/video of a clipped fish that somebody..... RELEASED!!! Ahhh, there goes the gene pool.

If you cannot retain the hatchery fish (due to regs), just pluck a gill and send it down , now I didn't recommend that, I just stated it :lol:.

I know some won't like that idea very much .

Right on!

 

[bigfootfish]

I am totally a C&R guy. My friends and family are constantly getting on my case cause I never bring any home to share. But I will only bring hatchery home. And so far, I haven't caught any hatchery. I have only been doing trout so far this year so all wild.

-Spydey

All Wild? Lucky dude!

 

[Mad dog]

I frequently let hatchery salmon and steelhead go....my choice!!! If I don't like the way it looks, I ain't Keeping it!

 

[lilsalmon]

I caught a very nice stocker on the middle fork Willamette....I let it go. It was about 13 inches and would have been good eating....not full of powerbait and worms...but it was soooo pretty...I couldn't kill it....I figured he must have survived the river long enough to look so fine so he deserved to continue living....to each his own I guess. BTW....no pic but it did come out of the water long enough to remove my fly. Oh and also....he took my fly in the air.....I had a witness...he definitely deserved to live.

 

[bigfootfish]

There's been, from time to time, OFFERS pointing out screwups by the ODFW. That's good, 'cause the ODFW has screwed up lots. However, they are learning and they do listen, if you talk to the right staff members. A fine example of ODFW right-thinking was the catch & release rules adopted for the Santiams regarding non-searun rainbow trout, as well as other fish in those waterbodies. Plus another example was the rules adopted a few years back allowing anglers to keep two fin-clipped no-minimum-length trout in the same streams, those fin-clipped trout being escapees from reservoirs upstream such as Big Cliff, Detroit, Foster and Green Peter reservoirs. The ODFW staff are freaking out at the possibility of introduced summer steelhead spawning with wild native winter steelhead in the Santiams. But the pandora box has been opened and it canna be shut.
Considering that summer steelhead are non-native trout in the Willamette Watershed but in the Deschutes the summer steelhead ARE the native sea-run trout, then perhaps a crossbreeding of summers and winter in the Willamette Watershed might not be such a bad thing. Nothing can be done about that now unless radical new technologies are developed, such as taylor-made viruses that would be released into the fish populations specifically targeting steelhead that are non-native. The researchers are working on such methods.

 

[JAFO]

I know it sucks, but the gene pool has already been contaminated.

 

[Sinkline]

.

 

[OnTheFly]

Copy that Randy. I keep my camera handy on my pontoon or float tube as well and the photos I take only require the fish to be removed from the water briefly. The ODFW methods of proper release are good guidelines and you can read about it all day long but out on the water one also learns by doing and experiencing what fish can tolerate. Also, just because a fish swims away doesn't mean you have not harmed it. If the protective body slime is removed from the fish, it still may die. It might take a few days but it can die.

 

[Thuggin4Life]

I love to c and r... right into the cooler and straight to the pan or smoker. but the have been times when fishing i had to do the c and r and im fine with that. there are some good water s are that are amazing to be on and be able to fish and i feel lucky to be able to c and r. and then there are times when you couldd pay me to take my catch home so back it goes. No problem with people doing it though more fish for me. and they did there part to counteract my part. its a vicious circle.

 

[whiskerfish]

I do not wish to make argument about this topic, but I DO NOT agree that the ODFW's procedure's need to be followed to the "T" in order to safely release fish unharmed. I've been fishing and releasing for enough decades to know what works. Of course the ODFW is going to describe in text the absolute BEST way to handle and release fish unharmed, no argument about that. However, that doesn't mean it is the only method that works. Common sense needs to prevail in order to safely release fish umharmed. Keeping a fish out of the water for too long, and squeezing a fish too hard are the primary reasons they do not revive. Gently holding a fish through the mesh of a net so as to not have to squeeze them too strongly is a good method while removing the hook from the fish. Carefully holding a fish out of the water to get a memorable photo is just fine so long as the camera person is in position and ready to go prior to lifting the fish from it's oxygen.

When I take photos on the apron of my tube I leave the fish in the net in the water while I turn on my camera and have it in my right hand. Once ready, I lift the fish from the water in the net and gently as possible pull the fish out of the net on the apron for a quick couple photos. It works, fish do not die, and I get my memories preseved for life.

Folks should deal with this issue as they see appropriate. But, do not believe that you cannot get photos of your catch if that is what you want to do. Just use common sense about how you handle the fish, and how long you keep them out of the water and you will do fine reviving your catch!

Eco-extremist have ruined other forums I use to participate in, I sure hope those minority few do not get a foot hold in this forum???


Randy

this is all good clear thinking. catfish are so hardy. i have seen bluecats lay on the bank for an hour and flip their way back into the water and swim off. that one blue i saw do that had a scar on it's back that was very unique. two weeks later i caught it. i threw it back because i already had a nice one for dinner. catfish are fine tasting. i am looking forward to tasting my first rainbow, cutthroat, brook and brown trout, as soon as i catch some.

 

[bigfootfish]

Copy that Randy. I keep my camera handy on my pontoon or float tube as well and the photos I take only require the fish to be removed from the water briefly. The ODFW methods of proper release are good guidelines and you can read about it all day long but out on the water one also learns by doing and experiencing what fish can tolerate. Also, just because a fish swims away doesn't mean you have not harmed it. If the protective body slime is removed from the fish, it still may die. It might take a few days but it can die.

That slime info is rock-solid info. Lots of anglers have never given the natural coating a fish has a second thought. Of course, as WF mentions, some species of fish are increibly hardy. Trout and salmonids, and all gill fish don't have lungs so as to hold their breath while out of the water. The oxygen in a fish is in its bloodstream and they can suffer brain damage in an amazingly short time. What think you, OTF?

 

[Drew9870]

No matter how ''hardy'' we think a fish is, any fish is a delicate form of life, a Catfish that baked in the sun for an hour most likely floated belly up the next day. It really bugs me to see people holding a 6+lb Trout with one hand under its belly, do people not realize they are squishing all of its internal organs, fish live in a world with no gravity, so applying all of its weight onto its organs can harm it in the long run. People in Europe have a lot of respect for Carp as some of us know (because they are actually a sport fish, I mean, fishing is supposed to be a SPORT right?) and they use cushioned landing mats to protect the slime coat and the internal organs, it is not good to set a considerable sized fish on its stomach.

The slime coat is pretty much the fishes skin, imagine if you lived in this world with no skin, all the dirt, parasites, bacteria, and fungal infection getting into your system, sun will dry out a fishes slime coat.

 

[beaverfan]

Catfish have long been known for there ability to survive out of water one species can even survive years out of water. A few hours out of water even if its fairly hot out is not likely going to cause death.