Time For Anglers To Develop New Habits Trout Can Live With

A fly fisherman, perched on a pontoon boat, gave a classic demonstration on how not to release a trout unharmed a few days ago at Hog Canyon Lake.

He hooked the rainbow, which appeared to be 18 to 19 inches long, and played the fish for at least 10 minutes. He then tucked two fingers through the gill plates, lifted the trout high enough for shore fishermen to admire and finally, after more than 2 minutes, dropped the fish into the water.

Several minutes later his fishing buddy, also in a pontoon boat, showed up.

“You should have seen the fish I just released,” the fly fisher announced to his friend. “It weighed at least 5 pounds.”

“Come on,” a shore angler said to no one in particular. “We all know fishermen exaggerate, but that skinny fish couldn’t have weighed more than 2 pounds.”

The fly fisher, who had good equipment and could cast reasonably well, almost certainly knew better than to lift the trout out of the water by fingers inserted under the gill plates. His fingers undoubtedly damaged the gills.

Furthermore, he kept the trout out of the water much too long and then, without making any effort to revive it, dropped it into the water. The rainbow probably sank to the bottom and died.

Catching and releasing fish unharmed not only is popular, but necessary for both fly fishers and spin fishermen who fish lakes and streams that are under special regulations. Scores of states and Canadian provinces have established regulations that require the release of all fish hooked, fish over or under certain lengths or permit anglers to release all fish hooked until after they keep the limit, usually one or two fish.

For example, all cutthroat hooked in the upper St. Joe and Coeur d’Alene rivers must be released. From March 1 through May 31, all Lahontan cutthroat hooked in Lenore Lake must be released. Only one Lahontan per day can be kept during from June 1 through Nov. 30.

Even regulations for Fourth of July and Hog Canyon lakes make it necessary for anglers to know how to release trout unharmed. The limit is five trout per day. If an angler has killed two longer than 14 inches and wants to take home a limit, he must release any trout longer than 14 inches while he or she is trying to catch three shorter than 14.

Operators of fly fishing schools, including the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club, even include lectures on proper fishing releasing procedures.

Conscientious fly and spin fishermen, especially those who fish for trout, play a fish only until it tires, wet their hands before touching the fish, quickly remove the hook and then hold the fish upright in the water until it swims away. If they net a fish, they try to get it back into the water as quickly as possible.

A trout shouldn’t be played until it’s completely exhausted. It should be played only until it won’t squirm violently when the angler is trying to remove the hook. If it’s still too active, the angler, to prevent the fish from flopping too much, may squeeze and injure the trout while getting the hook out.

If an exhausted trout isn’t held until it’s ready to swim, it usually will turn belly up, sink to the bottom and die.

Some anglers are so impatient to get back to fishing that they won’t take the time to hold a fish upright until it recovers sufficiently to swim away.

Last year, for example, I saw a fly fisher at Bayley Lake in Stevens County hook three or four big rainbows in shallow water near the shore, play each excessively long and then release them without holding them until they could swim from his hand. Later, I saw two of the trout lying dead in water where he had released them.

One of the advantages of using barbless hooks is that a hook can be removed quickly and easily. When a barbed hook is used, the barb often is difficult to extract. An angler may take so much time removing the barbed hook that the trout, kept out of water for several minutes, dies.

Numerous devices are used by anglers to make releasing a trout easy. One of the best is a hook remover developed by Mike Runje, a member of the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club. Runje’s Releaser is available at Spokane fly fishers’ shops and may soon be marketed nation-wide.

The device makes it possible for an angler to remove a barbless hook without even lifting a trout out of the water.

As more and more fly and spin fishermen become aware of the rightness of treating fish gently, peer pressure undoubtedly will force most careless and thoughtless anglers to be careful when they release fish.

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review