How to practice successful catch and release
Catch and release is a fast growing area of fly fishing and is becoming very popular with more of the fly fishing commuinity. Catch and release has been very popular and successful in the States especially in rivers such as the Yellowstone in Montana. The river has not been stocked for many years and the fish happily breed each year to produce a healthy population which is stable for the environment in which they live.
In Britain there is a split of fisherman, dividing those who are anti catch and release and those who are pro the idea. Those who are anti catch and release argue that putting the fish back will result in unnecessary stress on the fish and that most returned fish will die through exhaustion. They also argue that fishermen will damage fish if they are deeply hooked simply by removing the hook in the wrong manner. Those who are for catch and release will argue that, if anglers are shown how to practice catch and release successfully, there is no reason why most fish will not survive. There have been many instances where fish have been caught in the same session which sugegsts that fish are ahppy to feed after being caught.
If anglers are able to prove that they are educated in how to return a fish safely and effectively, it is highly possible that more and more British stillwaters will implement catch and release, either permanently or for a trial period.
Although it is obvious that not every caught fish will survive after being returned, there are some steps which can be taken to increase the survival rate. If anglers follow the guidelines listed below, the survival rate of released fish should increase.
1) Play the fish as quickly as possible - this will reduce the amount of stress the fish experiences and the amount of energy it loses. This should make it easier to return to the water safely. This however, can be taken to the extreme of getting the fish in so quickly that it causes damage.
2)Use barbless hooks - this will reduce the damage that the hook does to the fish. Barbs make it difficult to unhook a fish and will increase the damage done to the mouth fo the fish. Barbs can be closed or barbless hooks are becoming more widely available.
3) Avoid touching the fish - this will reduce the amount of damage caused to the fish. If the body of the fish needs to be touched, wet your hands first. Use an unhooking tool to remove the hook rather than fingers.
4) Avoid fishing with flies such as the Booby. Fish caught with Boobies are often deeply hooked which can cause serious damage to the fish.
5) Never return a fish that is bleeding, especially from the gills. The fish is unlikely to survive and a fishery manager would rather you take a fish you are not entitled to than you putting back a dying fish which will end up floating around.