Releasing those nates

Joe Schwab · 05-07-2002, 06:47 AM

Gotta go here one more time. I was talking to one of the OSP Game supervisors yesterday and he was relating some of their observations on releasing wild fish.
For the most part sportsmen are doing well, but he expressed concern over some very well known guides who are having their clients hold the fish up for pictures, dropping the fish, tossing them overboard and generally not looking very professional.
One guide netted the fish, handed it to a lady, she dropped the fish , picked it up by the gills, the guide got mad at her for mishandling the fish. (cluster)
If the shoe fits, wear it!

Fishbulb · 05-07-2002, 07:09 AM

Really,,,, no,,,, it couldn't be,,, sporties treating natives this way???? Impossible, sporties are the most noble and gentle handling user group out there. They only care about conservation. No sporty would risk a native for a photo, right?

Give me a break.

King Kong · 05-07-2002, 07:22 AM

I see it happen more than it should and it makes me angry.

I know it is nice to have a picture of that elusive salmon but you are harming the fish by doing so. Please be responsible and handle those natives with care. Hey Fishbulb, whats with the attitude?
Good topic Joe.

Kevin.

M W Sheller · 05-07-2002, 06:29 PM

I've got a "wall" worth of pics of hatchery born fish that I've killed, but I don't have one photo of a wild fish that I have released. That nate's well being is worth a billion times more than a photo to bost my ego.

crabbait · 05-07-2002, 09:50 PM

Want a nate picture? Have one of the guys shoot a picture while you are fighting the fish along side the boat or while you hold the fish by the tail reviving it in the water.

Hey, Fishbulb, don't you have some nets that need tending? Member #228 with only 39 posts. This must be a pretty boring site for you.

[ 05-07-2002, 10:51 PM: Message edited by: crabbait ]

First Bite · 05-07-2002, 10:15 PM

Long before I ever hooked my first steelhead or salmon I remember looking in STS and other magazines with envy of the big native fish experienced anglers like Bill Herzog and others had caught. These people love the sport and also love the fish they catch and release.

Proper handling a fish that you're going to release starts long before you land it. If I know I'm going to release a fish that I've hooked, I always find a safe spot to ease the fish into the shallows keeping it in the water at all times. The fish is tailed with one hand and my needle nose pliers are ready to dislodge the hook with the other. At all times the fish is in the water. Only when the camera and person taking the picture is ready is the fish lifted from the water for a quick picture and then immediately put back in the water. Total time the fish is out of the water is a few seconds at most. Two hands are used to hold the fish and cradle it before releasing. Most of the time the fish splashes me upon release.

Mark

MPT · 05-08-2002, 08:03 PM

I was fishing above Ranier 3 weeks ago and caught my first fish of the season. It was a pretty one and it also had all of it's fins. I properly released it and as I did I said to it that I would see it again some day. I was at the Wind River bubble the other day and low and behold I caught another one with all of his fins. "BAMM" I smacked it over the head and on the stringer it went! The point that I'm trying to make is that I respect the laws that we are supposed to abide by but when it's legal the fish are all dinner to me and I don't call them "Natives" because who really knows where they originated from??

Just my 2 cents!

Fishbulb · 05-09-2002, 07:38 AM

All my nets have been tended to. I am just waiting for the next big opener so I can 'coon em' real good.

On the serious side, though, I am a sport fisherman only. I simply despise the hypocrisy I see on the board when it comes to the war of methods. I read this board often and love to gleen new methods and tricks. This BB is not boring. What does how many time I have made posts have to do with, well, anything? What a dumb comment.

The overwhelming majority of people who live in the Pacific Northwest do not fish themselves. This trend is getting worse not better. Consequently funds for propegation, habitat and management work are drying up. No money for these programs means future fisheries (commercial and sport) do not exist, at least not until the day that wild populations rebound to many times their current strength or the endangered species act is gutted. Which do you think will happen first? While many on this board are fixated with in-fighting the most powerful ally fisheries could have drifts farther and further away from the issue. Most are only connected to fisheries through their use of electricity and chemicals that make it into rivers and streams. This aggregate vote could swing the balance in the favor of fisheries but it is just too easy to blame the other guy on the river. It is just too easy to make an attempt to get the other groups allocation for yourself than to tackle the issues within your own user group. There are bad apples everywhere not just over there in the other gang.