Ever had someone criticize you for dropping your trout from 3 feet in the air back into the water? “Hey buddy, you shouldn’t handle trout like that! It could kill them!” If you have, don’t get too worried. Trout are tougher than you might think. Just refer those would be know-it-all’s to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Maybe they can educate those ignorant fish biologists that they shouldn’t drop their fish. 🤣
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That’s awesome Tom. I’ve actually sent link to that exact video, along with others, to some keyboard warriors after similar comments. Thanks for posting it.
Nah, the question I get most often is: “What kind of cane pole is that?” 🙂
Well the situation is a bit more complicated than that. We all know the least stressful way to release fish is to keep them in the water, and Tom I know you do this from watching your videos. But comparing a stressed fish to well fed hatchery fish dropped out of a helo isn’t really cricket. For one thing, there almost always is some mortality from helo drops, even though the fish are in good condition. Second, and back to the “played out” fish, yes, it does add stress to drop the fish from three feet into the water. Mortality can be delayed, even if the fish swims away. I think we likely all agree that minimizing stress is what we want to do as responsible fishers. Emeritus Professor of Fisheries, Univ of GA.
You are certainly not wrong in your reply.
I think most people are conscious to try and handle a fish in the least stressful way. We are all on the same path of learning and getting better but not everyone is tied in the race for perfect C&R. The problem is that not all C&R scholars are equal teachers either…
Then there are the natural things that complicate a release. Sometimes the fish wiggling and being uncooperative (because a giant mammal is handling them and they are scared) can delay and complicate releasing. As a YouTuber, I am always conscious of handling fish and I strive to get better each year but I think this article and video is pointed towards the “helicopter parents” that patrol social media as if trout are more fragile than glass. There is a way to coach and teach but some people choose to gripe and ridicule rather than educate….and these are the same people that also had to learn the hard way at some point too.
If dropping from a plane doesn’t sell it, I can say I have caught hundreds of trout with eagle claw marks, predator bites, chunks of them missing, blind with no eyes, three different flies in their mouths from previous anglers, and they are hardy enough to overcome those obstacles. Just like a human can survive a missing limb. It could kill us, it could not kill us, The goal is to NOT lose the limb but overall it’s possible to survive. Fish go through some serious life obstacles without human interference alone. Most of the negative feedback I get is of the petty nature but deep down I understand I could do better and better. I think we as anglers need to co-exist with those still learning to handle fish properly.
I suppose that was my takeaway from this article. 🙂
I’m with Gary Grossman on this one. Apples and oranges. Played out fish should be kept in the water. It’s more about there being no need to take them out of the water to release them.
Let’s be reasonable. Comparing the stress of playing out a fish to dropping it back into the water is analogous to comparing the stress of a runner strolling from the finish line to the refreshment table after having just completed a 10K.