12-22-2005, 02:06 PM
It would be a safe guess to say that most anglers have had experiences where they had to release an injured fish that most likely would not survive. Many, have even caught misshapened or diseased looking fish, that if kept for any reason, could have put them in violation of a law.
Yes, artificial lures or flies can help, but, I've had fish swallow both to the point that I was sure the injury would be fatal to the fish. I've also had to wrestle with a fish that I had landed that was not too injured, but after the extended period of being out of the water and/or handled, I felt the chances of that fish's survival had been somewhat compromised. I've even caught fish on a fly that had wrapped the line in the bushes so bad that I could not get if free for ten minutes - had that happened on a catch and release only water, instead of a nice trout dinner, I would have had to float a dead fish down the river.
I don't have a good answer either. However, It has occured to me, while fishing and seeing some of the scenarios you've mentioned, that maybe there could be a solution.
Perhaps, one idea could be a partial solution to the ethical portion of the issue of what to do with a fish you can not legally keep but ethically you don't want to just throw back. Maybe an angler could keep the mortaly injured fish, but, be required to turn it over to the DWR. They(the DWR) in turn, could give the fish to someone in need or keep it themselves.
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Yes, artificial lures or flies can help, but, I've had fish swallow both to the point that I was sure the injury would be fatal to the fish. I've also had to wrestle with a fish that I had landed that was not too injured, but after the extended period of being out of the water and/or handled, I felt the chances of that fish's survival had been somewhat compromised. I've even caught fish on a fly that had wrapped the line in the bushes so bad that I could not get if free for ten minutes - had that happened on a catch and release only water, instead of a nice trout dinner, I would have had to float a dead fish down the river.
I don't have a good answer either. However, It has occured to me, while fishing and seeing some of the scenarios you've mentioned, that maybe there could be a solution.
Perhaps, one idea could be a partial solution to the ethical portion of the issue of what to do with a fish you can not legally keep but ethically you don't want to just throw back. Maybe an angler could keep the mortaly injured fish, but, be required to turn it over to the DWR. They(the DWR) in turn, could give the fish to someone in need or keep it themselves.
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