First let me say that Im not against catch and release as I practice it myself most of the time within the realms of sensibility,ie catching huge numbers of fish in a session isnt really my cup of tea.

But having observed some silly numbers of fish being taken in a session and heard figures being caught about such as 40,55 and 90 fish,It leads me to ask this if anyone knows the answer, which I dont myself,have a rough idea but its theory only,when a fish is caught and then returned how long before it would probably be catchable again?

I know fish have been caught in the same day by some and it is fairly common but on the whole how long before that amount of fish would be ready to take again?

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Kevin

Hi MFF,

I'm not 100% sure as to 'when' that amount of fish would be ready to feed/take a fly again, would it not depend on the habitat/state of the water that its returning too, so it has a chance to recuperate(sp?)

I have a Stockie Bashing PB of 96, and I'm convinced I must have caught the same fish twice, if not thrice!!

IME, I have also experienced catching a fish on a #14 CDC at a Local lake, and being unable to return the fish 'hookless', so to save stressing the fish further, I snipped the leader at the eye and sent the fish on its merry way.

Carrying around the 4acre lake, I fished away for a further 10-20mins, covering 5-6 pegs, and on the last peg I hooked another fish, which only turned out to be the same fish with the same #14 CDC firmly in the scissors

So, I'm none the wiser really, but IMO, I reckon it would have to do with oxygen levels, natural food, and natural ability of the returned fish to recover and return to feed?

Keep A'Howld
GC

That's also happened to me, I've caught a lot of coarse fish a few times as well

I've seen the same trout caught twice within a few minutes from it's position behind a large boulder. This was not, BTW, intentional. I was standing on a high bank watching a friend fish the run and saw him land the fish the first time.

On release, the fish swam back and took a position in the eddy behind the boulder where it was clearly visible. My buddy took another drift past the rock thinking there would be more fish hiding in its shadow. On the first drift, the fish that had just been released swam upstream 6 feet and hammered the fly again, certainly less than a minute after it was caught the first time.

I don't think you can draw any conclusions on what is an "acceptable" number of fish to be caught and released from a given water based on when they might bite again.

Grouse

The thing is some people who are standing over a shoal of recent stockies and catching one after the other,think that they are really skilled anglers but you could put a child in their place and they would still catch.I think that a recent stockie would need to be caught a few times before it becomes hook shy.as i have seen a fair number with hooks left in their jaws mainly "Dancers"

Its interesting from replys here and from the assumption which most think ,that they take a while to take again once being caught,but replys seem to reflect that they can and will take not long after.thanks for those replys.

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Kevin

I was watching black bass fishing in the States today. A guy hooked a bass, snapped off on it having brought it thrashing to the surface, tied on a new lure and got the fish first chuck. They really have to be the most stupid fish.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

I have caught a trout twice within 5 mins on the Upper Monnow (Honddu). It had the same VI tag above the eye!

On another occasion lower down on the main Monnow I rose a fish 6 times, pricking it twice before hooking it securely. Nothing like the combination of ineptitude and greed.

Then again a few years ago I cast to a rising fish and, of course, struck (!) too early and pricked it fairly solidly. Exasperated I cast the fly straight back to the same spot from the strike/back cast. This time when it rose I was more patient. 10 minutes later I landed my largest ever trout on the Monnow (in fact in UK).

Trout are greedy and need to feed regularly to survive - they are also considerably tougher than we often imagine. Slightly off topic I know but a fish was caught electrofishing on the Piddle (I think) with most of its guts hanging out, following an encounter with a heron/pike/cormorant. The team were in 2 minds but decided to put back its innards as best they could and return the trout to the water. They caught the fish again the following year and it had put on weight.

P

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Trout fishermen revere the trout; trout, on the other hand, unaware of their sublime standing in man's world, revere nothing, including man, a creature they seem to view with special contempt. Nihilism is a rare trait in fish but trout are full of it. The old men liked that.

not noticed it with trout so much, probably due to the fact i have fished rivers mostly. however i have had this with pike, i think fish that are perhaps 'outsiders' (so to speak) of a shoal and fish that are ill/starving are prone to this behaviour.
in the case of large mouth bass i have been informed they are very terratorial, this probabbly accounts for a good portion of recaptures.

Evening Morayflyfisher,
I to have caught a fish that has been caught hours before. but surely as a fishery owner, you can tell us hew frequent it happens.

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Tight Lines.
Brian.