To my mind, catching them and keeping them is the way it's meant to be, maybe it's the huntress in me

After meeting my permit limit on Saturday it was suggested that I should stay on for some catch and release. I just couldn't do it. I feel that to put the wee thing through the ordeal of hooking, reeling in, netting, unhooking then handeling back into the water must be like a fate worse than death to wee critter.

This thought was then backed up by the rules for the specimen pond which states that there can be no C&R there, reason being, it's too stressful for the big fishes vital organs, which are no bigger that a wee fishies

So what'd you think?

If you broke your leg would you prefer to be killed rather than have an operation to fix it?

I'm sure being caught isn't the nicest thing that can happen to a fish but they are only fish with tiny tiny brains and I'd rather enjoy catching them and letting them go rather than killing more than I can eat, even worse going home early just because I caught my limit early in the day.

I don't kill wild fish. The small stream I fish cannot sustain the removal of every fish caught, it would soon be empty so they're treated with respect and returned safely to fight another day.

I have no issues with taking fish from stocked venues though, I'll very occasionally take one but I'm actaully not that fond of trout as a food so it seems a bit of a waste so it'll usually go to a friend or my mum.

I suspect the issue with C&Ring the larger fish is their greater individual financial value as much as the higher risk of them turning up their fins. Larger fish can be more fragile than smaller ones, in part because they have a poorer ratio of gill surface area to body volume than smaller fish, which makes it harder for them to get oxygen in and CO2 out - and oxygenation in smaller stillwaters in summer can be very marginal for rainbows to begin with.

I always go C&R now as I only fish for the sport. I will however kill a (stocked) fish if it is very badly damaged or marked.
I'm not keen on trout anyway, so no point taking them for the table.

Gary

I have no problem with either, if I want a fish for the pot I will take one, even if the limit is more, why take more than you need?

I am also fine with releasing them, I do it properly and quickly, fish stays in the water, hands wet and a large diameter flat bottomed net(no need to lift them on to the bank at all if you are going to release them) barbless hooks sees them swiftly unhooked with the minimum of contact

I am lucky living in the north east of england that most waters never get too hot so the fish rarely get stressed by poor water quality or lack of oxygenated water, fish in the upland reservoirs go back with almost no fuss at all

I only fish rivers and streams! I'm 100% Catch & Release and all flies are on Barb-Less Hooks!!

They say a picture paints a thousand words! Well, the best picture painted on my memory; is of the fish being released and swimming away unharmed!

A wonderful sight!

M

Those wild brown fisheries that have introduced a C&R rule or where the anglers return the majority of fish anyway will usually see an increase in bigger fish as they get a chance to live for a few years instead of getting chapped on the head as soon as they get over the limit.

If you intend to return fish just fish barbless and handle the fish as little as possible.

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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 fish mainly stillwaters in the south of England, and the best of them are hardly ever C&R. I find it a real shame to have to kill everything i catch, particularly as i favour stalking the larger fish. If i'm lucky enough to catch a large double figure fish (or two) i'd much rather release the fish in the water and let someone else enjoy the thrill of catching it than kill it. I know the theories of why these big fish seldom survive, but responsible fighting of the fish, and a quick return would not necessarily kill them. They are, after all, stocked alive!

I have not killed a trout all season and I have caught over 70 so far (Mainly Rainbows) , If someone asks for a trout then I will take a Rainbow or two but Brown Trout are far too valuable a resource to kill.

The individual angler should make their own decision on what they do with their catch.

I would encourage C&R on rivers to conserve stocks.

You Decide!

Col

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"It is not easy to tell one how to cast. The art must be acquired by practice.