# How to hold a Trout



## RStock521 (Jul 17, 2008)

Stumbled upon this on the internet. Found it interesting and figured I would share. Not posting to stir controversy...
http://www.bishfish.co.nz/articles/fresh/grip-and-kill.htm


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## icingdeath (Jun 2, 2010)

thanks for the post!very informative.never knew about the UK grip.


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## kapposgd (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm glad you posted that, I'm always seeing pics of guys holding steelhead incorrectly. Some people will probably say something along the lines of "who cares its a put and take fishery" but the trophy fish in our waters are repeat spawners. I've had one of my best years ever numbers wise while having one of the worst years I've ever had size wise


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## lunker23 (Jun 28, 2013)

I just got done watching a few GoPro videos (I just purchased a GoPro) of people fishing The Rock. Wanna talk about piss poor handling of a Steelhead/ Trout. 
I am utterly disgusted on how people land, handle and release Steelhead. I wish people would realize that these fish are exhausted after fighting and should be handled like a fine piece of crystal. Also, they need to be properly released or they'll wash up dead downstream.
I also watched a video where some guy stuck his lit cigarette in the mouth of a Steelhead. I would love to find this jack wad so I can stick my fist down his throat!
Ugh! Show some common courtesy already! Pathetic!!!!!


Tight Lines <~~^~~<


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## icingdeath (Jun 2, 2010)

I know what you mean lunker23. like the classic gill lift,out 10 minutes for pics and then releasing.sad sad way for a noble fish to go.


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Nice post. Thanks for sharing! I did one for largemouth last year I think.. Some of these pics of guys squeezing the life out of or trying to break the fishs jaws are painful to see! And 100x as bad for the fish.


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## Bucho (Jun 28, 2007)

Yea I've witnessed guys catch them at the pipes and carry them 200yds to get a "quick pic" then release. Prob the same guys that made the fire pit and left couple days newspaper on the bank...


Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire


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## kapposgd (Apr 10, 2012)

Bro, carrying fish away from the pipes makes complete sense. I mean, could you imagine if people saw those pipes in the background and figured out where that secretive hole is?!?!?!


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

I never keep trout out of a few of my "special" spots.
Never felt a need to pick them up either.
Gently get them on the bank, unhook, and put back in water, repeat.


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

How I hold my trout when catching. I do not release though. I immediately take a sharp knife and slice the gills and bleed out for 5 minutes. It makes the meat taste a lot better.


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

Awww you guys are such sweethearts&#128536;


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## kapposgd (Apr 10, 2012)

kayak1979 said:


> How I hold my trout when catching. I do not release though. I immediately take a sharp knife and slice the gills and bleed out for 5 minutes. It makes the meat taste a lot better.


Its understandable that you never let anything go since you never catch your limit


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

kapposgd said:


> Its understandable that you never let anything go since you never catch your limit


My freezer would say otherwise


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## lunker23 (Jun 28, 2013)

kayak1979 said:


> My freezer would say otherwise



Store bought doesn't count 


Tight Lines <~~^~~<


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

lunker23 said:


> Store bought doesn't count
> 
> 
> Tight Lines <~~^~~<


I honestly respect the fish just as much as you guys do when releasing. It just so happens I love eating trout. If it is a bass, northern pike, muskie...I'm putting it back to grow and hopefully produce more. I know I might be one of the few, but I like the steelhead trout better than walleye and perch.


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## W DeMarco (Apr 23, 2013)

So we deliberately hook a fish, then fight it for a few minutes til it can fight no more, reel it in, pull the hook from where it set and hope it survives. Only to go online and act holier than thou? Really? I applaud folks for handling a fish "gently" but at the end of the day, if you want to find some sort of compassion you ought to find a different sport. Anything short of that is hypocrisy.


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## Steelie.B (Mar 9, 2010)

W DeMarco said:


> So we deliberately hook a fish, then fight it for a few minutes til it can fight no more, reel it in, pull the hook from where it set and hope it survives. Only to go online and act holier than thou? Really? I applaud folks for handling a fish "gently" but at the end of the day, if you want to find some sort of compassion you ought to find a different sport. Anything short of that is hypocrisy.


Maybe it's less about being compassionate and more about not being wasteful. Fish can be caught and released with a very very high chance of survival if it's done right. It is done wrong often, and for some reason folks get real bent outta shape when they're told they aren't doing it the best way possible. 

Why are there bag limits to steelhead? As far as I can tell it is to give more people more opportunity to pursue that species. I never understand why when someone brings up fish handling, people who catch their keep think we are talking to you. We're not. You catch your keep, and assuming you follow the law, you don't kill more than your limit that day. That's great. You're fishing for harvest and sport(maybe), and you are within the law, and no one, or at least not me, has a bad word to say about it. 

Who I am speaking to are the sport fishers that release their catch, but do it in a way that increases the chance of that fish dying. In effect, these people are circumventing the bag limit. The harvesting crowd should be as pissed at them as I am. Some of these guys put 15 fish on the bank in a day, drag them out of water for over a minute to take a crap picture of them lying in gravel next to the toes of their boots, and then slide em back in covered in stones and dirt. There's a good chance half of those fish will die within 12 hours. So basically they killed 3 times their bag limit, just for sport, and called it catch and release. It's BS. The state should have stricter handling rules for fish that are going to be released.


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

Proper catch and release is important if you are not harvesting.

http://www.washingtonlakes.com/ReadArticle.aspx?id=615

Taken from the excellent article cited above:

According to Tufts, factors such as time out of water and length of fight combine to determine a released fishs chance of survival. In his study, Physiological Effect of Brief Air Exposure in Exhaustively Exercised Rainbow Trout: Implications for Catch and Release Fisheries, Tufts studied the effect of time out of water periods of zero, 30 and 60 seconds for rainbow trout after exhaustive exercise. In 57-degree water, after 12 hours of recovery time, the control group-- fish that were held in captivity but not exercised--experienced no mortality. *The group not exposed to air immediately after exercise experienced 12% mortality. The group exposed to air for 30 seconds after exercise experienced 38% mortality, and the group exposed to air for 60 seconds after exercise experience 72% mortality. 7 out of 10 trout died after 12 hours when exposed to air for 60 seconds.*


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## SelfTaught (Mar 27, 2014)

Nice read Mdogs 
Another nice quote I liked from the article

"Keeping fish in the water&#8230; I'm not going to sit here and tell you I don't have a few pictures floating around with me hoisting wild fish out of the water. I can tell you this, I used to think it was ok, what's the worry it's just a few seconds ... My opinion on this changed when a good friend presented me with DATA."

I have a good friend I met on the river one day who has helped me a lot figuring out steelhead, one of his biggest things was always keeping the fish in the water and taking out the hook to get them back asap. 

We all love steelheading hence why one would be reading this thread, after seeing hard facts why would one not want to do all they can to preserve a great fishery & maximize the life/size of these fish - if you practice C&R...


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