Follow These Proper Catch & Release Techniques When Handling Trout
Every angler’s dream: spending a day on a beautiful lake or stream, catching strong, healthy fish. Many take some of those fish for a delicious meal, while others aim to release them back in the water for another lucky angler to try to entice.
This note is aimed mainly at those latter, catch and release (C&R) folks, giving guidance on best techniques to better assure the fish are returned undamaged. But we also want to reinforce the importance of everyone learning, and following, the regulations on the water where and when you wish to fish.
Those regulations, created by each state, are designed to protect the natural resources that give us great outdoor recreational opportunities. Hence, it is vital that all anglers know the rules and carefully abide by them. Taking fish for food is always an option when legally allowed, but can result in major fines if not. In California, the only reliable place for those regulations is the California DFW website (see bottom). Asking strangers on social media or on the water with you is risky at best, and you alone are responsible if you are outside the law.
A last note for those who are keeping fish for food: It is always best to dispatch it immediately upon catching. We all want to practice ethical recreation and no one wants an animal to suffer needlessly.
Ok, let’s discuss best practices of C&R fishing techniques:
Proper Equipment Selection
Equipment selection is critical in best practicing effective C&R techniques. Let’s talk about flies and hooks.
First and foremost, we always advise pinching down barbs when you are practicing C&R. Tight lines land fish, regardless of whether the hook is barbed: Trout can certainly spit a barbed hook! Pinching down the barbs allows for a cleaner removal of the hook from the fish. Attempting to remove a barbed hook from a trout may result in tissue damage and maiming, including tearing out the fish’s jawbone. Most trout eat flies around the mouth, but if the fly has been swallowed, don’t try to dislodge it or pull it out. Rather, digging deeply into the fish with a pliers or hook removal tool can cause trauma and injury to the internal parts of the trout, resulting in unintentional death. The survival rate of trout with hooks in them is really high! They eventually pass through their system. This is true when bait fishing also. If you are releasing a fish that consumed a treble hook, always cut the line at the mouth.
Related, when handling the fish, it’s best, if possible, to keep it in your net. If you have to hold it with your hands, make sure first to wet them with water and always cradle the fish lightly. Squeezing them can also cause internal damage.
Be aware that many fisheries legally require fishing with only barbless hooks at times. Be sure they are completely pinched down! And some fisheries have bait seasons and non-bait seasons, as well as length regulations: Some waters only allow taking larger fish, some only smaller ones. Even various sections of the same river can have different regulations. The two most common citations game wardens issue in the Eastern Sierra are fishing without a license and fishing with a barb or bait when or where they are not allowed. If you’ve wondered why certain fisheries allow barbs during fishing periods outside of bait season, it is because DFW protocol is to allow barbs in any water where harvesting a fish is legal. You can pinch down barbs even if they are legal to fish.
How about rods and lines? Well, it’s always best to minimize the fight as quickly as possible. Trout build up lactic acid during a fight, and too much (along with the other stresses of the fight) can unintentionally result in death. Sturdier equipment ensures a trout is brought to the net quicker. The longer the fight, the more the fish is stressed out. Even though that fish swims away from you, if the fight is too long there is no guarantee that it will survive!
Proper Landing Net & Use
A proper landing net is a really important piece of equipment for proper catch and release. We recommend nets with rubber-mesh webbing. There is less material and flies come out of them easier than nylon or other fabric nets, expediting the entire process and doing less damage to the fish’s skin. First and foremost, a net keeps a fish in the water where it belongs when an angler is removing the hook. When a fish is caught and netted, it is under a lot of stress. Allowing the fish to breathe water while you dehook it is better for the fish. This requires a little more effort than holding it in the air when you unhook it, but you aren’t suffocating it of necessary oxygen. Ideally, the fish is facing upstream so it can breathe easier. We recommend leaving the fish in the water to rest for at least a half minute before taking it out of the water if you want a quick photo. Photos should be taken above water or the net.
Do not drop the fish on the ground or boat deck. This is traumatic for the fish, and removes its protecting slime. Again, keeping your hands wet throughout the entire process means you will not pull its protective layer of slime off the fish. Avoid using towels. Once unhooked, cradle the trout facing upstream so it is receiving oxygen from the water, and allow it to swim away from you. Don’t just dump it back into the water, but give it a chance to recover and acquire oxygen before releasing. All these methods will better assure the fish will be there tomorrow to catch again! Using a floating net with a long handle makes this process easier as you can put pressure on the long handle with your leg or body, thus allowing one hand to cradle the fish and the other to use your pliers while the fish remains in the water. Likewise, there is nothing wrong with asking for help from a buddy to keep the fish in the water during this process.
Quick Release
Minimize the C&R process to be as quick as possible. Trout are pretty sturdy animals, but changes in their immediate environment – going from water to air – and changes in temperatures, as well as water depth levels can affect them. Trout like certain temperature ranges, usually between 44 and 67 degrees. During the winter months, going from cold water to freezing cold air stresses them out. Freezing air temps will literally freeze their insides. Remember, water turns to ice when it’s too cold. Do not remove the fish from the water when air temperatures are below freezing.
During the warmer months, the surface temperature of a lake can be significantly warmer, resulting in more oxygen depletion than cooler trout habitat water closer to the bottom. That trout wants to head deep again, quick. Trout also get accustomed to various water pressures based upon water depth, it wants to be where it is comfortable. Allow that to happen! When water temps get above 67 degrees, fishing is discouraged. It is too difficult for fish to replenish their oxygen level back to survivable levels. Carrying a stream thermometer on the river or electronic thermometer on your boat is encouraged. Do not remove fish from the water when temperatures are high. We suggest giving the fish a rest completely, just go hit the links at the golf course in the afternoon!
Avoid Spawning Fish
Fish are most stressed during their migratory spawn runs. We highly discourage targeting spawning fish. We want those fish to reproduce to allow them to continue the long term health of the fisheries. If you are fishing a fishery during a known spawn season, please leave the spawning fish alone. They are easily identifiable by a change in their coloration, and they are typically guarding egg beds. Wading is discouraged during spawning season. Stepping on egg beds – even accidentally – damages the fishery. Be mindful of how and what you are fishing for.
Sustainability
Everyone’s fishing experience is different. However, the proper C&R techniques practiced on fish that you do not intend to harvest better ensures that future generations can enjoy fishing as much as we all do.
We want to thank the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for their collaboration with this information. Please visit their website for all current fishing regulations.