Trout catch and release discussion

[AQUAASSASSIN]

I think it may have been more so a figure of speech. I know wigs and some of his fam. All stand up folk, straight as a arrow.

[800stealth]

Figured as much... just something that raises an eyebrow.

[HennikerBassin]

Some body has to! You know where I fish, you know what we USED to have, same with the lake we spoke about that I fished last week, certain individuals,  saw fit to  catch and keep every Rainbow they could, now, we both have nothing left for those places but hope and memories... placesbwhere 4lb rainbows  were common  and 5's happened every year..

Thats what I fear for with my favorite brown trout lake. Each year multiple 5-6+lbers are caught and many taken. There have been a few bigger than that that I know of as well. Sad thing is, an old buck i talked to tells tales of 9-11lbrs being taken out of there 10-15 years ago before social media and word of mouth went around. If that's true and 5-6lbers are generally the biggest fish of the year, what will it look like a few years from now?

[zwiggles]

Yeah, more so a figure of speech. They loved getting there 10 (2 people) having a few for a meal, and building up some for later. I can’t even imagine a freezer full of 8” pellet heads..... 

I will say my buddy smokes some of his with an old family method/recipe and makes lochs (sp? cream cheese and smoked fish), and that is actually not bad.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

I do enjoy a good Loch. Usually get “ the Lochs” at the bagel caboose in Kittery if I’m out and about after a long night of surf fishing. They use smoked salmon. I tell them they can keep the capers

[Hottuna5150]

I do enjoy a good Loch. Usually get “ the Lochs” at the bagel caboose in Kittery if I’m out and about after a long night of surf fishing. They use smoked salmon. I tell them they can keep the capers

That place has killer food. Every time I visit my sister/brother-in-law in Elliot ME it’s a staple for breakfast

[AQUAASSASSIN]

That place has killer food. Every time I visit my sister/brother-in-law in Elliot ME it’s a staple for breakfast

Absolutely!

[lowaccord66]

I will say my buddy smokes some of his with an old family method/recipe and makes lochs (sp? cream cheese and smoked fish), and that is actually not bad.

Only way I've eaten them is after a good smoking....I've found rainbows from the hatchery to be much less desirable than browns.

[zwiggles]

How about releasing trout that are bleeding from the gills, or after you rip the hook out of its gut? Not a mouth wound, or non-visceral cut, but something where it is likely to die if released?

Personally I would keep a gill hooked fish, and would cut off the line on a trout that swallowed it deep into the gut if possible (I am not leaving a bucktail in its gut.... right?).

If it’s a 30” laker, or a trophy cold water fish that is bleeding slightly from the gills I would probably release it, and hope it keeps swimming. Or is a fish hooked in the gill, or bleeding from the gill just a goner?

One thing we can do is try to better educate people on proper fish handling when you want to release them. No legislation needed. I know I have gotten better, and try to keep fettting better at handling fish I want to release.

Ken Kansas anyone?

https://m.facebook.com/UncutAngling/videos/fresh-frozen/1110648672308646/

[Nosaj]

A bunch of great discussions on this thread.

If I am planning on releasing trout, which is 99% of the time I rarely take them out of the water or touch them.  If I cant see the hook in the lip I snip the line at the mouth.  If its a leaker and bleeding from the gills I will keep it.  I think it is pretty tough to say how many fish released in good condition don't make it, especially through the ice.  I know 100% of the fish I keep don't make it.

Does anyone know of any studies on reproductive rates of NH stocked fish?  I would also be curious to know when they started clipping fins on the hatchery fish, I can't remember when they started?  I know that at least some private hatchery's don't necessarily clip fins, do all the state hatchery's clip fins?  I am wondering if the larger fish that are caught with all their fins were just stocked prior to clipping fins. 

When you fish Vermont or Maine you see the lakes appear to be much more fertile than New Hampshire from the forage on through the apex predator's, I believe I have heard it had something to do with NH lakes being more acidic than Maine and Vermont due to the geology.       

[Uppervalley Kid]

A bunch of great discussions on this thread.

If I am planning on releasing trout, which is 99% of the time I rarely take them out of the water or touch them.  If I cant see the hook in the lip I snip the line at the mouth.  If its a leaker and bleeding from the gills I will keep it.  I think it is pretty tough to say how many fish released in good condition don't make it, especially through the ice.  I know 100% of the fish I keep don't make it.

Does anyone know of any studies on reproductive rates of NH stocked fish?  I would also be curious to know when they started clipping fins on the hatchery fish, I can't remember when they started?  I know that at least some private hatchery's don't necessarily clip fins, do all the state hatchery's clip fins?  I am wondering if the larger fish that are caught with all their fins were just stocked prior to clipping fins. 


When you fish Vermont or Maine you see the lakes appear to be much more fertile than New Hampshire from the forage on through the apex predator's, I believe I have heard it had something to do with NH lakes being more acidic than Maine and Vermont due to the geology.       

I would reach out to these folks for more info on this topic. https://nativefishcoalition.org/new-hampshire

[joedigio]

I think the catch and release bass fishing crowd using soft plastic baits also has a serious impact on fish getting old. I find gnarly rubber worms clogging the digestive tract of fish all the time. Especially lake trout. I often keep legal fish and enjoy eating them with my family, even if they are freshly stocked. I don't feel bad about it. I always follow all laws and regulations.

[Stickhick86]

I think the catch and release bass fishing crowd using soft plastic baits also has a serious impact on fish getting old. I find gnarly rubber worms clogging the digestive tract of fish all the time. Especially lake trout. I often keep legal fish and enjoy eating them with my family, even if they are freshly stocked. I don't feel bad about it. I always follow all laws and regulations.

Just this past Sunday, I pulled a rubber grub and jig head out of a vent of a stocked brook trout that was only 7" long. I was looking it over and about to put it back in the hole we I saw this white object dangling out of the vent. Pulled on it and was jig and grub whole and still in good condition. Yes I kept the jig head.

[Mr.Harry]

Sometimes I keep a rainbow or laker, sometimes I don’t. Depends on condition of the fish on landing it, and size. If I’m going to keep them, I greatly prefer a larger fish, for yield of meat and such. In years passed, my family always gathered at my folks place for Easter. It became tradition for me to serve an appetizer I made from the trout filets I kept, cryo vacced, and then prepared each spring - a hot smoked trout dip similar to like a hot crab dip you’d serve in a bread bowl. Anyway, my mom in particular couldn’t get enough of it. I didn’t need but a few good sized fish to make the dish in a pretty large quantity. Then, my mom and all my sibs and nieces and nephews would ‘oooh and ahhh’ as I shared the pics of the ones I caught and kept fresh out of the water. I felt I honored the fish.

[Mr.Harry]

.... and the ‘resource’.

[zwiggles]

.... and the ‘resource’.

X2! Balance is everything right?

It’s a whole other bag of worms, but some lakes and ponds actually need more fish taken out of them because of too much C&Rz

[HennikerBassin]

How about releasing trout that are bleeding from the gills, or after you rip the hook out of its gut? Not a mouth wound, or non-visceral cut, but something where it is likely to die if released?

Personally I would keep a gill hooked fish, and would cut off the line on a trout that swallowed it deep into the gut if possible (I am not leaving a bucktail in its gut.... right?).

This is basically the only time I keep trout, when it's hooked in the gill or its bleeding like crazy from elsewhere. Every once in a while I catch a medium sizer and really want a fish dinner and take it home but that's essentially the only two situations I keep trout in