Catch and release has become much more the norm and in the course of my job I see too many fish being handled badly (usually unintentional) which often can result in the fish being damaged. So a few thoughts on how to handle your fish so as to release them unharmed.

First rule is to care for your fish, handle them as you would a baby!!

Play them out as quickly as possible, use a net to land them. Then remove the hook with the fish still in the water and in the net.

Once you have the fish out of the net and under control, slide your front hand back under the fish's chest. You only need to cradle the fish, do not squeeze him.

Now you are ready for your photo, try to show the fish off as best you can, but don't stand up with it, just lift the fish up in front of yourself and only just above the water. As soon as the picture's taken put him back under the water.

Remember he's just been fighting for his life and will need as much oxygen as he can get.....just like we would in a similar situation

When you let him go gently release him into some slow flowing current so that he gets a good supply of water through his gills and so that he'll not have to work hard while he re-gathers his strength.

If you've done it right the fish will usually charge off once he realises he is free. If your fish cannot stay up right and takes a long time to recover then you've been way to hard on them.

Fish that are dragged up and let to flap about on river boulders or that are dropped from great heights onto the riverbank are going to be damaged and will have a much reduced survival rate. The term "throw them back" should also not be used literally.

A finale thought; Where is it reasonable to take fish for the table? On the last day of the season I visited lovely a spring creek that's home to only a few fish, maybe 10 - 14 fish in total. Some a good size. Just as I arrived I met a bloke just packing up to head home - with a dead trout. 8lbs of prime spawning stock. While it's quite legal you have to ask why would you do this? It's pretty oblivious that if every fisherman that visits this stream were to keep a fish then very quickly it would not be worth fishing, so really it's quite a selfish act. That fish had made it through the whole season, probably seen many fisherman, and probably alluded most of them, was fat and set to spawn to create the next generation. It's particularly sad when just a few kms away on the road back home are several lakes where there are plenty of trout and where taking one for the table would make little difference......

Looking forward to the new season and counting down

Tight Lines