Fly Fishing Veterans

“It’s a blood sport whether you like it or not.” Those were the words spoken by my client Rick as I was trying to revive a mature cutthroat trout that was hooked deep with a barbless dry fly one late July morning. Rick was an older gentleman, retired from a career in the military and he did not mince words when it came to the sticky subject of fish mortality and catch and release fishing. Since then, those words have hung in the periphery of my consciousness. As a result, I find myself asking more and more, what are the impacts to the fisheries I work on from my role in the guide seat?

It is a fact that not every fish we catch and release is gonna survive the encounter. According to several studies that have surfaced in the past 20 years related to trout mortality through the use of catch-and-release practices, anglers are looking at anywhere from 0-10% mortality with good water conditions and mortality rates much higher (40+%) when water conditions are not ideal. Those are numbers that can keep fishing guides up at night.

I accept my impact on the fishery and strive to hold myself and the guides that work with Wild Montana Anglers to the highest standards once the fish has hit the net. We do this by using the best available practices of handling and releasing fish. Sometimes that does not allow us to get a photo of the big one or fish throughout the afternoon in the dog days of summer. But it does allow us to take better care of the places we are so fortunate to work on. Below are three principles learned through and that help in the goal of minimizing mortality and that we use everyday on guided trips.

1: MINIMIZE AIR EXPOSURE

2: ELIMINATE CONTACT WITH DRY SURFACES

3: REDUCE HANDLING TIME

To keep things readable for this platform, I did not dive into the details of these three principles. If you are interested in learning more or want to check out more literature on how to reduce fish mortality check out website(https://www.keepfishwet.org/) and keep an eye out for more posts from us on how to be better stewards of the wild places we love.