Those purist fly fishermen probalby kill more than all the rest (excluding the indians) ever watched a fly fisherman hook a big Steelhead only to play it out for an hour or more? That fish has little chance of survival.
Ok, I'll agree that the above statements by GBL are either somewhat off base or he's just yanking some chains.
Fly caught steelhead by an educated and experienced fly angler are not any more prone to die during the C&R process than gear or bait caught steelhead. Even the fish English Pete caught would probably have survived if he had let it go.
I will argue that there is a HUGE increase of *novice* fly anglers out on the rivers now with 2-handed spey rods that probably don't have the necessary experience in landing large quantities of steelhead to really know how to properly, effectively, and quickly land a steelhead.
With the amount of fly guys using large 2-handers I would bet that fish are landed faster by flyguys fishing from the gravel than most gear in a boat.
Really? If I thought what GLB posted as "off base", I am truly at a loss for your statement. I think you're not even in the ball park here.....
but don't claim I'm killing a bunch of fish cuz I C&R with a flyrod. There are plenty of studies that prove you wrong.
Will you please provide the links to these plentiful studies?
There are plenty of studies that do show C&R mortality is increased by such things as length/duration of how long a fish is fought, direct exposure to air of the gills, hook placement within the mouth eye, and water temperature.
So, what's your decision?
I'm going to keep fishing along with everyone else here. What I *have* done is to maximize my techniques and handling skills to reduce the chances of C&R mortality on my fish. It will never be zero, but I sleep well at night knowing that I'm doing all I can for the wild steelhead as a recreational angler in our state.
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