Originally Posted By: parker
Originally Posted By: GBL
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.

Originally Posted By: salmosalar
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.....

rofl

Originally Posted By: salmosalar
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.

Originally Posted By: Salmo_Gairdneri
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.



Almost entirely agree Mr. Paker. Except where you say, ". . . 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. . ."

I'd revise that to say "novice anglers" period. Gear choice has less to do with assertively playing a fish than experience. Newbies know less about what their gear can do, and they either pull too hard (and break off) or not hard enough.

My experience indicates that fish are landed faster from a boat than from the bank for the simple reason that fish landed from a boat are generally in deeper water, and they don't fear the boat. They struggle against being dragged into shallow water, which is what bank anglers must do to land them. If I wade into crotch deep water, I can get a fish close to hand a lot faster than I can on the beach. However, because the fish is still green, I can't man-handle it and would need a net to control it.

That's an otherwise accurate post for a guy who's actually fly fished once Paker. (Just razzin' ya' a bit.)

Sg