This is about recreational, not commercial, netting but the topic was inspired by those BAN posts. (I particularly like Hawk's story on Louisiana's experience: those good old boys play for mortal stakes.)

The question is this: What is better for the fish? Option 1: Played to the point of exhaustion and unhooked in the water; or Option 2: Horsed in, netted, pulled out of the water (to flop around mightily in the boat or the shallows for 30 seconds till unhooked) and returned swiftly to the water with energy reserves more or less intact.
Everything written on the topic prefers Option 1. Let me try to stir up some discussion (and maybe learn how to better handle and release fish to boot) by endorsing Option 2.

The argument against taking the fish out of the water by any means (e.g. dragging them up on the bank) is that leaving them in the water lets them breath (good idea), keeps dirt/ gravel out of their gills (ditto), and prevents protective slime from being lost. (I wonder if this matters much: I've never seen a steelhead w/ a fungus infection though I fish only springers who go in-and-out. I guess a survey of the fallbacks would show quite a few scuzzy ones).

The merits of Option 1 are all well and good until you actually see 50% of the fishermen actually horse their fish onto the bank where it flops around in the mud and gravel, while another 20% baby their fish to the point where the steelhead either escapes or almost dies on the end of the line before being lead ashore.) This second point is my major objection: a steelhead needs to be fought to point of absolute exhaustion before it's willing to lay on it's side to be unhooked.

[OK, if you're a great tailer you are excused from this debate. I've tailed a few steelhead but most times it's been a case of either 3 tries or a lucky grab with a great glove. The wrist is just too thick in the bigger fish.]

Last fishing trip my partner and I got tired of having the steelhead bolt out of the shallows four or five times before laying on its side. We decided to buck tradition and took a big landing net with us the next time we floated the river. We loved it: the fish were netted fresh (even green), we handled them with care and they went back in the water a lot friskier than if we had played them another 5-10 minutes. Usually two of us worked on releasing the fish: one to hold it (gently) steady in the net, one with the pliers to work the hook free. Then right back over the side.

Our only regret is that we didn't have one of the knotless mesh nets that are even easier on the fish.(By the way, can anyone recommend a brand?)

I've just got to believe that even a partially de-slimed steelhead is going to be in better shape to swim upriver, evade predators and eventually spawn if it's not exhausted than the reverse.

I would be more worried about fungal infections if many of the fish ever survived to make a second spawning run, but from what I'm reading somewhere between 90%-98% of steelhead that spawn once never make it back a second time. With the exception of a few watersheds, these fish are on a one-way trip.

I'm now barricaded in my room waiting for the replies to be slung in, so commence firing.

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