Fish Handling – Limestone Trout Club

Handling Trout in Cold Weather Requires Special Care

When temperatures drop below freezing good catch-and-release practices become critical. The fragile tissues of their gills can freeze in an instant when air temps are below freezing. They have no body temperature to stabilize their cells, so it happens quickly.

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Photo Basics and Fish Handling

When it comes to handling fish that we plan to release, a few basic practices will go a long way. Same goes for capturing that moment in photographs. Here are a few simple things to consider the next time a fish comes to hand and the camera comes out.

Make sure your camera is ready to go!
“Three, two, one, lift, and click!”
It might be safer to not take a photo.

Catch and Release Survival

Fish look best when wet, with their colors and markings even more stunning than imagined. Better still, they have a far better chance of survival after their release.

Every time a fish is hooked it experiences some level of stress until released. By following three simple principles you can reduce stress and improve the odds for survival.

Minimize air exposure – for a fish to recover it needs to be in the water to breathe and pump oxygen throughout its system and allow its muscles to recover. If you take a fish out of water, hold your breath. If you can’t breathe, neither can the fish.
Eliminate contact with dry surfaces – fish have a protective mucus which protects them from diseases and other foreign elements. Contact with any dry surface will remove this protective layer and make fish more susceptible to disease. Make sure to keep the fish away from any dry or hard surfaces.
Reduce handling – the less you handle a fish the better off it will be. Prepare in advance by fishing barbless, using a net, and have forceps ready.