Thanks for the tip on the article. Sounds like it's not such a good idea to fish spawners? I have been myself but it does make me think. P.S. I don't mean I'm fishing for fish in the redds but for fish during this time of year on P.C.
I know that the fish after being landed is usually exhausted and need a few seconds in the water to recouperate before they can swim away but the only fish ive ever killed fishing, swallowed my bait ( worms bak when I used em when i was 5) at that point there was nothing I could do.
How do you guys feel about catch and release fishing? do you think its dangerous for the fish that we all love?
what you do if the hook was swallowed just cut the line and leave it, the fish will be fine, and the hook will eventually come out.
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Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
Not if the fish swalows the hook before ya set the hook. I Was baitfishing with worms and bobers and didnt notice the bobber had gone down.....and when i went to set the hook......you can imagine
i think most everyone here is all for catch and release of wild trout. As far as beads and globugs go the fish will defenitly swallow these alot of the time. I fished with globugs alot when i first strated fly fishing because i had confidence in them, And I'd say around 1/3 of the fish hooked swallowed them. Of course the best thing to do is cut it off and leave the globug in the fish, It'll come out soon. Thats why i think if you want to use egg patterns you should use a bead pegged about an inch above your barbless hook, the fish will never swallow the hook and you will almost always hook them on the outside of the mouth.
I think a lot of the time fish are overplayed. It shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes max to get a fish in. You can put an amazing amount of pressure on a fish even with 6X if you use your rod and your drag correctly. You might think a fish is fine after releasing just because it swam away, not always the case. Another thing that's not good for the fish (and I see it a lot in photos on this board) is over handling fish and laying them on dry rocks or dirt for a photo. If you're going to hold your fish for a pic make sure to wet your hands first. Always hold it over water so if you do drop it it falls in the water. Just try to do everything quick, net it, unhook it and release it. Also, don't forget to debarb your hooks, from what a few of you guys are saying it sounds like you're not doing it.
According to friends who guide on the steelheading rivers up north, pegging a bead an inch or so above the hook is not considered ethical due to the fish swallowing the hook deeper on occasion, making it, in fact, more difficult if not impossible to remove. I hope this helps, and I hope people will refrain from doing it.
Yukon, I was posting about my own personal expereince with beads and globugs. I'm sure my experiences may not be the same as anothers. I've just never had a fish swallow a bead or a corkie pegged above a hook. But i'm sure you have alot more flyfishing experience then i do. And I'm all about doing whats best for the well being of the fish.
The thing that happens as well is that the fish typically goes for the bead and ends up snared on the hook without a set in the lip. Often times, you will see the mandible shredded or sometimes a nasty gash down the side of the fish. It is a sad sight.
Actually pegging the bead prevents a fish from swallowing the hook. I've caught thousands of fish on beads and have not hooked one deep on a bead. Probably 80% of the fish are right in the corner of the mouth, about 10% hooked elsewhere in the mouth, and another 10% hooked from the outside in. I'd say less than 1% of the fish I have caught beading have been foul hooked in any way. In fact I think I've only foul hooked salmon while beading.
I do agree with Mike that it can damage the maxilla on the fish, but that is usually only with barbed hooks. I've seen plenty of fish on Putah with mouth damage and I doubt that it was from a bead and more likely a big barbed lure.
I actually would encourage people to use beads because they are safer on the fish. It sounds like some of you have experienced fish taking glo-bugs deep, I have too, thats why I'd rather use beads. I'd rather see a fish with a hook wound than a dead fish.
I also like them because I can literally carry thousands of beads in different colors and different sizes in a small box and I couldn't do that with glo-bugs. They're also dirt cheap.
No, but I think the argument for pegging is crappola. It destroys fish by snagging. So I tend to think that those who decide to do it are into snagging. All of the fur getting raised about the unethical guide goes right out the door when all of a sudden we now think a nice way to fish is by pegging a bead. Sorry, but that is tragic.
From what I've seen firsthand and read, bead fishing does not destroy fish; that is, if they are fished correctly. I agree that beads are in the gray area as far as ethical issues go, but I don't agree that they destroy fish.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Have any of you other guys and gals noticed that they're number of foul hook-ups increases when using a dropper tied off the bend of the larger hook? I have, especially if I strike downstream/to the side.
Seriously, why do you have to bring the unethical guide back up again, and I think that saying "don't let me catch you doing that" is pretty harsh. I mean, what are you going to do if you see someone doing that, and the only thing that damages the mandibles are big barbs, or treble hooks. In fact, I've never tried a pegged bead before, so I think I'm gonna try that setup next time I'm out. Thanks for the advice Captain.
-- Edited by LilWhippersnapper at 19:46, 2007-12-21
I am sorry I've gotten some of you worked up over the pegged bead thing. Go ahead and do it if it makes you happy. But consider this. . . I have read discussions endlessly over ethics and outrage over what non-fly folks do. I will omit myself from nothing here. But sometimes I get the feeling that we think we are above reproach on some things that I find equally offensive, and I will question it. I have never gotten into it with anyone on the stream over anything shy of outright poaching. That being said, I would like to put forward a few thoughts that are relative to the matter. Lets say you go down to the Sports Chalet and buy a nice Garcia spin rig. Then you put on a nice Rio wf5 line with a 5x tapered leader. Then you tromp out to a riffle at ol' #5, tie on a sweet looking WD40 that you personally tied last night while watching Craig Ferguson. Is this fly fishing? Arguably yes. Next, you see me get out a 1923 Eustice Edwards split cane piece with a nice Walter Dingley "perfect" attached whereby I proceed to tie on a "Mepps" treble hooked lure. I then fling the lure into the current. Even though I can swing the thing like I would a wet fly, it is not fly fishing and I should be dragged from the creek by my wader straps. Just a slightly more black and white viewpoint that I have of the above issue. Another thing that will probably hike up the fur on some is with the idea that catching 20 fish is the prime focus of the sport. OK. But with what? If you find the magic fly of the day, do you just use that all day? Isn't that like watching Kung Fu Theatre all day? (I like Kung Fu Theatre) If I find that the fish are going wacko for a particular fly, I'll catch maybe 5 fish before I get to a point where I want to try something different. One day I was out at the creek and came across an elder gent with his son. I had never seen them here before. I watch the father cast a #14 soft hackle wet fly and I was truly amazed. This man had a vast amount of fly fishing knowledge that allowed him to pull out a box and tie on a fly that I thought would have been like throwing a 1949 Buick Dynaflow into the creek. He had strike after strike on that thing. If you go to any fly shop, there are rarely any soft hacked wet flies to be had. It is a style that has been out of vogue for a long time, but still works if you know how. There is plenty of stuff to read on the subject, and it also ties in to material relative to steelhead fishing as well. Spey casting for steelhead is almost all swinging soft hackles, streamers, and wet flies. During that last few years, I have had the honor of meeting most of you who post here and always felt I was at home fishing with friends. That will always be the case.
Thank you for clarifying. I see where you're coming from. I hope to meet you on the creek someday. If we do meet, you most likely won't find me fishing beads. In fact, I've never fished them. I hope you have a Merry Christmas as well.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Thanks yukon... Sorry for arguing with you. We're all fly fisherman, we shouldn't argue. By the way, I'm not gonna try the pegged bead. I was just saying that to make you mad. Sorry.