I was just wondering what you guys thought about rivers that allow bait fishing, but are catch and release only. Why would DFG allow bait fishing if the fisherman can't keep any? The steelhead are gonna swallow the bait and now after having a hook remover down their throat they're gonna be released back into the river half dead. Sound's like a pretty stupid regulation. What do you guys think?
Yeah catch and release bait fishing isn't a good idea. The only chance for survival is to cut the hook off and hope the fish survives, this goes for any type of fish you intend to release not just trout.
going to have to agree to disagree, at least as to ALL types of fish. Whether or not a fish swallows the hook deep enough to render the removal dangerous is simply a matter of how long the bait is in the fish's mouth. When i was younger i would throw live crawdads to bass, and pile worms to stiper, and fish them like you would an artificial. As such, the idea was not to let the fish eat the bait and swallow it before you set the hook. You set the hook as soon as you get a tight line to the fish and a good angle for a hook set. I honestly cant remeber one time when i had to cut the hook, and ive caught my share of bass that way (although yes, im sure their was the occasional time or two that i cant remember).
Ultimately its a matter of fishing style. If your going to drown some bait and burry the hook (e.g. sardine wrap, power bait, etc), you have a better chance of harming the fish as you generally wait longer to set the hook. As to trout, steelhead, im sure when people have the hook go to deep is when they arent keeping a tight line, or allow the fish to bite the bait for an extended period of time. Sure, fishing bait is more likely to lead to a fish swallowing the hook, but there are deffinately fishing styles that lessen the chance of that.
-- Edited by drifter at 13:48, 2009-01-06
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all of a man's addictions end and begin when he learns to fly fish
There are styles to lessen the chance, but what about the bait fishermen that just set their pole down and wait for a strike... Those are the guys that can really hurt the fish. I bass fish also, and about 20 percent of the time the bass swallows my plastic worm. It's crazy how fast they can swallow the bait from the time they hit it. Luckily bass are very strong fish. Everytime I catch a bass that swallows my hook, I put it in my livewell for a couple hours. If he's still going strong after that, then I'll release him. I've only had a couple bass die on me when that happens.
What about circle hooks? when I used to bait fish for trout and occaisonially still do, I always use circle hooks and almost always hook the fish in the corner of the jaw.
