Quick Tenkara Trip

[Ryan Tucker]

Managed to get out in the morning for about an hour each of the last two days on a family camping/hiking trip. First day I caught several, the 2nd day only 3 but two of them were nice WNC wild trout at 8 1/2 and 9 1/2 inches. The brook was caught mid day while my daughter played in a little slick on our hike.

[Yuri R]

Those last ones look like fun! Does your daughter fish?

[Ryan Tucker]

Yes. She doesn't have the patients yet for trout fishing. Mostly she likes to throw a nymph for brim and has a spinning rod and throws worms for bass. It has to be very active though. :)

[Yuri R]

That's great. I'm introducing my 3 year old to fishing right now and he is the same way – there must be some action otherwise he gets distracted easily. However, he can look at life-like silicone lures (mostly bass ones) for a while as they look and behave just like the real thing in the water.

The excitement of catching something of course brings the attention right back.

Anyway, great tenkara trip :)

[TahoeJeff]

If you plan on releasing those fish, please don't drag 'em up on the rocks for a "photo op". That really increases the mortality rate.

[Ryan Tucker]

I appreciate your concern, but I don't feel as if those fish were drug up on a rock.

[Greg Mihalik]

^^^
"Research has shown that keeping a fish in the water dramatically increases its chances of survival. Think of it – after the fight of your life, say going 12 rounds in a boxing ring or running a marathon, imagine having your air cut off! That's exactly what we do when we lift fish from the water. Fish kept out of the water for more than one minute have a greatly diminished chance of survival, once a fish has been out of the water for three minutes, it has virtually no chance of survival, even if it swims away."

A fish cannot breath air. It can only breath when it's in the water.

Next time you remove a fish from the water, start holding your breath.
When you are done, the fish is done.

[Ryan Tucker]

I can't think off a good reason to keep a fish out of the water for more than a few seconds to snap a photo. Three minutes seems like a life time. I almost always land my fish no matter how small in a net holding the fish below water while I retrieve my phone.

I know the sarcasm is meant to prove a point, but I have little doubt I could hold my breath for the time I use to take a photo.

[Dave T]

.

[Ryan Tucker]

Are you a fishermen?

[Dave T]

.

[Ryan Tucker]

I want the same thing. More than one way to skin a cat. ;) Also, your last post implies something in my actions that is not true.

[Greg Mihalik]

"Next time you remove a fish from the water, start holding your breath.
"When you are done, the fish is done."

No sarcasm intended. It is offered as a effective measure of fish viability. If you have a friend watching, have them hold their breath and tell you when that fish needs to be in the water, not just on the way.

[TahoeJeff]

FOR REFERENCE (see number 4)

1. Use barbless hooks
Barbless hooks can facilitate the quick removal of the hook from a fish and also reduce the risk of hooking injuries to the angler. Pinching down the barb with needle-nose pliers works.
2. Play fish quickly
Try to land your fish as quickly as possible and don’t play the fish to exhaustion. This is particularly important when fishing for trout in periods of warmer water temperatures (greater than 70 degrees F), but it is also true for coolwater and warmwater species, when water temperatures are relatively high (greater than 80 degrees F). Keep in mind that as water temperatures warm, dissolved oxygen levels in the water decline. Therefore, fish are subject to stress and exhaustion in a much shorter period of time at 70 degrees compared to 55-degree water temperatures. If it takes you a long time to land fish, your drag may be set too loosely or your gear may be too light for the fish you are catching.
3. Use a landing net
The use of a fine-mesh landing net may aid in reducing the amount of time required to land a fish and keep it from thrashing about in shallow water or on the shore.
4. Keep the fish in the water
The chance of a fish being injured increases the longer it is held out of water. It is preferable to remove the hook from a fish you intend to release without taking it out of the water, or at least minimize the amount of time a fish is held out of water.
5. Wet your hands
Wet your hands, your net, and other materials that may come in contact with the fish. This reduces the removal of the mucus on the fish and lessens the possibility of bacterial infection.
6. Hold the fish upside down while removing the hook
This can often pacify the fish and reduce handling time.
7. Remove hooks quickly
Hemostats or long-nose pliers are essential tools for quickly removing hooks. Cutting hooks from a lure may facilitate lure removal in some cases; therefore, wire cutters are a valuable addition to an angler’s hook removal arsenal.
8. Cut the line
When it is not possible to remove the hook without harming the fish, cut the line. Only a small piece of line should be left on the hook to ease passage through the digestive system. Research has documented that cutting the line can greatly increase the survival of deeply hooked fish.
Don’t touch the gills
Do not handle fish by placing your fingers in the gill slits. Fish gill filaments are very sensitive and can easily be injured. Fish should be handled by cradling the fish near the head and tail if possible, or by gently holding the fish near the mid-section.

[Ryan Tucker]

I also used google and found this on proper Catch and Release techniques.

Photographs and Video
Capturing a catch on camera is a great way to share your experience with others and to create lasting memorabilia.
It is okay to take a picture of a fish that is not allowed to be harvested while it’s in the process of being released, but it still must be let go immediately after. A fish should not be held out of the water for long periods of time just for the purpose of taking a picture.

[Dave T]

.

[Ryan Tucker]

It isn't that I want to ignore them. To the contrary I am very much a believer in quickly landing, admiring and returning each fish to the water unless I plan to keep it for dinner which I rarely do.

You are making assumptions that I in fact believe are incorrect. I can't imagine it takes more than 20-40 seconds to snap a picture from the time I put a fish in a net to releasing it. Most of that time is spent below the surface of the water. If you want to take issue with laying them on a rock, I will listen to you. However, I am mostly disappointed in the tone of responses that are based on assumptions and not factual information.

[TahoeJeff]

What's more important: the health of the fish, or taking a picture of it?

[W I S N E R !]

I have never in my life on BPL seen anyone grilled quite like Ryan has been grilled for posting pictures of fish.

I've seen countless pictures of people handling fish over the years, fish on the rocks, etc., including in actual BPL articles on fishing. While we can raise ethical arguments about killing fish or catch and release, I'm really not sure why Ryan has suddenly become the whipping boy for the cause.

Here's a fish on the rocks from a BPL article by Ryan Jordan:

Was it killed for food? Who knows. I'm not saying there's no discussion here, but in all fairness, to place so much blame on Ryan for what appears to me to be pretty standard practice around here seems a bit much.

[TahoeJeff]

Maybe there are so many people practicing improper C&R on the water because there are so many pictures on the web of people practicing improper C&R….

[Hoot Filsinger]

http://www.tu.org/sites/default/files/Handling_Stress_Summary.pdf

[W I S N E R !]

Whether or not the actual handling practices are right or wrong, are we to expect that anyone posting a picture of a fish out of water is now going to get the same level of scrutiny Ryan has? Just wondering why this became an issue only with him, only on this particular post.

Seems to be a bit of the dogpile mentality creeping in here; one person makes a comment so everyone dives right in to make someone feel like crap. Why now? At least be consistent about it.

[Greg Mihalik]

"I have never in my life on BPL seen anyone grilled quite like Ryan has been grilled for posting pictures of fish."

From Tenkara for Backpackers: State of the Market Report – Part 2 August, 2013

But if you're just doing C&R, bring them to your feet, kneel down, de-hook, let them rest, send them off.

Mortality from 30 seconds of "breathing air" is around 38%, even if they swim off.
Mortality from 60 seconds of "breathing air" is around 70%.

"If that fish has to come out of the water for any reason, start holding your breath. When you give up, give that fish a drink!" (from TenkaraGuides.com)

Well, shame on us for not acting sooner, and consistently.

[W I S N E R !]

For what it's worth, I think your responses here are pretty measured Greg. What bothered me from the beginning is the tone of other posters calling Ryan out. And more bothersome given he's hardly the first.

This is absolutely a discussion worth having, but the tone it has taken isn't very productive. Rather than opening a genuine dialogue about best practices, I think it does more to stifle conversation for fear of being piled upon.

[David Thomas]

Craig,

I agree that Ryan has been dog-piled rather a lot for taking his daughter out fishing with him. And, yes, the tone of some posts were more attacking than offering helpful suggestions (although there were some helpful suggestions as well).

OT(ever-present)OH, I also I had a reaction to such tiny fish being out of water, handled out of water and on rocks out of water. Because while a 12+" fish might be a meal, those fish clearly wouldn't be a meal (unless maybe an hors d'oeuvres for Gollum). So before I read any words about the trip or the daughter, I was thinking, "Why is that fish, clearly not a keeper, out of water?!?"

In addition to the previous advice on C&R (also known as "playing with your food" here in Alaska) best practices (barbless, land the fish quickly, keep the fish in the water, wet your hands before touching the fish, etc), I'll add some advice to Ryan:

Skip the photos of the fish. Get photos of your daughter! Those will be more memorable to you and to her decades from now. Maybe that is her holding up a keeper fish. But even if it is just her with rod (or better yet, a shot that captures her excitement as she plays or lands a fish), that's a photo you'll treasure in the future.

And get less grief about.

Here's my 8-year-old (after a werewolf / vampire – themed production of Romeo & Juliet) with a bare-handed-caught hooligan. 10 of which we fried up that night and the rest were frozen in packets sized for later use as halibut bait.

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