Catch and Release only sections..

[Graham Bristow]

So i was wondering what people think of "Catch and Release Only" sections on our rivers..

For me, when it comes to steelhead i don't see any huge benefit to catch and release only sections accept to protect the spawners and redds...

But for resident trout the reason I like to see catch and release only sections on rivers is that i believe this would allow a protected area which has multiple benefits..

1. It protects large spawning fish from over harvest in that section allowing for a better natural gene pool or more little fish which will hopefully at the least maintain the populations.

2. It allows anglers the opportunity to fish public sections that have high quantity and quality of fishing or trophy fishing opportunities..

3. By protecting and increasing quantities of large fish in these sections it would likely eventually get over crowded in these sections and fish would migrate up or down making for better fishing or more eating size fish in the catch and keep areas. So both harvest angles and release anglers would benefit. Also fish do migrate at different times of the year for different reasons and that would spread the fish out.. overall making better fishing for all...

I don't think I'd ever want to see entire rivers made catch and release because I don't think that would be fair to those who do like to keep fish and I agree it would be fuel in the fire for the tree huggers,.. but I really don't see the harm in certain sections having strategically placed catch and release sections to protect the fish and to increase the overall population and provide trophy fishing opportunities for anglers that want it...

I did an experiment last season with an under water camera and on one river the amount of large fish in private section was significantly better then in the private sections and big fish where almost non existent in the public sections especially after the harvest of the first couple weeks after opening day and I would bet the larger fish harvested during the first 2 weeks of the opener would have been a lot less had there been no private sections to allow the fish some protection.. I'd be willing to bet if the whole river was publicly accessible there would be very few good size fish for anglers to harvest. In the public sections I've witnessed specs and browns up to and some over 6lbs. But in the public sections the only large fish to survive opening weekend were buried in significant wood and other then a lot of little fish the fishing sucks. So thank god for private waters... Never thought I'd say that but private sections do have their benefits.

Anyways what's your thoughts on catch and release sections.. Good, bad or what?

 

[salmotrutta]

Limit of 5 brook trout and 5 brown trout is too high for any Lake O tributary. Needs to be reduced to 2. If the MNR is focused on native species, then at least they should reduce the brook trout limit to 2. But my sign in name is salmotrutta for a reason, I love fishing for resident browns, and though not native to Ontario I believe they are just as fun to fish for as brookies.

Picking certain sections near the headwaters and making them C&R only is not a bad idea. I would support this in the very highest sections. I would also support an express toll route much closer to the 401 - so the 407 expansion doesn't ruin some of my favourite countryside and trout fishing areas - but we don't always get what we want now do we

I am on the fence about opening the season from January onwards for the upstream portions for resident trout. It's very tantalizing driving by flowing water in the middle of the winter, when much of everything else is frozen, and you know the trout up there are hungry. Currently those sections are closed for 7 months of the year. I am really not sure whether I'd support opening them earlier than April.

 

[remyboy1]

C and r only...period you want to eat dead fish go to longos..

 

[Dozer]

C and R sections of rivers with a lower limit on browns and brookies ( 2 max ). Hard to get a fill on just 2 brookies however they could make the stocker lakes a limit of 5.

 

[Christopheraaron]

C and r only...period you want to eat dead fish go to longos..

Sorry but that really does sound like something that would come out of a P3TA member's mouth. Responsible harvest is way better than supporting commercial fishing and farming.

 

[Shmogley]

Responsible harvest is way better than supporting commercial fishing and farming.

This..
some of those companies filling the shelves at longos are just terrible if look into their practices

And i really like the mechanics of how a protected area "bleeds" fish into outlying harvest areas as it gets crowded. it makes sense and it should be promoted more imo
also agree the limit on brooks being a bit much. needs to be lowered from 5 at least

 

[fishermandan420]

Some more c&r sections would be alright. Seems like less people fish tje c&r. It might be more detrimental too the kill sections as the guys keeping fish are confined to that are and that section might get hammered and fished out. Hard to say. Total c&r is a.crock of sh!t. Who wants to eat farmed gm fish. The guys into that should cut the points off their hooks because c&r kills fish too.

 

[RobH]

There is no area or river in Southern Ontario where C & R doesn't make sense for trout, muskie and smallmouth bass.

 

[[email protected]]

they have it in place in Quebec, and its pretty successful, why not implement no kill zones here in Ontario?

 

[FisherGirl]

How hard do you have to hit a fish on the head to be a responsible harvester? Do you use a rock or some kind of tool?

I would like to go camping this year and catch dinner.....respectfully, of course!

 

[Christopheraaron]

How hard do you have to hit a fish on the head to be a responsible harvester? Do you use a rock or some kind of tool?

I would like to go camping this year and catch dinner.....respectfully, of course!

Responsible harvest is only taking what you need, being mindful of the impact the fish has on the population (is it spawning size or a young of the year), and making sure that you don't harvest from waters that face a lot of challenges (pollution, over-fishing, threatened species).

 

[remyboy1]

Sorry but that really does sound like something that would come out of a P3TA member's mouth. Responsible harvest is way better than supporting commercial fishing and farming.

not a PETA member--but guess what we will never stop commercial fishing and farming because it is a $$$uperpower, we will also never have enough fish in the wild nor the time to hunt for our food consistently enough to eliminate the longliners of the world..that said the only fight that has a hope in hel of being won is C and R....if you can buy it in the store there is no need to take it from nature--if the roles were reversed--and deer starting showing up at peoples houses and eating thier kids and family ...lol

 

[FisherGirl]

Responsible harvest is only taking what you need, being mindful of the impact the fish has on the population (is it spawning size or a young of the year), and making sure that you don't harvest from waters that face a lot of challenges (pollution, over-fishing, threatened species).

Ok, thanks....but I still need to know...how hard to I have to hit them?

 

[RobH]

Fisher Girl,
You don't have to wack them on the head. Dispatch it with a knife through the top of the head just behind the eyes and that will do it. Don't use a stringer. As well as being just cruel, the fish will build up lactic acid and can taint the meat. Dispatch you fish right away and get it on some ice or cool, soaked green moss.
Some more light reading on the topic. http://www.canadasflyfishingoutfitter.com/blog/catch-and-release

 

[AKnook]

Size limits work well too. There are rivers here in AK that minium size limits the harvest. A rainbow on the Kenai river can be harvested only if it is 16". This river has massive trophy rainbows upwards of 25lbs. Take those big spawning, desired genes out of the river and the population will take a hard hit. C&R and selective harvest is the way to go.

 

[FisherGirl]

Fisher Girl,
You don't have to wack them on the head. Dispatch it with a knife through the top of the head just behind the eyes and that will do it. Don't use a stringer. As well as being just cruel, the fish will build up lactic acid and can taint the meat. Dispatch you fish right away and get it on some ice or cool, soaked green moss.
Some more light reading on the topic. http://www.canadasflyfishingoutfitter.com/blog/catch-and-release

Thanks for the tip Rob Not sure if I'll have the stomach to "dispatch" any fish but I will definitely keep this in mind if I do.

 

[Fishheads]

Sorry but that really does sound like something that would come out of a P3TA member's mouth. Responsible harvest is way better than supporting commercial fishing and farming.

If we all ate wild fish their would be no wild fish!!!! The only way too make mother nature and humanity work is to limit the human population. Just some crazy #'s 1.3 billion people in China how would you Harvest them fish responsibly? Canada has 34 million still not possible to harvest responsibly for our population. The ministry of environment states they stock 8 million fish a year so if every Canadian ate 0.235 stocked fish a year we would be out of fish!!!!! It so easy to play "ECO" but no one really understands that due to humanities absolute over population of the earth there is NO way that we could do with out modern farming fish/beef/pork/vegetables. I understand the health risks in eating farmed fish but these days everything is so polluted, even the wild fish are contaminated with heavy metals and other lovelies. Just an FYI to all those guys eating tons of rainbows, the suggested consumption per month ranges between 4 and 8 fish on g-bay, so why anyone would need to keep more then 8 per month is beyond me!!!!!

On that note my suggestion would be to make all the spawning grounds C&R and all the transient waters fair game with low limits i.e 1 or 2 per day. But that will never happen, instead we will dump millions of dollars stocking fish that will not survive in our polluted warm waters.

RANT DONE
sorry
mike

 

[Christopheraaron]

If we all ate wild fish their would be no wild fish!!!! The only way too make mother nature and humanity work is to limit the human population. Just some crazy #'s 1.3 billion people in China how would you Harvest them fish responsibly? Canada has 34 million still not possible to harvest responsibly for our population. The ministry of environment states they stock 8 million fish a year so if every Canadian ate 0.235 stocked fish a year we would be out of fish!!!!! It so easy to play "ECO" but no one really understands that due to humanities absolute over population of the earth there is NO way that we could do with out modern farming fish/beef/pork/vegetables. I understand the health risks in eating farmed fish but these days everything is so polluted, even the wild fish are contaminated with heavy metals and other lovelies. Just an FYI to all those guys eating tons of rainbows, the suggested consumption per month ranges between 4 and 8 fish on g-bay, so why anyone would need to keep more then 8 per month is beyond me!!!!!

On that note my suggestion would be to make all the spawning grounds C&R and all the transient waters fair game with low limits i.e 1 or 2 per day. But that will never happen, instead we will dump millions of dollars stocking fish that will not survive in our polluted warm waters.

RANT DONE
sorry
mike

What we should be worried about is the impact farming has on wild fisheries, many of these operations are carried out in natural water bodies, the fish they're farming spread disease to wild fish. All I'm saying is that it does just as much damage, if not more to buy fish from a store than it does to responsibly harvest from healthy bodies of water.

 

[[email protected]]

theres nothing like catching you're own meal, as the saying goes, give a man a fish, he;ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime, being responsible with our natural resources just means don;t take your limit everyday you're out, depending on the size of your family 1 or 2 fish a week is more than enough for most people.

FG, how I dispatch a fish is I cut it across the throat which will sever the artery there and the fish will bleed out. Just another reason to keep a good sharp knife with you.

Grocery store fish may be fine some, but where does it come from? the fresh stuff MIGHT come from Ontario, but the frozen stuff is more than likely from Vietnam or the Phillipenes

That being said, at the store I work at, we sell frozen fish that has all been caught by rod and reel, tuna, snapper, and grouper

 

[Fishheads]

I understand the impact for wild fish 100%, but again How would you suggest filling the void left when we close all commercial fisheries? How do we replace wild fish when the population eats them all.

I like you Christopher I've read many of your posts and think your very smart!!!!! You are the new generation and you guys are our only hope. But unfortunately Facts are Facts with out farming we can't feed our population and "We Starve". If we want commercial farming to change their farming practices, then prices sky rocket and again We Starve. Its a viscous cycle and man would I ever love it if you had a viable solution ( I'd sleep better), But with greed and power on the table most people aren't worried about were the food came from.

theres nothing like catching you're own meal, as the saying goes, give a man a fish, he;ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime, being responsible with our natural resources just means don;t take your limit everyday you're out, depending on the size of your family 1 or 2 fish a week is more than enough for most people.

FG, how I dispatch a fish is I cut it across the throat which will sever the artery there and the fish will bleed out. Just another reason to keep a good sharp knife with you.

Grocery store fish may be fine some, but where does it come from? the fresh stuff MIGHT come from Ontario, but the frozen stuff is more than likely from Vietnam or the Phillipenes

That being said, at the store I work at, we sell frozen fish that has all been caught by rod and reel, tuna, snapper, and grouper

1 or 2 fish a week x 52 weeks = 52 or 104 fish per person a year x 1/2 the population of Canada 17 million = 884 or 1768 million fish a year