Dead Fish

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bigugly

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Sep 17, 2015
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So I was out on an eastern trib the other day and saw about 8-10 dead fish floating downstream, fish where not cut open for egg(have seen those too) but just floating along dead or real close to it. Is this normal, I understand they don't live forever but these are not big old fish. I haven't been doing this as long as most on here, is this normal? I was given shit by some for taking the hero pictures and I kinda got my back up. After doing my own research and digging around I began to wonder if I really was in the wrong and was harming the fish and I truly believe now that I was. I'm all over my kids now for the hero shot but they still want it I just stress to get it back in asap. With all the pictures on instagram and FB and with some guys getting sponsored to fish with companies products is the need for taking pictures getting out of control? Is this harming fish for no real reason? Sure I still take pictures if I can but I haven't picked one up in awhile, do I get great pictures, nope. I hear the Great Lakes strain especially in east tribs is a tougher more resistant fish? Maybe I'm just being crazy or worrying over nothing but I want to keep fishing for these wonderful fish for years to come, sure the only was not to hurt them is to not fish them but is that really an option? No.....lol
 
The fish you saw were killed by someone releasing the fish after a long battle due to the angler using a light leader,say 4 lb. test or someone wanting a hero shot and posing with the fish for more than a few seconds or a combination of both. Light leaders are not needed and pictures can be taken while the fish remains in the water.
 
I'm with staffman on this one. The fish make a run and spawn, this is extremely exhausting. Then you have some professional steelheader coming in with 2lb test and fighting a fish in this cold water for 10 minutes meanwhile the dummies have no idea that they can pull them in like perch. Its ridiculous - so many of these guys don't care for the fishes well being, bend down on their knees while fighting the fish like they're praying to Jesus, grip their pole half way up and look like super champs... news flash... you look retarded and dont give a shit about the fish or the environment you fish in. Because of these uneducated pinheads we have dead fish, garbage, slit fish on the banks, dead birds hung on fishing line, etc. We spend so much time bashing loogans because a few bad apples ruin the bunch but some of the biggest loogans I've met were the guys decked out in thousands of dollars of gear, spew so much shit out of their mouths regarding how they everything right yet they leave behind slit fresh early run chinnies in the bush ( ha! I couldn't believe myself you punk ass loogans - next time you ream someone out for taking a Lake Ontario fish think about that chinnie you left dead in the bush, champion ) The only difference between you and a true loogan is you do your best to hide it ;) Sorry, I digress.

Oh ya, and those fish were also probably coming from closed waters - welcome to steelheading :)
 
Yeah the one I saw was just below the boundry, u may have seen my other posts on poaching....it's crazy out there. Ive even seen post on instagram of guys with fish well above boundry, replied to it and got told to lighten up....not going to happen. These guys where posting under certain brand names as sponsored anglers, funny how those pictures disappeared so fast. I wouldn't want to be sponsored, then it's a job!!
 
Just takes a few to ruin things for us all.
Result will be NO open stretches of water till April opener.
Or even delayed into May like some other rivers.
 
Could also be a virus, its been hapenning for years in some rivers from what ive heard
 
It could be a bunch of things...mishandling, fight too long, snagged, deeped hooked. 8-10 fish seems to be too many for the reasons already mentioned. There could be other reasons from the ones mentioned already. It's just odd to pinpoint specific reasons of death specially with that many dead fish.
 
Regarding long fights and keeping fish out of water. Next time you land a steelie hold your breath and see if you can release the fish before you need to breath again, bet ya can"t. If we need to breathe imagine the fish. Out of breath already from the fight and now held out of water , while the angler picks it up and snaps a few pics, that fish is under enormous stress. Personally I rarely take pics anymore unless its a memorable fish or a really tough day. snap a quick pic but keep the fish in water if possible. Another thing is spend that extra 2 minutes to help the fish revive and catch its breath. Don't not push the fish back and forth in the water as this pushes water into the gills backwards and harms the fish as well. just hold the fish under water and let the fish tell you when its ready to go, usually will thrust the tail and swim off.
 
staffman said:
The fish you saw were killed by someone releasing the fish after a long battle due to the angler using a light leader,say 4 lb. test or someone wanting a hero shot and posing with the fish for more than a few seconds or a combination of both. Light leaders are not needed and pictures can be taken while the fish remains in the water.
Click to expand...
Certainly it's in the best interest in the fish to minimize the duration of the fight and release it without taking it out of the water. Remember it's not 'lb test' of the leader but rather the diameter that is the key determinant of strength and visibility as there are no strict regulations on the marketing of the leaders' 'lb test'. For example, two different '4 lb test' leaders can have different diameters depending on the manufacturer: a Drennan 4 lb leader, for instance, has a 0.2 mm diameter while a seaguar STS 4 lb test leader has a 0.165 mm diameter. In my experience it's rare to require less than a 0.2 mm diameter leader for most conditions. Check-out www.centerpinangling.com/leader-line.html for more comparisons.
 
Something just doesn't add up. 1-2 dead fish, could be a careless angler who caught 2 consecutive fish and mishandled both and let it drift...8-10 steels, i don't think it's the case. it could be as simple as someone dumping something in the water that was harmful to the fish accidentally or on purpose. like someone said, it could be a virus.
 
Actually now that I think about it my son had been there a few days before and there was gas and oil in creek from a traffic accident.
 
Actually now that I think about it my son had been there a few days before and there was gas and oil in creek from a traffic accident.
 
I also saw some oil and gas on the shore of a creek a couple weeks ago, dripping into the creek. There was one or two dead fish downriver. Doubt it was the same creek but it sucks either way.


IMG_20160313_105627637_HDR.jpg
 
It was Oshawa Creek, and others said it was bad enough you could smell it before you got there.
 
Possible bigugly. Like I said, it just doesn't add up having 8-10 dead fish without something that was on the water that caused the death.
 
DILLIGAF?! said:
Possible bigugly. Like I said, it just doesn't add up having 8-10 dead fish without something that was on the water that caused the death.
Click to expand...
Or C.O was spotted.
Got rid of the evidence?
 

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