More anglers doing C&R?

[lestrout]

Yo all - I was out yesterday to educate trouts from not biting hooks. This was on open water, and is a stretch I have ffished for many years. Almost all of the other anglers are spin fisherpeople, and often bait users. It seems to me that this year the majority of the anglers were doing C&R. Is this a trend?

 

[Bamboozle]

According to Mike, this has been the trend for a long long time.

 

[afishinado]

Yo all - I was out yesterday to educate trouts from not biting hooks. This was on open water, and is a stretch I have ffished for many years. Almost all of the other anglers are spin fisherpeople, and often bait users. It seems to me that this year the majority of the anglers were doing C&R. Is this a trend?

I too fished stocked waters on opening day, and most had stringers of fish. But I will say, I do see more and more C&R fishing than ever before in stocked streams.

 

[Dave_W]

I too fished stocked waters on opening day, and most had stringers of fish. But I will say, I do see more and more C&R fishing than ever before in stocked streams.

Same here.
I saw a lot of fish on stringers (creeled three stockies myself) but I did see fish released and some folks who saw me releasing fish seemed to approve.

I don't think there is a significant change in C&R patterns in recent years but I have no data on this and have not been paying especially close attention. A few years ago there was something of a fad involving people taking up hunting mainly to get food for the table and I wonder if there may actually be some newer anglers who have taken up trout as a novelty hobby to increase time in the outdoors while harvesting food(?).

Food for thought (so to speak).

 

[Canoetripper]

When I did my canoe trips in West Virginia, my friend and I would keep some of those stocked trout, but just enough for one each over a camp fire, and than another in morning frying pan bacon grease.

There was no need in "catching and keeping our limit."

One lesson we learned the hard way was putting trout in the same cooler as our beer. Big mistake unless one likes fish-flavored beer.

I kind of do the same thing at my Pocono R&G club where i have a 5 kill/week limit which I never exceed.

One each over the camp fire coals for the evening meal, and one each in the cast iron skillet full of morning grease for breakfast.

The lesson learned the hard way is to never put any fish you plan on eating in the same cooler with the beer you plan on drinking.

 

[Mike]

It has been for quite a while….around 15-20 yrs. My basis for that comment is my experience with angler use and harvest studies in SE Pa. It became particularly obvious when doing such a study on a urban stocked trout stream section in the early 2000’s (Jordan Ck in Allentown) and mentally comparing that to what I had seen on another urban stocked trout section (Wissahickon Ck in Philly) back in about 1990 when harvest was king. On a different stream, Perkiomen Ck, (at Palm and East Greenville) just as an example, in the 1988 angler use and harvest study, somewhere around 80-90% of the preseason stocked trout were harvested in three days. I think there is 1) still a fair amount of harvest over an extended period 2) or else there is a fair amount of C&R mortality added on to lower harvest 3) or else predation, periodic spring warm temps for a few days, and the fact that they are hatchery fish thrown out into a wild environment may cumulatively reduce the stocked trout populations in a number of high pressure streams.

I would add this. If you check this yr’s stocking schedule closely, you will see that many inseason stockings (almost all in the SE) will be completed by the end of April. You will also recall that when the trucks stop rolling, many anglers stop fishing. I think the May fishing on stocked trout waters could be very good this spring and for fly anglers, that means good numbers of fish in the regular stocked trout waters just when the hatches get good. The one hitch to this theory though is that the stockings will occur during the time while many anglers are still trout fishing, so it remains to be seen if the additional active anglers who were often done fishing when the inseason stockings occurred in May will put a pretty good dent in the April inseason stockings.

 

[JeffK]

I think C&R has gotten more popular as people are less "outdoorsy". People like to clean and cook their own fish less and walking into your home with a full stringer of fish wouldn't get you the respect from the neighbors one would get when I was a kid. You may even get plenty of criticism for it. BTW, stocked trout are mostly for the smoker IMHO.

Back in the day a mess of wild brookies was the perfect breakfast over many parts of PA. Some of that still, especially in more rural spots, but not so common in more suburban and urban towns.

 

[BrookieChaser]

I kill all the stocked fish I catch.

 

[silverfox]

This is a growing trend for sure. This paper is from 2005: https://www.researchgate.net/public..._Project_Entitled_Wildlife_Values_in_the_West

Basically, the surveys identified two primary value orientations toward wildlife: traditionalist (or domination) wildlife values are related to the subordination of wildlife to human interests and the use of wildlife for economic benefit, while mutualist wildlife values see wildlife as part of the social community that are worthy of rights and protections.

The trend is presumed to continue.

I think trends in outdoor media have played a big role in that. From the 1940s when the covers of Outdoor Life and Field & Stream sported rugged outdoor scenes with trout in frying pans, to today, the messaging & imagery have changed.

I always wonder about the messaging to C&R stocked trout. They aren't put there to create a population. They're put there to be consumed. If nobody is consuming them, where do they go? Are they simply caught repeatedly for a few months until they succumb to the environment? Their bodies returned to the earth to benefit the stream they were placed in? Some might make it and end up where they shouldn't? Birds of prey?

Despite my rants, I'm not convinced angler harvest plays a big role in trout populations today. I think what people are told to do, does have an impact though.

 

[PennKev]

I always wonder about the messaging to C&R stocked trout. They aren't put there to create a population. They're put there to be consumed. If nobody is consuming them, where do they go? Are they simply caught repeatedly for a few months until they succumb to the environment? Their bodies returned to the earth to benefit the stream they were placed in? Some might make it and end up where they shouldn't? Birds of prey?

Perhaps to many, "consumed" means that the maximum recreational value is gotten from every fish stocked and the manner in which it dies and it's final disposition is of a secondary and minor concern.

 

[silverfox]

Perhaps to many, "consumed" means that the maximum recreational value is gotten from every fish stocked and the manner in which it dies and it's final disposition is of a secondary and minor concern.

Undoubtedly. C&R helps those who stock because more people can get more "enjoyment" out of less "product". If everyone kept their catch, the whole thing falls apart.

 

[McSneek]

I fished a local stocked stream today. Was surprised at the number of fish I caught. More C&R? A few days of high water this week? Light opening day turnout last week? IDK

 

[wgmiller]

The best thing we can hope for a is an overly wet stocking/"trout" season that scatters the fish about. We all know how "territorial" many anglers can be and moving any distance to catch stocked fish certainly ups their chances of surviving. I think certain streams that are easily accessible and closer to population centers do get hammered, albeit perhaps over a longer period of time (as Mike mentioned). I only have anecdotal data to back that up, based on the few DHALO and stocked streams I fish with any regularity (Manada, Quitite, etc.).

 

[rrt]

I think c/r fishermen make up 90% of season-long fishermen, especially younger guys. Around here, I am pretty old, but several older timers than I am who are bait fishermen are still active, and they still kill and grill significant numbers of trout. Though I am kind of sad to know they do put a significant dent in local trout populations, I am glad for them that they are still able to get on the water. They fished before I did, and at that time it was proper to fish "for the limit." When I (and a couple of others) began to practice c/r fishing, we were considered to be eccentric -- and for that time, we were. Overall, I am certainly glad for the fish and the fishing that c/r fishing has become the norm for season-long fishermen. C/r fishing has certainly helped to increase the population of trout in many streams.

 

[springer1]

Crush your barbs and turn your back to the sun so you shade the fish' eyes when you remove the hook and the fish will appreciate it.