Stomach Contents

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PatchezMDM

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I just saw a short on YouTube where a person "stomach pumped" a trout to wash out the stomach content before release. I know that biologists will preform a stomach lavage when doing studies. I just was curious if any of the folks here have used this method for deducing what the target species are actually eating.
 
phiendWMD said:
I feel like I harass the fish enough catching them. No need to steal their lunch too.
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And last night’s dinner.

Generally, this practice outside of broader actual professional scientific studies aimed at benefiting wild Trout populations somehow, is frowned upon. Kinda in the same vein of attempting to practice C&R angling in water that’s too warm.

And I’m certainly not in the “Trout are fragile gemmies that need to be handled with white gloves” camp. They’re not, but it’s just not necessary.

From a practical perspective, if the fish ate your fly, enabling you to catch it, that should be a good enough clue. I’d make my next cast with the same fly that caught the last one still attached.
 
IMHO it's much better to just flip rocks and see what bugs are living in the streams, and also pay attention to the hatched out insects that you see. You can learn a lot about the aquatic life in streams that way, without pumping stomachs to see a smeary mess.
 
If I see a fisherman pumping out a fish they plan on releasing, they're getting pushed into the creek.
It's a pointless activity outside a biologist's assessment of stream health. If you caught the fish - maybe... just maybe - the fish are eating something similar to what you caught it on, Doofus.
 
I think it has it's purpose in data collection but not something people should generally do on the stream. Someone saw a biologist do this and boom.
 
nope. like troutbert said, just flip rocks over. and who has time to sit there pumping a trouts stomach. release it, and start fishing again!
 
2069 years ago I carried a stomach pump because all the so-called knowledgeable anglers considered them essential and hip...

I used it once and found it to be a disgusting way to to be hip...

I promptly threw it in the garbage and would rather be skunked than subject a fish to that demeaning torture in the name of catching another fish....

...but that's me...

However, F the ^-holes that still think it's OK...
 
If you've caught a fish you already know one thing they will eat.

If you pump (or cut open a creeled fish) the array of food items you find will likely either leave you with more questions than answers or leave you frustrated that the fish eat everything but your flies.
 
troutbert said:
IMHO it's much better to just flip rocks and see what bugs are living in the streams, and also pay attention to the hatched out insects that you see. You can learn a lot about the aquatic life in streams that way, without pumping stomachs to see a smeary
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Flipping rocks is much easier , foes not harm the fish, and saves you from having to carry another gadget in your vest
 
I have a pump I acquired many years ago. Used it only a couple of times out of curiosity. It is not used to pump a trout's stomach. Even if you did draw stomach contents you would only draw out pieces of insects which would be hard to identify. When using a pump you first load it with water and squirt the water into the trouts mouth and draw back the sample in the top of the fish's throut. Do not attempt to withdraw stomach contents which is violating its welfare in my opinion. I used it many years ago a couple of times and it didnt really help.much. I know the hatches and can identify bugs so all I use now is a seine.
 
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Thank you to those who answered with maturity, intelligence and actual knowledge of the procedure.
 
rustbeltwilds said:
If my wife did this to me...id surely be busted for indulging in the pie shop donuts...
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... At least she wouldn't need to ask you what you want for dinner... every day when you get home from work.
We love The Pie Shop in Laughlintown (except there are no restrooms and we usually drive by it on our trips to/from Derry).
 
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