The value of a fish's life

[mike_richardson]

I went trout fishing for the first time since February yesterday. I was fishing a nice run under a bridge using a tandem nymph set up. I was using a size 14 sulphur and a size 14 BHPT.

I was nearing the end of my drift when my fly go pounded. I set the hook and saw a big flash. The fish instantly took off upstream and was peeling drag. I was fishing with a new fly fisherman and told him I had on a big bow. Looked like a nice bow from the distance of the drift anyhow. He took out his camera and took a video for me.

The fish made some great runs and took off when I tried to net the fish the first time. You will see it in the Youtube video.

I was laughing and said " What a joke". I made this comment not downgrading the fish but as the joke is on me as I thought a had on a bow.

I posted this video and photos to a few facebook groups and got some replies like "Trash fish", "I would have bashed it off a rock," and "Coon bait".

I also put up a post the other day of a creek chub as a joke calling it a wild rainbow and got similar responses.

This makes me wonder how many people kills these types of fish for no reason at all. Furthermore, what would the reason to do such a thing? I mean I am not going to be mad fighting this fish. I measured my arm for reference and this guy was in the 18-20" range and fought better than any of the trout I caught that day. Trout eat these guys when they are smaller and I would imagine really help fish make it through the winters and such.

I dunno I value all fish life the same. And if you really look at it that fall fish is a native and non invasive fish. Many of the goofs on those pages that commented about killing the fish without reason in my opinion hold a stocked rainbows life, which in reality is an invasive species, with more value that the fall fish.

It was sad to see such comments to be honest. I mean are the mad because they caught that fish instead of a trout? Do they think that fish deserves to die, because they may have stole their bait a few times. Do they feel more macho by killing a fish. Who knows for sure but it irked me so I had to rant about it a little. LOL

Here is the video of the fight. My buddy caught "AT THIS MOMENT THE ANGLER REALIZED HIS BIG RAINBOW WAS A FALLFISH"

https://youtu.be/vKtfi49JSdo

 

[Swattie87]

Nice native man. I agree 100%. I'll catch those things all day long.

 

[NewSal]

#suckerlivesmatter
#fallfishlivesmatter

 

[redietz]

I make a point of spending at least one fishing trip each year deliberately targeting fallfish. They can be fun to catch, and I see no reason to kill them.

 

[sarce]

Idk if the people making those comments actually go around killing them, they might just feel the need to sound like an internet tough guy (says me, while posting on the internet LOL). I could not agree with you more. They are a valuable forage fish and the big ones are fun to catch. People get so worked up over fishing. Anyone who is gonna give an animal a death sentence for getting in the way of their precious stocked trout has issues.

I fish many streams that have both fallfish and wild trout and can think of maybe 1-2 times per year where the fallfish actually got in the way of me catching a trout. Usually the trout will still eat even if you pull a fallfish from the same pool first.

 

[FarmerDave]

We don't have fallfish in NWPA, but we do have chubs which are similar but not as big. So I will play along.

They sure were a nuisance when I was a kid fishing in the Clarion River, but it was probably a reflection of stream quality back then (lack there of).

So I won't say that I never tossed any on the bank, but I haven't since I was a kid. I don't feel guilty about it because raccoon and possum need to eat, too. And there was no shortage.

I have also used trash fish for making trapping bait.

More recently, I tossed hundreds of trash fish in the woods that I caught in one of my ponds. The pond was overpopulated to the point where the fish were stunted. But fish like green sunfish spawn up to three times a year and produce 10s of thousands of eggs each time, so I probably didn't make a dent in them. I did toss some larger predator fish in there which did help.

I guess what I am saying that as a general rule, I frown upon this practice, but in some cases it is justified?

Oh yea, we used to also catch carp up at Kinsua and toss them in the dumpster. But I was a kid then as well, and those are invasive.

I'm ducking for cover now.

 

[troutbert]

If I catch a fallfish or sucker, I just unhook it and put it back.

And I've seen other anglers do the same. I don't recall seeing anyone killing those fish if they catch them when trout fishing.

Two different times I went to obscure streams hoping to catch wild browns, but these were warmish stretches of waters and it quickly became apparent that they had loads of fallfish, not trout.

But there were mayflies hatching, and fish rising (fallfish), so rather than driving somewhere else, I just stayed there and had fun matching the hatch, catching rising fish on dries.

 

[Swattie87]

I challenge anyone to unknowingly catch a Fallfish, and say it wasn't fun.

 

[REDNECK_FLYFISHER]

I will guarantee that A good sized fall fish or sucker will give you more of A battle than most stocked trout. When I catch any I just enjoy the battle and put them back in the water.

 

[salmonoid]

I had a nice size fish hammer my offering last year a few weeks after opening day on an ATW. I thought too it was a rainbow, until I landed it and realized it was a fallfish. Thirty years ago, I would have banked it, thinking I was helping out the stream (missing the fact, of course, that the rainbows would have been the ones that were foreign and the fallfish were the natives). I removed the hook, photographed the fish (and did not lay it on a rock) and gently released it.

In fact, that might just be the same stream I head to tonight.

 

[Char_Master]

I've never understood that "trash fish" mentality that so many "anglers" have. If you hook a 14" Chub in a Brookie stream or a 20" Fallfish in SCPA and it takes you for a ride, jumps a few times, and fights like a champ, then why would you complain. Chubs, Suckers, and Fallfish are all native species and put up great fights, rivaling wild Trout of a given size and certainly much better than stocked Trout.

They play vital roles in stream ecosystems, providing forage for larger fish, keeping small fish populations in check, dislodging inverts for Trout and Bass, and providing great sport for the modern open-minded angler. Living in Pittsburgh, I don't get to chase wild inland Trout too often, just a couple trips to Potter county for Brookies every year. But I'll tell you right now, I have just as much fun tossing dries and euro nymphing for Creek Chubs in small suburban and wooded streams around home as I do catching Brookies in rural Bluelines. I've even caught a couple 10" plus including a 14.25" chub (may have been the world record if there was one...), which fought better than any stocker I've caught and comparable to a 16-17" wild Brown. They aren't bad looking fish either, especially in the spring when they have red-purple heads, horns (tubercles), and a vivid black stripe with yellow outlines. If I had some way to link pictures on this site id post a few nicer specimens I've been catching over the past couple weeks.

 

[FarmerDave]

You know, smoked chub is a delicacy in some Pittsburgh neighborhoods.;-)

 

[pete41]

since I didn't know any better growing up in Delaware I thought fall fish were a lot more fun than the stocked rainbows--and loved those tail hooked big suckers out in Montana so I am with you guys on this one...ling cod in Montana are interesting and supposedly as good eating as the ocean ones.Makes you think -cod in Montana? Yep

 

[henrydavid]

I catch plenty of them in rivers, they sip the dry flies right next to the feeding rainbows. On one occasion a couple years ago the May Flies were out in good numbers are risers were all around. My friends were connecting with trout and I started getting takers, only mine were fall fish, 6 or more in a row. I questioned what I was doing wrong but then connected to the rainbows right in the same pool.

I think all native species are sacred and any human intervention is unnatural and should be illegal by the laws of the state fish commission.

 

[FarmerDave]

pete41 wrote:
...ling cod in Montana

Everywhere else, they are called burbot (among other things), but yea, it's a freshwater cod.

They can also be found in a couple spots in NWPA, but very rare. Occasionally they are caught in Erie.

I don't know anyone who calls them trash. Lawyer fish, but not trash fish.

 

[Char_Master]

FarmerDave wrote:
You know, smoked chub is a delicacy in some Pittsburgh neighborhoods.;-)

I'd try some from a clean enough stream. Honestly though, they're pretty fun, "Pittsburgh Brookies", I've started calling them. I usually fish them around here in fairly wooded streams or even in marshes. Pgh is an underrated fly fishing destination, I've been catching Walleye and Buffalo on the fly all Winter on the three rivers. Now that spring is here, I'm working on Cats on the fly.

 

[pete41]

smoked whitefish is a Rocky mountain treat---

 

[pete41]

I will draw the line at eels-anyone ever caught one on a fly--
but they are good eating..

 

[lycoflyfisher]

Fallfish would probably be the the most targeted gamefish in the Susquehanna drainage if small mouth and brown trout were not introduced. They are a blast to catch, especially when they are readily sipping dry flies.

 

[FarmerDave]

Char_Master wrote:

FarmerDave wrote:
You know, smoked chub is a delicacy in some Pittsburgh neighborhoods.;-)

I'd try some from a clean enough stream. Honestly though, they're pretty fun, "Pittsburgh Brookies", I've started calling them. I usually fish them around here in fairly wooded streams or even in marshes. Pgh is an underrated fly fishing destination, I've been catching Walleye and Buffalo on the fly all Winter on the three rivers. Now that spring is here, I'm working on Cats on the fly.

I don't recall ever eating chub or fall fish, but was surprised to see smoked chub in a Pittsburgh grocery store. I thought... do people actually pay for those?

I did try white sucker when I was a kid. It's actually pretty good when caught from cold clear water. Lots of bones though.