Outdoor Brief

OUTDOOR ADVICE

Follow these tips for
catch-and-release fishing

Catch-and-release fishing is a practice many anglers have taken up in recent years, even in the Las Vegas area where seasonal trout fishing opportunities are somewhat limited. The idea behind catch-and-release fishing is to experience the thrill of catching a fish and then let it go to fight again another day.

Why bother fishing if you are only going to release some of the fish you catch?

Ivy Santee, angler education coordinator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, says there are a variety of reasons why anglers catch-and-release. "For some, it is the knowledge that another angler will one day enjoy reeling in the same fish. For others, it's the opportunity to keep fishing on those days when the fishing is really good."

Whatever a person's individual motivation might be, Santee said it's important for those who practice catch-and-release fishing to do so in the proper way so a released fish has the best chance of survival.

"If you are going to release the fish you catch, especially trout, then you really should use single barbless hooks. A treble hook is much more difficult to remove," Santee said. "If a fish swallows the hook, it's a good idea to simply cut the line than fight to remove the hook. It only takes a minute to tie on a new hook. The fish will either dislodge the hook, or it will dissolve in a relatively short period of time."

It's also important to keep the fish in the water as long as possible or retrieve the hook without taking the fish out of its environment. This is easy to do with single barbless hooks. In those instances when the fish must be taken from the water, anglers should wet their hands before handling the fish and never use a rag or towel to hold the fish. Doing so may remove the fish's slick coating that helps it swim easily through the water and protects the fish from disease.

Revive the fish before releasing it. Hold the fish gently with your hands under the belly, and slide it slowly back and forth in the water for it to receive oxygen. Eventually, the fish will swim away. Simply throwing the fish back in the water without reviving it may kill it.

Something else to keep in mind is that if you catch a fish and give it to someone else, that fish still counts in your limit. Giving the fish to another angler does not erase the fact that you caught and kept a fish. Once your limit is caught you are done.