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[lucky]

Just curious if anyone else caught this mornings episode? was watching the host downrigging for lakers on lake Ontario I believe, first fish he landed was a beautiful fat lake trout, after he took out the hook he stuffs his fingers into the gills and hoists it up for the camera, at this point I said to my girlfriend he must be keeping the fish.  Well a few seconds later he tosses the fish overboard without any sort of revival, and you can clearly see blood all over his knuckles from where he had them stuffed in the gills of the fish I cant believe someone with a fishing show could be so careless when handling a fish that he didnt intend to keep.

[Fish Assassin]

While I didn't watch this particular episode, I've seen other hosts do exactly the same thing.

[Rodney]

Send an email with your concerns to the show.

http://www.fishfulthinking.ca/

as well as its sponsors.

[cohoslayer1]

i just saw the episode today and i was extremly disgusted when he did that . so i turned it off and went flyfiishing

[kellya]

I hate the things they do on that show. Rod thanks for the link i sent them an email

Please learn how to properly release your fish. Its ridiculas how you treat them. You cant put your fingers in their gills its setting a horrible example. Thank you if you can adjust this and maybe dedicate part of an episode on showing viewers proper release techniques.

[steelieman]

I remembered watching Gary Cooper fishing for Steelhead in some eastern type lake and after landing it, he stuck his fingers inside the gills. I was disgusted at the sight!!! I emailed TSN about it.

[Rodney]

Steelieman, I think you may have the shows/hosts mixed up. Gary Cooper's show is not aired on TSN, you may have been watching Henrik or Italo's shows. Cooper's show has evolved over the years and is quite well done in my opinion. Its themes can be connected by most viewers, but I would love to see more rivers and lakes episodes on the mainland.

Proper fish handling should indeed be emphasized in a catch and release fishery, otherwise it is pointless to release them anyways. Soft scale species like salmon, steelhead, trout and char are actually tougher than most think, but it is definitely not necessary to treat them roughly when captured. TV shows, books, radios, websites have the responsibility to ensure the viewers/readers are well informed when it comes to proper release methods. Shows like Fishful Thinking will mostly stay, and it's up to everyone else who watches it to express his or her disapproval of his handling methods.