This is an article by Sidney Snow on how to release a steelhead. Found this on the Internet. In his last 3 paragraphs, he advises that a fish should not be moved forth and back. Could readers please give more information on the release method which will not harm the fish. Many thanks!!
The Release
by Sidney Snow
Most don’t get it. Maybe your cousin or a friend was recently blown away when you told them that you threw a fish back. “What? Then why do you go fishing if you're not going to eat them?” My neighbor Fred just asked me this question the other day.
Some of us are born with nature in our blood while others seem to be born with man-made materials. Some hike nine and a half miles to camp alongside a mountain stream, others won’t be caught dead in a tent.
We will wake up at 3:30 a.m., drive a few hours and go to extreme measures to get our spot on the river and not think twice about it. Why? Is it to catch a fish? As you know, it’s not that simple. We do all this to experience the complete package, from the morning drive to the river, to the afternoon trek back to the car, defeated or victorious.
A prime example is my solo trip last winter on the Sauk. I found myself chillin’ in my truck parked next to a six foot snow bank waiting for signs of life and light. I had arrived way early and still had about an hour left of darkness. Yes, you guessed it—a restless night’s sleep. The anxiousness continued as I sat there listening to a static AM station playing some kind of old rag-time. I killed the engine and stepped out into a foot of snow. It was in that instant when the magic began, like I was a little kid in a winter wonderland.
I stood there in the complete darkness, sipping my cup of joe, observing the sounds and sights above me. Over and beyond the silhouettes of towering Douglas Firs, hovered the monstrous galaxy full of lights. I wondered over to get a better look, hearing only the crunching of fresh snow under my boots and the rushing river in the distance. Standing there, looking up in awe, there was nothing else to do but ask and thank.
The stars began to vanish, so it was time to grab the gear and walk down a snowy tunnel created by the branches of firs. At the end of the tunnel was a little honey hole I knew quite well, hopefully holding a steelhead or two once again.
Sitting on a big boulder and taking the first casts, I watched the progressive glow of the eight thousand foot, snow-capped peak above me until it dominated half the horizon. What a sight!
I continued my drifts in the prime-time of morning—the anticipation built. I was just waiting for that strike, knowing it could be at any second. If it does strike, how big will it be? That is what fishing is all about, it’s the anticipation, it’s the quest, the adventure into the depths of the unknown. It’s about the escape, the experience and the exhilaration only a day on the river can evoke.
It wasn’t too many casts later when I set the metal into a beautiful steelie. The fish fought like a champ, but for a time during the fight, the fish dove down deep and started head shaking. I stood there with my rod bent back, pulsating to the fish’s every move—and it was at that time where it all sunk in and I let out a big “man scream.”
I eventually landed the fish in some shallows near the tail-out. I held it like Mark Messier was holding the Cup in ‘94, with a big ole smile and out of my mind. It was a nice seventeen pound buck sporting a fist-like kype.
Back to my neighbor, “Why go fishing if you're not going to eat them?” After that amazing experience, how could I now kill this fish that had lent his wild essence as my trophy? How could I? There was even more reward in my releasing him back into the wild. To watch him swim out of my bare hands and live another day.
What a rush! The reward of releasing fish is important for us to teach our children, because they are another reason why we catch and release. Let’s make sure we give them the proper instructions on how to release a fish.
One of my top pet peeves is fishermen who move the fish back and forth in the water. This will nearly drown the fish as he gets pulled backwards, forcing water into the back of his gills. Simply hold the fish in the current—no need to move him at all. In a slack current, move the fish forward, then lift him out of the water back towards you, then forward again in the water. This will keep the water flowing into his gills in the same, correct direction through the entire release.
Keep an eye on the gills and make sure they are both breathing. There have been times when fishermen put pressure on the gill plate in an attempt to free the hook. The gill plate can get pinched under, not allowing the fish to breathe. Unless you are freeing a pinched gill plate, always keep your fingers free and clear of the gills. When the fish feels like he has some power, let him kick out of your hands.
While my neighbor, Fred, is taking the day to wax his car and listen to his police scanner, it’s time for me to sit back down on the boulder and embrace that elevated heart beat and the numbing feeling of triumph. “I love the smell of mucoprotein in the morning...It smells like ...VICTORY.”
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Topic: How to release a steelhead (Read 3823 times)