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[avid angler]

I came across a picture this morning of a very well known lower mainland guide holding an interior stock steelhead high and dry in their boat with the clients hands dangerously close to the gills. In my opinion this practise is completely unnaceptable. With the social media craze spiralling out of control and people desperate to get hero shots of their catch at any cost, even at the expense of the fish. Who all would support the idea of a no wild fish removed from water rule similar to the states?

[milo]

Done correctly, it's not as big deal to keep the fish out of the water for a few seconds for a quick photo op.
There are way worse practices out there that you should be concerned about.

That said, it is better practice not to lift the fish out of the water.

But if you are genuinely concerned about fish welfare, the best practice is not to fish at all.
Are you ready to take that step?

[RalphH]

First issue; there has been a no fishing for interior stock steelhead for a little while now. Mr AA as an old timer & an expert you should know that.

While the photo may be older than the ban on fishing for such steelhead that's a bigger issue than holding the fish out of the water for a photo.

Of course the photo may be so old that it pre-dates the concern about lifting a fish out of the water for such a photo.

However yes any fish an angler intends to release should not be removed from the water for a picture, Milo's opinion not withstanding.Whi knows how long the fish was hoisted into the air to accommodate the hero shot?  For steelhead it's definitely not best practice.

Guides don't always have the best ethics. Sad truth is sometimes their ethics suck. But for some they pay the bills and gazes are averted when they should not be.

[avid angler]

The issue isn't with a quick lift out of the water for a photo. The issue is people don't do it properly. Its fish being brought into boats, dragged into shallows or worse on shore, fish being held out of the water for longer then the bare minimum so Johnny instagram can get the perfect picture. A ban on removing wild fish from the water would prevent all of that from happening. Of all steelhead capture/releases I see in the lower mainland I can't say I'm not disappointed at least 9/10 times. With more fisherman then ever and fish getting caught more handling these fish properly is more important then ever.

The photo in question is from yesterday and a by catch of salmon fishing on a Fraser river bar in chilliwack.

Both the Fraser and the main interior stock home river are both open to catch and release fishing with no mention of a ban for steelhead fishing since you apparently know everything. With that said I still dont agree with this. There should be zero fishing at all for these fish with the current state of the population

[RalphH]

there are of course steelhead in the Fraser below Hope that are not "interior stock".

You are adding detail not in your original post. Do you have evidence this fish was treated like you describe?

Perhaps you can provide the link to the picture.

[avid angler]

I'll  provide a link to the picture when you provide me the link on the no targeting interior steelhead rule🙃

[RalphH]

I can find it myself:

facebook.com/STSGuiding/photos/pcb.10155087385016173/10155087381296173/?type=3&theater

While it's not best practice - the fish shouldn't be removed from the water - it's not that bad, certainly not close to your description - neither does anyone have their finger in the fishes gills or even close to in the gills.

As for fishing for interior steelhead - try reading the synopsis for region 3.

[avid angler]

The only restrictions are a bait ban and a hook size restriction

[avid angler]

And "not the best practise" isn't a good enough standard for a fish that's potentially from a run nearing the point of no return

[poper]

They held that fish out for a few secs, lol, Avid angler you must be bored or something to post this, to go on wedsite and pretty much trash a guiding service. Good work

[bobby b]

How do you know it was 'dry'?
How do you know it was held out of water for more than a few seconds?
How do you know the guide did not relay to the client that this be done quickly and with care?

I would give the guiding company and the guide the benefit of doubt.

To assume there was no care taken is just stoking a fire that has no smoke... 

[avid angler]

If that fish got dropped it's landing on aluminum

[wildmanyeah]

My rule for steelhead and sturgeon is leave them the F alone. If steelhead anglers need to come up with best practices and chastises others for it then so be it I guess.   


If they are going to be open for retention, then general practices that take place for all salmon are fine.

If they are endangered to the point where they can't be dragged up on the shore and kicked back or abused in an C&R fishery then close it.

were really grasping at straws here.

[Tylsie]

I just looked at the photo, certainly not best practices (the fisherman's index finger sits directly on top of the gill plate with his middle finger along its outside edge so I don't see how you can say no fingers were even close. Further, it is pretty hard to successfully tail a fish, gain control, lift it a minimum of 4' out of the water, pass it to another person, pose for a photo, then properly lower back into the water in a few seconds. Suppose the definition of few seconds varies considerably though...). 

All that being said, I believe that care was taken in handling the fish and it probably swam away quite strong. A guiding service is just that, a service and have certain expectations placed upon them. Those include pictures of your catch. We can debate it all day. Everyone has a different line but for the most part everyone wants to see stocks rebound and opportunities expand.

[RalphH]

Good analysis Tylsie.

I would add that Guides should advise their clients both of conservation concerns for certain species or stocks and how certain handling practices may reduce a fish's chances of surviving after release.