Releasing Happy Fish—By Amanda Switzer

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Excellent Message

 

And more good shooting by Amanda.  It grieves me to read all the flak that no-kill fishing is catching from all compass points these days, even from anglers.  “Torturing for personal pleasure, etc.”  It’s like the old Puritan notion re. sex: “It’s only sinful if you enjoy it.”  Read some of the property-rights, bait-oriented fish blogs (but only if you want to be depressed and if you are good at deciphering broken english).  There’s a lot of misleading data out there re. survivability--esp. about released stripers--because studies included barbed treble hooks, bait, hot weather, rough handling, etc.  Before John Varley steered Yellowstone National Park to catch-and-release in the early 70s the number-one item in garbage cans by weight was Yellowstone cutts.  Bears were on garbage welfare, circus clowns that performed for visitors.  The park even set up grandstands for these bear shows.  Catch-and-release for Yellowstone was even more contentious than wolf reintroduction (for which Varley also deserves much credit).  The management establishment nationwide fought it, chanting the non sequitur that “you can’t stockpile fish.”  Now bears are real bears, and 80 percent of their spring diet is wild cutts.  And eagles, ospreys, otters, white pelicans have repopulated along with the trout.  Follow the advice in this video and you’ll cut mortality to just above zero. 

 

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