A hypothetical moral question.......

[HBGMarine]

Let's just say for the sake of argument you're out fly fishing one day catching a bunch of stockies in an area that gets pounded pretty hard by bait fisherman. On this particular day after releasing a few fish you decide to keep a few bigger ones to do up on the smoker. Before you know it you've caught your limit but still have an hour or so of fishing left so you decide to keep fishing but C&R. The next fish you catch has a foot long section of line coming out of it's mouth which is clearly attached to something stuck in it's stomach.

Do you.........

A) Throw the fish back
B) Try to shove a pair of hemostats down it's stomach to remove the obstruction
C) Keep the fish even though you're over your limit

 

[Bruno]

You quit fishing when you get the limit. That is why you never totally fill the stringer.

 

[Fishidiot]

Well, you certainly can't keep it.

I think I'd ask some nearby fishermen within voice distance if they'd like to have it. If they don't, I'd clip the line off and let the fish go. You'll likely do more damage trying to remove the hook. Fish can and often do survive with hooks in their gut and line sticking out their mouth. I tend to agree with with Bruno on how many to keep. When I intend to creel trout I rarely keep more than 3, maybe 4 if I'm planning a fish fry. If yuh keep 5 early on you'll inevitably run in to this dilemma with a bleeding fish etc.

 

[jayL]

I was always under the impression that you weren't allowed to keep fishing with a limit, but I understand that's probably not true.

I agree with Bruno, though I haven't kept a limit of fish in years.

 

[tomgamber]

If you hit that point and haven't let a spot open on your stringer for just such a situation....then you throw it back. If it was healthy enough to swim around and feed, in spite of his condition, then he is better off being put right back in. You could trim the line a bit if its really long but that hook, if its not keeping him from feeding, obviously isn't that big a problem.

 

[wildtrout2]

Bruno wrote:
You quit fishing when you get the limit. That is why you never totally fill the stringer.

Perfectly said. What happens if you accidently kill the next fish? You've just gone over your limit and broken the law.

 

[wildtrout2]

Fishidiot wrote:
Well, you certainly can't keep it.

I think I'd ask some nearby fishermen within voice distance if they'd like to have it.

That's also against the law. That would have you killing more than your limit, regardless of you giving it away.

 

[osprey]

Cut the line as close as you can and let it go it will live , hey it lived for you to catch it didn't it?

 

[JackM]

I agree with all suggestions, it is legal, but risky, to fish after a limit is in hand. Cut the line as close to the hook as possible and release the fragile thing.

 

[Fishidiot]

Wildtrout2,
You're correct that giving the fish away is illegal. Thanks for the clarification.

Jack,
Oh no! Here we go again with the "f word." :-D

 

[HBGMarine]

The hypothetical situation happen to me yesterday. Out of the fish I caught 3 of them had lines coming out of their mouths. I'm assuming they were cut by the fisherman who caught them previously because the amount of line each had it didn't seem like the line was cut by their teeth during the fight. When I was cleaning them up at home I cut open their stomachs like normal to see what else they were eating. Two of the fish had hooks embedded in their stomach with the point sticking through, and the 3rd swallowed a whole jig head with a plastic grub looking thing and busted it's stomach open. I was amazed that the one with a busted stomach was still feeding but maybe my peacock woolly bugger is just that tasty looking . When I fished the same stream two weeks prior I caught two fish that had hooks in their stomachs too. I'm guessing it was a bait fisherman practicing their own form of "C&R" because as I was leaving another guy told me he caught 17 on the day with night crawlers but released all of them.

 

[wildtrout2]

Fishidiot wrote:
Wildtrout2,
You're correct that giving the fish away is illegal. Thanks for the clarification.

Jack,
Oh no! Here we go again with the "f word." :-D

Yes, but no more illegal than me throwing a stocked trout up into the weeds when I catch them on a stream that has a native/wild trout population. I'm no Saint. And Jack's closing statement was rather amusing. :lol: :lol:

 

[jason8709]

I've heard that trout actually have a better chance of surviving with the hook because it works itself out after a week or two. Can anyone verify this or is it just a myth? Even though flies rarely get swallowed, I still cut the line if I feel it is deep enough to do damage. Trying to remove a deeply hooked fish does more damage than its worth.

 

[wildtrout2]

I think this is true to a certain extent. There are some hooks that will supposedly break down from stomach acids and dissolve, while others say hooks will just work their way out on their own? No doubt, a trout will have a better chance at surviving if you just cut the line instead of trying to dislodge a deep hook.

 

[Meangreenstick]

that trout is most likely going to have a harder time surviving in warm water come summer time, or a bait dunker the next day.

 

[eballat]

Here's a funny story for you. I have a cabin in Lycoming along the Pine Creek. There is a class A that flows through the back of the cabin and along my neighbors with a sizeable whole there. Well when i got back from fishing saturday morning i saw the neighbor and his buddies dumping a cooler of stockies in the whole. Which really pissed me off because there are litterally dozens of brookies in this hole. He called me over to take a look and was so proud of all the "trophies" he stocked. I just shrugged and walked away. Sunday morning i then woke up really early and my cousin and I caught 17 of the trout they put in out. We missed 3. (my cousin got them this morning in the rain). The best part was around 11 am the neighbor saw us cleaning the fish and getting them ready to grill on the fire and he shouted over (Looks like someone had a good morning!!!!)

 

[brookieaddict]

Where's Mike when you need him??

 

[troutbert]

Considering the number of trout (stocked and wild) that exist in the state, as compared to the number of anglers, I think 2 fish per person per day is plenty, and you should quit taking fish when you harvest 2.

Then if you happen to deep hook one that you think won't survive, keep that fish and call it a day.

 

[trowpa]

I really think the creel limit is too high. 2 is plenty IMO...

but i digress....if you let the fish with the line coming out of his gut free - even if he won't survive...hopefully he'll survive long enough to be caught by a bait fisherman with a stringer - and take the place of a healthy wild trout that he otherwise might have killed.

 

[tomgamber]

jason8709 wrote:
I've heard that trout actually have a better chance of surviving with the hook because it works itself out after a week or two. Can anyone verify this or is it just a myth? Even though flies rarely get swallowed, I still cut the line if I feel it is deep enough to do damage. Trying to remove a deeply hooked fish does more damage than its worth.

They actually rust our pretty fast from just the water. Put a few wet flies back in your box for a week and see what they look like next time you open it up.

But again, its a stockie. If you caught it and it had a hook in it already, at least two people got to catch it. That's a lot more fish for the buck than they used to get.