Value of C & R

[djs12354]

Fishing on one of our favorite spots today with my Brother and Dan (Moonbeam) when I hit the bow in the picture titled He's Baaack.

I thought it might be the same fish I caught last Saturday, but after looking at photos, it was not. It is, however, the same fish I caught back on March 15th! :-D

To think I have friends who ask why i put the fish back after catching them. :lol:

 

[streamerguy]

Cool! That right there is proof C&R works. I know of 4 or so fish I have caught twice and there could have been others I didn't notice. I think this has been said on here a bunch of times, but a fish caught twice is better than a fish caught once then killed.

edit: Now that I've looked at it more I'm not sure if that's the same fish or not. Spots don't all seem to match up, and I don't really think the pelvic fins can heal/grow that much in a month.

 

[Gorosaurus]

Those are not the same fish, but they are similarly beautiful catches!

 

[djs12354]

Deformed fin by the gills is extremely similar. That's what makes me believe it is the same fish.

 

[Maurice]

Gorosaurus wrote:
Those are not the same fish, but they are similarly beautiful catches!

I agree not the same fish... but C&R definfitely put the fish back in the dame whereas harvest takes them out.

A trout caught once and harvested has a finite value. While a trout caught and released has value added each time it occurs. Because the investment is realized on the first catch while the additional catches provide the same enjoyment with no investment.

Its a no brainer.

Its safe to say any fish caught and released may be caught again while no fish harvested will ever be.

 

[BelAirSteve]

While I appreciate the concept of put and take, I am just not one to keep fish. I do not judge those that keep fish, but it's just not something I do. I rather enjoy the looks I get from guys when I release a big stocked fish.

 

[boychick]

I caught the same trout two days apart. The split pectoral fin was very unique. C&R definitely works.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

I once caught a trout a week later, and he still had my Professor with him. Took the fly back and let him go. Honestly, I keep an occasional trout for my wife and me, but generally in waters that have been recently stocked. Also, a lot of the streams in my area have thermal issues, so in a dry year the trout end up feeding the Great Blue Herons. That said, I still release about 95% of my fish in open water. Last year I released a 25'' rainbow in the aftermath of a Trout Derby. Despite the lively battle she provided, it was still just a big, dumb stocker to me. Hopefully a kid or a really old person caught him; maybe he was someones fish of a lifetime...

 

[Maurice]

Haha I just remembered an epic C&R well sort of...lets see, I lived in Pittsburgh, So it was over 15 years ago. I said to my FIL at a childs birthday party that I had hooked and lost a big brown under a tree undercut along the trail yesterday (saturday) and it had taken my fly.

The next Sunday at a family dinner he said he went to that spot and caught a 16" brownie and it fought well and then he reached inhis pocket and said, I believe this is yours...and he handed me my streamer. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Then and now.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

Maurice, that kind of stuff stays with you, doesn't it? Another one I remembered: A buddy and I were pounding trout in a small pool on the Fly Stretch of French Creek, mostly nymphs and ants, as I recall; this was years ago. My buddy busted one off, and about twenty minutes later I caught the same fish with his ant in its mouth on ......another ant pattern. A lesson that I took to heart!

 

[djs12354]

To touch on while I believed this was the same fish again... (Not arguing, just wishing to be educated)

The pectoral fin on both was stunted. Is this possibly a trait amongst a batch of stockies, rather than unique to the singular fish? It was very similar in size and shape.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[BelAirSteve]

Maurice wrote:
Haha I just remembered an epic C&R well sort of...lets see, I lived in Pittsburgh, So it was over 15 years ago. I said to my FIL at a childs birthday party that I had hooked and lost a big brown under a tree undercut along the trail yesterday (saturday) and it had taken my fly.

The next Sunday at a family dinner he said he went to that spot and caught a 16" brownie and it fought well and then he reached inhis pocket and said, I believe this is yours...and he handed me my streamer. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Then and now.

That might be the best fishing story EVER! I am going to get some mileage out of that one - off the top of my head, I can think of 5 guys I am going to tell it to.

 

[springer1]

Honestly, I keep an occasional trout for my wife and me, but generally in waters that have been recently stocked. Also, a lot of the streams in my area have thermal issues, so in a dry year the trout end up feeding the Great Blue Herons. That said, I still release about 95% of my fish in open water.

Ditto.

I once lost a really nice Bass while spin fishing plastic worms one June night when it wrapped me around structure beyond my reach. I customize my hooks, and later that year in the Fall I caught a nice Bass in the same area. When I shined my light to remove the hook, there was also my old customized hook - now corroded - still in it's mouth. I released the fish (21") and the hook has been in my fishing hat ever since.

 

[henrydavid]

I caught the same fish 3 times last spring on the Lehigh. He had a messed up jaw and missing something probably from a bad C&R. He was in same spot each time and took the same dry fly, lol, I gave him credit since he probably had a harder time feeding than most.

 

[afishinado]

The most reliable way to ID a fish is to study the spot pattern on it. The spots are like our fingerprints, which are unique to each individual.

The fish below are photographed at different angles, but if you look closely, the spot pattern for the fish in both pics match up. Same fish.

 

[jrmyln]

I have caught the same 23" bow numerous times over the past 3 years. I've probably lost her just as many. So far since trout season has opened, she has alluded me or has been taken.
This is a wild brownie stream and although I'd rather it wasn't stocked at all, I still enjoy catching the holdovers, especially this one.

 

[pcray1231]

I'm sure I quite often catch the same fish over. I've mostly noticed it after looking closely at pictures. And since, at best, I take a picture on 1/4 fish I've caught, I'm sure it happens a lot more than I know.

Back in my baitfishing days, I had a similar experience in catching a fish that had been hooked, by my dad, the day before. It was on Oil Creek, and we fished the same place 2 days in a row. I tied my own minnow rigs and supplied his, single hook up front and single in the rear, fly hooks (hook eye bent forward, not back), and yellow thread. On day 1 he hooked a largish fish on said rig and broke it off. On day 2, same spot, I landed an 18 inch bow with one of my minnow rigs in it's mouth...

On a local brookie stream I also had repeated run-ins with a unique fish. He had only 3 red spots on one side, in a line. I fished the stream only once per year, and caught him from the same hole 3 years straight.

 

[pcray1231]

Here is "3-spot".

 

[KeithS]

Pcray names his catches, too. Nice. I call mine Missing.

 

[barbless]

The pectoral fin on both was stunted. Is this possibly a trait amongst a batch of stockies, rather than unique to the singular fish? It was very similar in size and shape.

djs, stockies tend to have stunted fins because they're raised in crowded hatcheries with concrete runways. The fins get rubbed down (and perhaps nibbled, or subjected to fin rot from fungus). It's a very common problem for many hatchery-raised fish (some are raised in more natural conditions like spring-fed ponds with less crowding, and they look healthier.)

Once in the wild, the fins often regenerate. Fish that have held over for a year or more are often well on the way to getting normal looking fins. Their color improves, too.