cavdad45 said:
Some species don't do well with catch and release. Most trout species are quick to die, even when released, whereas bass, walleye (unless taken from extreme depths), and most panfish show little harm after catch and release.
Washington enforces a daily bag limit on trout, even when Catch-and-release fishing. You catch five and release five, your done. That would be worth exploring.
Not QUITE true about WA. The "catch-and-release 5 -you're done" applies ONLY IF you are using bait.
And I would disagree with your first statement- in most cases. Fishing in warm summer surface water seems to be the most detrimental to releasing trout unharmed. You can't mess with them much at all- turn the hook with pliers and get them on their way. Some of the smaller ones seem to die at the drop of a hat anyway. In cold water they swim off just fine. I don't think trout are "unhardy" at all.
The dead fish I see in the water- IMO- are bait caught fish that weren't big enough for the person who caught/ released it, or just roughly handled by bait fishermen (sorry-but I've seen this many times.)
I've caught and released multitudes of trout and never left a trail of dead fish in my wake. Done it at the mouth of small streams in a boat where you could see them if they just sank and died- it just doesn't happen. Lures and even flies catch 99% of fish in an easily removable place in their mouth. Can think of only one in the last two years that "kind of" inhaled a fly- still it was easily removed.
As for the poll- it would be nice to have C&R fishing all year round- but just as now where some places have strict rules (like selective gear rules in WA)- it's ALL about enforcement- my observations in these type places say that greater than 80% of the people I see fishing are ignoring ALL THE RULES- i.e. -using bait and treble hooks where they are NOT ALLOWED. I think most just choose not to read the rules so they can play ignorant, others don't read the rules because they don't care, others have a boat full of kids and want to catch fish- rules don't matter, others are from another country and rules don't seem to matter, others know the rules and fish there with bait because they know it's easy picking, others know enforcement is slim and none so they're not likely to get caught. They are all reprehensible and disgusting sportsmen. They are why your wish Chuck can never happen- too many scumbags screw it up for the rest of us.
Jim- and in case you haven't noticed- I AM bitter about it!