Trout, as cold-water fish, are easily stressed when caught and handled by fishermen. Warm water temperatures have a tendency to deplete the oxygen content of the water, thus making trout all the more sensitive and more vulnerable.
This stress can also affect their health and survival in the long term, which in turn alters body functions and behavior.
The best course if you want to promote less stressful fishing is showing fishermen proper catch-and-release procedures, not keeping a fish out of the water too long and not targeting fish in warm water.
To maintain healthy trout communities, attention should also be directed towards habitat conservation like monitoring the water temperature and utilizing sustainable water management.
There’s a point when the water gets too hot to responsibly fish for trout, and it’s a bitter pill to swallow.
As trout anglers we have a responsibility to ensure that the fish we catch are treated with the most care possible.
It’s a job that grows taller as the dog days of summer inch nearer. While there may come a time that fishing shuts down completely, so here are some tips to extend the season a bit by carefully handling trout when they hit the net.
Keep Em Wet!
Fish should be kept in water as long as possible when the water turns into a bath. Whilst unhooking and handling the trout keep its gills and mouth under the surface the whole time.
Using a rubber mesh landing net goes a long way to help with that and it goes even further to have a quick release from the fish without picking them up since they hang out to recover. Any fish that requires forceps or any other handling should be given the wet hand, loose grip treatment.
Restrict Water Temps 70°F (21°C) or Cooler
One of the things to remember in trout fishing is the “do not fish” temperature that is typically around 70°F (21°C). This counts for brown trout, brook trout, and even rainbow trout, all of which can survive in warmer water. In general at 67°-70° or above, do not fish.
Above this temperature, trout are increasingly susceptible to stress and less likely to survive. More oxygen is consumed by trouts in warmer water, which makes oxygen deficiency even more difficult for these fish and increases physiological burdens on them.
It is up to anglers to police their own potential impact on trout populations when the water is that warm. By adhering to this limit, we play our role in looking after the trout and its ecosystem.
Always Wet Your Hands
Trout actually have a slime and very thin skin, and are easily "fleshed" by handling them. This slime provides a defense against infections, parasites, and disease. It is important to wet your hands before handling trout.
Wet hands to keep the slime layer intact, which will prevent injury and stress to the fish. You do your part to ensuring the best for those trout populations by simply getting your hands wet.
Besides, trout must never be touched with gloves. Gloves are abrasive and are definitely going to erase a trout's cover of mucus slime.
Avoid The Gills
They have to be treated with care, because when you're talking about trout, as in "catching trout," you must be 100% gentle with them, being sure to never, under any circumstances, hold them by their gill slits!
The gills are how a fish extracts oxygen from the water, comparable to the amounts of oxygen, or lack thereof, that can be present, be it fresh, lukewarm, or iced water.
If the gills are damaged, they are unable respire as easily as before and this will result in extreme trouble taking in oxygen. The consequence of this can be deadly for trout, as it can lead to suffocation, and ultimately death.
Do not allow Trout to sink into the passes (or to be handled in any way that might injure them or bring your hands in contact with their gills).
I see people handling fish by the gill like it's nothing — DON'T DO IT Instead, grasp the fish firmly but gently with wet hands, and make sure your gingers or hand definitely don't touch their gills.
The only safe places to hold a fish are immediately behind the dorsal, and at the front of the tail. In doing so, you spare the fish the damage to its delicate gill tissues that would prevent it from breathing and remaining oxygenated and healthy.
Remember, the gills are not only external extensions, but elaborate respiratory structures that help trout breathe in the water. Any damage to the gillsblocks their effectiveness, making it hard for the trout to take in oxygen.
Limit Your Pictures
It can be easier said than done to keep that camera (or phone) put away, but it can be for the best for the fish! Just bringing the fish up out of the water for a second can do major damage to the fish. If you land an exceptional trout and require a photo, keep the fish in the net, while you set up the camera and zoom.
Once you’ve got everything set, bring the fish up gently for less than five seconds and go crazy snapping pictures! When the trout is out of water for more than 5 seconds, the numbers start to decrease dramatically.
Go Barbless
Barbless flies might be standard, but they become especially important in the heat of summer. This causes your fish the most stress as it performs head shakes, body rolls and fishtails until it reaches the net, and we start trying to remove our hooks.
Much of the time, landing the fish isn’t absolutely essential, and some very long-distance releases are best for both the fish and the anglers. The barbless and the barbed fly are seen in the fishes jaws.
Final Thoughts
Use heavy enough tippet to land fish quickly! Overplaying puts a great deal of stress on trout.
Revive all your fish caught even if you don’t think they need it!
For trout, July and August is the time to watch out the most. The water heats up to dangerous levels and though we do what we can, some of our catch don’t survive.
Here are some tips that will help us do everything we can to keep the trout out of danger, and in returning home unscathed and catchable when you can come back for another chance.