Michael Gracie

Love the gold, hate the trout

From the Chattanoogan:

Catch and Release fishing will be banned in Switzerland from next year, it was revealed this week.

And anglers in the country will have to demonstrate their expertise by taking a course on humane methods of catching fish, under new legislation outlined by the Bundesrat - the Swiss Federal Parliament.

“Humane methods of catching fish” will mean knocking trout over the head with a blunt instrument (thereby causing instant death to our fine finned friends).

Unless Swiss anglers are downright insane, they should petition the government to trade them a one-ounce gold ingot for every fish they kill, which the angler can then donate to the local preservation board!

(h/t to The Trout Underground)

I gave someone an update on my Sunday’s crummy fishing, and they proceeded to send me a reminder of the weekend before (with enclosed compliments on my release technique):

I remember the mud on my fingertips.

The picture does this beautiful wild brown trout justice, but it doesn’t portray what I remembered being pretty poor handling skills. I was holding this fish gently while unhooking, and she squirmed out of my hands and onto the the muddy bank. I gave plenty of time for relaxed revival in the cool water, and she darted away nicely. But I still felt a bit bad about it. Keeping them in a net and in the water while unhooking, grabbing a quick pic and then getting them back in the water just as fast is the preferred methodology.