Brutal Display Of Fish Handling

[PAV]

Just wanted to post this in hopes that whoever it was may frequent the boards and possibly learn how to handle fish.

 

I was crossing the bridge at the Southland dog walk around 6:30pm Thursday when I noticed a guy with a fly rod playing a fish

just downstream on the west side so I stopped to watch. He brought it to the net and I could see it was a fair sized trout as its head and tail were out of the net at the ends (the net was probably 14-16”). He then proceeded to walk the trout to shore (about 50’) by the gills where he laid it down on the ground for a measure. After seeing what was obviously a fish above the limit he spent the next 2 mins trying to revive the fish but I think we all know that that fish has no chance. The fish was probably out of the water for probably 2 mins with half of that time handing by his gills. I really wanted to go down and chat with the guy but he was impossible for me to get to by bike and I was on the clock. Really got me steamed though and I took it out on my bike for the next hour.

 

Anyway, just thought I would share this in hopes that perhaps the guy might see this post and ensure that future fish caught are kept in the net in the water and promptly released especially when there is no doubt over the limit. Fish should never be handled by the gills under any circumstances.

 

Really burns me to see that kind of $hit!

 

[thevalkrye]

I met this same guy last night i think, it was in the same spot as you mentioned it was later that night, but the guy said he had been there since 4:30.

 

I ended up talking to him and he said he was from Edmonton and this was his first time fishing the bow. He asked me about the limits, he thought he was allowed two fish, but i told him only one under 35cm. He had one already on a piece of rope attached to his belt.

 

I had watched him play a smaller fish for probably 15 minutes before he brought it in, so i was giving him some tips on getting the fish in quicker.

 

This might be a good time to post this link to Alberta's Guide for handling fish.

 

http://www.srd.alberta.ca/fishwildlife/fis...eleasecare.aspx

[bhurt]

Here is how I see it,

 

There are alot of people out there that were brought up one way or another with handling fish and that is how they were educated.

 

Alot of people that I have meet on the river with poor handling skills just needs to be educated, nothing wrong with the personjust needed to be educated.

 

It really burns me (no offence to PAV) when people come on here and bitch and complain aboput these issuse yet they did nothing about it. Next time I suggest doing something. Is it true some people are concern with approching others, sure but what I have found is that if you go with the attitude to help the person and not with violent intentions then everything is okay.

 

Worst case, report it to RAP......

[birchy]

Some people just legitimately don't know any better.

 

I took some friends out the other day who are spin fisherman. I had to pinch the barbs for one of them because they didn't realize AB was barbless - now they do.

 

Then later, one of them hooked a whitey while I was at the other end of the run.. before I could get there he dragged it up on shore by the line in order to remove the hook. I ran over with my net and put the fish back in the water with my net and then we took the hook out. Neither of them did that again for the rest of the day and I didn't even really SAY anything.

 

Like others have said.. it's usually just an education issue.

[PAV]

Here is how I see it,

 

There are alot of people out there that were brought up one way or another with handling fish and that is how they were educated.

 

Alot of people that I have meet on the river with poor handling skills just needs to be educated, nothing wrong with the personjust needed to be educated.

 

It really burns me (no offence to PAV) when people come on here and bitch and complain aboput these issuse yet they did nothing about it. Next time I suggest doing something. Is it true some people are concern with approching others, sure but what I have found is that if you go with the attitude to help the person and not with violent intentions then everything is okay.

 

Worst case, report it to RAP......

 

Actually bhurt, I do take offence to that.

 

I wanted to do something about it but as I said in my post it was he was in an area that I just couldn't get to as

I was not fishing I was biking. I'm doing what I can by posting on the boards here and I have called in to RAP twice

this year already so I do what I can. When I can I always try to educate people.

 

I get your point though and at the end of the we both want the same thing right so thats cool.

 

Paul

[bhurt]

Actually bhurt, I do take offence to that.

 

I wanted to do something about it but as I said in my post it was he was in an area that I just couldn't get to as

I was not fishing I was biking. I'm doing what I can by posting on the boards here and I have called in to RAP twice

this year already so I do what I can. When I can I always try to educate people.

 

I get your point though and at the end of the we both want the same thing right so thats cool.

 

Paul

 

Here is how I see it, you say it really got you steamed, if it bothered you that much then why didn't you do anything at the time. You say that you couldn't get down there on your bike, sorry but to me that is not a good reason, just a excuse, cause if you could see him gilling the fish from the Southland bridge then you could get down to him, most likely he was just down the island which is in yelling distance, like I said if it bothered you that much then there is ALWAYS something you can do.

 

Chances are if the person is gilling the fish then they are not part of the boards cause how many arguments have there been about fish handling, espically in photo's which alot of the lurkers are looking for (Pictures give away spots sometimes.......)

 

Also your previouse two calls into RAP has nothing to do with what you saw those are totally diffrent cases and has nothing to do with the current one you were talking about, you also SUGGEST that he might of been keeping fish which when in doubt call RAP.

 

Please Paul understand I do not mean to put you down but I see your post as meaningless........

 

But that is just my own opion.

[PAV]

Here is how I see it, you say it really got you steamed, if it bothered you that much then why didn't you do anything at the time. You say that you couldn't get down there on your bike, sorry but to me that is not a good reason, just a excuse, cause if you could see him gilling the fish from the Southland bridge then you could get down to him, most likely he was just down the island which is in yelling distance, like I said if it bothered you that much then there is ALWAYS something you can do.

 

Chances are if the person is gilling the fish then they are not part of the boards cause how many arguments have there been about fish handling, espically in photo's which alot of the lurkers are looking for (Pictures give away spots sometimes.......)

 

Also your previouse two calls into RAP has nothing to do with what you saw those are totally diffrent cases and has nothing to do with the current one you were talking about, you also SUGGEST that he might of been keeping fish which when in doubt call RAP.

 

Please Paul understand I do not mean to put you down but I see your post as meaningless........

 

But that is just my own opion.

 

 

Hey, I gave it a shot. You or I will probably never know he frequents this board but I did what I could. The post was never intended for you as it was obviously not you who was down there so thanks for your opinion and I don’t mean to offend you bhurt but piss-off! Your kind words of encouragement are sure to inspire others to do the right thing next time they see something.

[bhurt]

Hey, I gave it a shot. You or I will probably never know he frequents this board but I did what I could. The post was never intended for you as it was obviously not you who was down there so thanks for your opinion and I don’t mean to offend you bhurt but piss-off! Your kind words of encouragement are sure to inspire others to do the right thing next time they see something.

I hope so......

[Cutman]

I fish the Bow River in Calgary on and off and I'm from Edmonton.

 

Having said that, I consistely find that fellow Edmontonions are the rudest, ignorant, sorry group of fisherman I meet on the Bow and elsewhere. In my limited experience, I find the limited grasp of fishing etiquette and C&R techniques of some anglers to be appalling.

 

As a responsible angler, I am concerned with conservation issues and the impact of anglers on Alberta's fisheries. To that end, I try never to remove the fish from the water during the release. I never take pictures myself, pose for fish pictures, or measure fish during the release process, as I find it is all I can do with two hands to get the hook out with the least possible damage and stress to the fish as quickly as possible. I frequently see people pose for multiple pictures holding the fish out of the water way too high, dropping it, picking it back up, generally taking way too long, and laying down fish on gravel, silt, sand, snow, or grass for pictures. It is now wonder I often find 20"+ fish dead in the rivers I fish.

 

You can try to educate people, but some just don't give a #$%#.