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I had my mom on the phone, then a friend who needed computer tech'ing via the phone and I couldn't multi-task that much.
Bidwell Ranch has not always been flyfishing only with fly gear only. It used to be just 1 lake with those restrictions, one pond was anything goes (which it still is to this day) and the other waters back when American Sportsman Club was in business was managed any gear, barbless only, no bait. When ASC went out of business and WU picked up the lease, they changed the rules to fly only with fly fishing gear only on 3 of the 4 ponds. The size of the fish increased because they were living longer. Larger trout also stand a better chance of survival from hooking.
The gear guys are too effective catching fish. Plain and simple. That is why I have 20-30 casting and spinning reels too. We all have watched trout nose up underneath a fly or a natural and turn away. A guy with a Super-Duper, Mepps spinner, spoons ... tweak that one other trout instinct that it is tough to duplicate with a fly, the reaction bite. There is always some mortality when we catch and release, and a trout that snaphooks a lure zipping by may catch those hooks somewhere that does damage like gills, eyes... kinda like the way it is hard for me to drive past an In-and Out Burger without stopping.
There was a study recently done in Colorado on Rainbow Trout that compared 457 fly caught trout mortality (3.9% mortality), 505 trout caught using artificial baits fished actively, (21.6% mortality) and 511 trout caught using artificial baits fished passively (32.1% mortality). Water temperature, fish length, time played, time out of water, hook location, leader treatment, and bleeding intensity were recorded for each fish captured. Mortalities were recorded daily over a 3-week holding period.
ANother study showed that trout caught on bait died at higher rates than trout caught on artificial flies or lures, that fish caught on barbed hooks had higher mortality rates than fish caught on barbless hooks, that brown trout had lower mortality rates than other species of nonanadromous trout, and that wild trout died at higher rates than hatchery-reared trout. Other variables, including size of hooks, number of hooks, and water temperature, did not show a statistically significant relationship to hooking mortality. I will try to get a copy from AFS. For some reason my password didn't work when I tried to open it. (Maybe I'm delinquent)The guy that has done the most studies on the C&R, gear type issue is Jason F. Schreer, if you google him you will find more data.
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