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Brian, I know you to be someone who cares about the fisheries and the fish, but I have to applaud Dawn's reply on this - just because we don't like the implications doesn't mean we should ignore the facts.
I really like the post that points out that this is a good reason to not have tournaments. But I take exception to the "why care" reply - we should indeed care. We should care a great deal about the ethos of our sport and our responsibility to the fish and their environment. For instance, take the Idaho cutt study posted by one respondent - assume 3% to be the mortality of properly handled C&R fish. That means that one fish out of every 33 you handle will die. More if the hook is barbed. More if handled improperly.
What should this mean to us? I would hope it suggests that we should promote proper handling techniques to all other fishermen/women. I would hope it means we should take care to ensure that our hooks are truly barbless. And I would hope that it argues for quality - not quantity - in our fishing experiences. I can recall all too clearly threads on this very forum, many years ago, lauding the "50-fish day".
Personally, I'll settle for just a few large, tricky fish, well handled and carefully released.
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Favoured: 0
- good point no/msg
