Proper Fish Handling Techniques

That 20" Rainbow you've been going for all day has just been netted. You hand the camera to a buddy, grab the trout out of the net and hold it up at eye level so the world can see the ear-to-ear grin. Upon reviewing the photo, you ask for another one- still holding the fish two feet above the water. The photo is finally good enough for Facebook so you place the fish into the river and let it hang in the water for a second before it regains strength and swims away awkwardly while high-fives are shared. The "Catch and Release" hashtag may tell everyone that the fish is back out there to be caught again, but the grip-n-grin picture shows an entirely different scenario.

That beautiful rainbow may have swam away. It's energy may seem like it was back to normal, but the fish is actually still in distress- and when trout are in distress, the chances of it dying are significantly increased.

The Fight

It all starts when the hook is set and the fight begins. According to Dr. Andy Danylchuk, an associate professor of fish conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, fish release sugar (glucose) into their blood to fuel muscle activity and fight when they are hooked. When the excess glucose levels are released, it causes a build up of lactate in the blood and can have long-lasting affects on muscle function. This is the same issue that occurs in humans when they suffer a cramp during exercise.

It's best practice to not play with the fish to the point of exhaustion. Do everything you can to land the fish as quickly as possible.

Air Exposure and Handling

Once the fish is landed, the stress doesn't end. In fact it could be increased due to prolonged air exposure and poor handling techniques.

Taking the fish out water essentially stops the trout's ability to breathe. Fish breathe air by taking water in through their mouth, over the gills and out through the gill flaps (the operculum). "Taking fish out of the water stops dissolved oxygen from getting into the blood via the gills. No, the gills are not adapted to capture oxygen from air," says Dr. Danylchuck. "We are forcing the fish to hold its breath after running a race."

Even if the fish is out of water for only a few seconds, harm could still be done through improper handling. When handling a fish, always wet your hands prior to any touching. Trout have a protective coating (a slime layer) that protects them from disease. Wet hands reduce the risk of rubbing too much of the slime layer off. Adversely, when touched with dry hands, the coating is likely to rub off the trout's skin onto yours- leaving them exposed to disease.

Reducing exposure and handling time can be aided by using barbless hooks, or simply crimping the barbs on current hooks. If the hook is too deep, "several studies have shown that it is much better to cut the line and leave the hook in place rather than trying to dig the hook out," says Dr. Danylchuck.

Overall, the best practice would be to remove the hook while the fish is in the water.

This isn't to say that taking a fish out of water will definitively kill the fish. There are tricks to minimizing air exposure and handling while still getting photo proof of your catch.

Allow the cameraman "to call the shots and get the angler to keep the fish in the water until the camera is ready," says Dr. Dalynchuck. Holding the fish only a few inches over the water will also help reduce air time. Regardless of the photo, however, the fish should be dripping wet (which makes the shot look even cooler). Underwater cameras make for a nice image as well.

Releasing

When it comes to releasing trout, it's not as simple as getting it back in the water and then it will be fine, (hopefully, it doesn't need to leave the water). Even when the handling time is minimal, fish still need be released properly as well. When fish have experienced considerable physiological stress due to exercise and handling, they can lose their equilibrium, coordinated movements of their fins and roll or nosedive- resulting in death further on downstream.

Good fundamentals in releasing, involve placing the fish in the water with it's head pointing into the current. Remember that the water needs to go through their mouth to exit the gill flap. Anglers should grip the fish lightly and look for coordinated fin movements to show that the fish has their equilibrium and can swim regularly own their own before letting the it go.

"Move a fish in a forward direction when helping it recover, do not move a fish back and forth—recall that water moving backwards over the gills does not help, but in fact, can actually harm the fish," says Dr. Danylchuck. "Let the fish go when its fins are showing coordinated movements, it can keep itself upright and it is actively trying to swim away from you."

Remember that fish belong in the water and as responsible anglers it's up to us to help protect and keep them there. This includes, keeping the fight time minimal, reducing the trout's air exposure, keeping hands wet, and releasing the fish back into the water properly.

For more information on the affects of keeping fish wet, visit KeepEmWet.org or read Dr. Dalynchuck's Fundamentals of Fish report.

Behind the Fin: John Bocchino

• Name: John Bocchino
• Fly Fishing Guide for Rifle and Rise Outfitters in Gunnison
• Life time member of TU
• Web designer and communications for Gunnison Angling Society 
• Best Quote from John: “I really wanted to contribute in any way I could to protecting our coldwater fisheries. We face constant challenges and I believe TU plays a major role in protecting what I love the most. I just want to do my part."

Member of the Gunnison Angling Society Chapter of TU, John Bocchino lives for fishing. His passion for fly fishing has led to the creation of a successful business, Rifle and Rise Outfitters. John has been a board member, vice president, and president of his chapter and currently works on the website and communications. The term Good Enough may fit nicely with his band name, but as a volunteer and member of TU, John is so much more than just "good enough."

- How long have you been a TU member?

I joined TU sometime in the 90s and then became a life member shortly after that. My business, Riffle and Rise Outfitters, is a registered TU endorsed business as well.

- Why did you become a member and what chapter are you involved with?

I joined TU and got involved because I wanted to try to make a difference with regard to coldwater conservation efforts. Fly Fishing is my passion, and I wanted to do my part to protect the resource. I was getting back into fly fishing in a big way while living in northern VA in the 90's. I became very involved at the state level in Virginia and helped with web development efforts and other projects for the VA Council of TU. In 2006, I moved to the Colorado Rockies for the mountains, rivers, and trout. I am an active member of our Gunnison Chapter of TU, the Gunnison Angling Society. I served on the Board, and was also VP and President. I built a new website for the chapter and continue to manage that, as well as chapter communications. - What made you want to become more involved with TU?

I really wanted to contribute in any way I could to protecting our coldwater fisheries. We face constant challenges and I believe TU plays a major role in protecting what I love the most. I just want to do my part.

- What is your favorite activity or project that you have done with TU?

I enjoy the web development work I’ve done for my local chapter, and I also enjoy helping to promote youth education as it relates to TU. I’ve been very involved in helping to raise funds and send kids to the CTU youth camp for several years now. I also recently managed two college interns from Western State Colorado University here in Gunnison, who worked for our chapter this past spring.

- What is a favorite fishing spot and favorite fishing story?

It’s tough to identify just one favorite spot for fishing. My favorite river here in Colorado is the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River. Between guiding and fishing, I probably spend about 150 days per year on the water. I remember my early days fishing the Catskills back in the 90s and early 2000s, where my friends and I would spend a week up on the Beaverkill and the West Branch during May, June, and September. We called it fish camp and really looked forward to those trips. I got into the hatches in a big way and started tying flies and calling out bug names in Latin while on the river. One day, one of my buddies came up to fish with us and he was just a beginner. He really didn’t fish much. Well, he proceeded to out-fish us in a major way and when I asked him what he was using, he said, “I don’t know. A big gray fuzzy thing.” So much for all the years of studying hatches and learning Latin.

- To you, what is the best tactic or fly for catching trout? The most important thing is patience. That is the key word for fishing and definitely for guiding as well. You need to move slow, concentrate, and have a lot of patience and just enjoy the ride. It’s not brain surgery. We’re just catching fish. I definitely don’t have just one top fly that I use. I enjoy dry fly fishing the most, and when I can’t do that, I love to streamer fish. So chasing big trout with a streamer is one of my favorite things to do. And for that, I like a size 4 Sculpzilla.

- Beyond being an awesome angler, what else do you do in your spare time or for work?

I have an outfitting business, Riffle and Rise Outfitters, which I set up last year so I could work for myself. This was my second season on my own and it was great. I like guiding for myself and having total control over what I do and how I can take care of my clients.  When I’m not working/guiding or fishing, I enjoy playing music. I play guitars, dobro, and harmonicas, and I’ve been playing in a little band here for the past few months. I have a small recording studio in my house and we get together to record music every now and then. We’ve also performed live a few times this year. We’re not all that great and try not to take it too seriously, but we have a good time messing around with music. (I’m a fly fishing guide, not a rock star!) We go by the name Good Enough. I guess that says it all!

Herman Gulch Trout Salvage

The creek along Herman Gulch may not seem like much, and in some places it’s no more than two feet wide. But it’s still able to maintain a strong ecosystem that allows cutthroat trout to survive. After much consideration by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, it was decided, based on monitoring data from the West Denver TU Chapter, the creek was a great spot to reintroduce native greenback cutthroat trout. On September 11, the West Denver Chapter joined forces with The Greenbacks and Colorado Parks and Wildlife and set off to Herman Gulch to catch as many trout they could and transport them into Clear Creek.

Volunteers split the stream into five sections with each section getting two buckets and four anglers. At the end of the day, the groups successfully caught and transported over 100 healthy trout into holding pens downstream.

Future plans from CPW include shocking and removing the remaining non-native trout before winter. Native greenback reintroduction is set to begin in early spring of 2016.

Below are more photos from the event. Courtesy of Tim Toohey of West Denver Chapter.

Dateline Durango: Animas after the spill

On August 5^th, 2015, the Gold King mine near Silverton unleashed 3 million gallons of mine wastewater into the upper Animas River. Within hours, the plume had traveled downstream to Durango – right in the middle of a busy summer in a tourism-based town. The striking pictures of the orange plume spread across the globe in minutes. The media coverage was massive and the world took note. Lost among the “Orange River” pictures, the apocalyptic commentary with words like disaster, catastrophic, etc., and the hyperbolic ventilating about the impact to the fishery has been the good news: the Animas River has weathered the spill and the fishery through the Town of Durango is doing well.

If you didn’t know to look for very faint traces of iron residue, you wouldn’t even know we had this insulting event in early August. The Animas is back to its usual state of water quality. As to the fishery, there has been no fish mortality documented from the spill, while bug sampling by an aquatic biologist with Mountain Studies Institute indicates a still thriving population of mayfly nymphs and caddis pupa. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) had installed pens of fingerling trout in the Animas before the plume arrived – a canary in a coal mine, if you will. None of those fish died either. In the past few weeks we have seen Baetis, midges and Tricos coming off. CPW ran an electro-shocking episode after the “Spill” with the usual re-capture protocol and got essentially the same results as the year before. Actually, the survey showed a slight improvement.

While long-term effects of the spill are yet unknown, anglers, local fly shops and outfitters are breathing a sigh of relief that one of America’s great trout rivers has survived this ugly onslaught.

This is not to diminish our concern for the Animas River and the fishery in the canyon below Silverton. This reach has been substantially impacted by three draining mines at the headwaters of Cement Creek, which flows into the Animas at Silverton. This, plus the recent “Spill”, highlights the very need for Good Samaritan Legislation for which TU is strongly advocating – so that abandoned mine cleanup projects can proceed here and elsewhere.

The bottom line is Durango is still a great place to visit and to be your base for fly-fishing outings.

- Buck Skillen, President, Five Rivers Chapter TU

The latest fishing report/forecast from Duranglers:

Except for some rain events the Animas has been fishing very well with solid Trico and midge hatches. Streamers have been effective as well. The Dolores River below McPhee Reservoir has suffered due to low flows the last few years but, with this past good water year, has been fishing much better. With forecasts for a good snowpack we are optimistic for the rebound to continue. Our high mountain streams will continue to fish for a bit but winter will come soon to the high country. The Piedra River and its tributaries are great options in the fall. The San Juan River below Navajo Dam has been fishing great this year. From now until at least Thanksgiving expect great midge and BWO hatches with some good dry fly fishing on the right day. And of course the San Juan is one of the best winter trout fisheries anywhere.

2015 Colorado TU Fall Raffle

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A GLENWOOD SPRINGS FISHING GETAWAY - AND HELP COLORADO'S RIVERS!When you purchase a ticket in Colorado Trout Unlimted's statewide raffle, you'll have the chance to win a trip for a lodging, dinner and soak package in the beautiful Glenwood Springs area, while providing funds to support river conservation across the state.

One winner will receive a package featuring a full day float trip for two on the "lower upper" Colorado River with Confluence Casting, plus one night's lodging in a Classic Victorian room at the historic Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, and a $25 gift card for an evening soak at the Glenwood Hot Springs.  Total package value is $709.

Raffle tickets are $5 each, or $20 for five.  The drawing will take place at 1 pm on November 5 at the Denver Athletic Club (14th & Glenarm, Denver) - at the Denver Angling Society luncheon.  You need not be present to win.

https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/7023/t/12607/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=643

Tom Jones Honored at National Meeting

Colorado Trout Unlimited Southwest Regional VP, Tom Jones, was honored at the National TU annual meeting as the recipient of the Griffith Award for distinguished service in leadership. Jones is out of Durango and volunteers with the 5 Rivers chapter of Colorado TU where he works to raise awareness and protect amazing wild and native trout habitat in places like the Alpine Triangle.

"Serving as Chair of the New Initiatives work group for five years gave me the opportunity to see the extraordinary level of talent and passion that exists in TU, both staff and volunteers," said Jones. "To be selected for the Griffith Award by this exceptional organization is an honor that I will always cherish."

Jones also helped lead the effort in protecting the Hermosa Creek Wilderness. In December, Congress passed the The Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act, along with a handful of other public land bills, was attached as riders to the National Defense Authorization Act that protected Hermosa Creek wilderness area.