Month: March 2009

5 New Fishing Quotes & Sayings – Mar 24, 2009

The new quotes are numbers 772 – 776

My pick:

“There isn’t any symbolism. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The shark are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is shit. What goes beyond is what you see beyond when you know.”
Ernest Hemingway

oldmansea

Posted by Tony Bishop in fishing quotes

Securely handling trout without causing stress or damage

One of New Zealand’s best known guides, Tony Entwhistle, writing in the New Zealand Fish & Game Magazine, has one of the best descriptions I have read on the proper handling of a trout.

Securely handling a trout without causing stress or damage is a matter of a gentle touch, not a tight grip.

To pacify a landed trout, simply place a hand vertically in front of its nose to prevent it from swimming forward and fold the palm to cover both eyes. This acts as a mask and immediately calms it down. Trout relax quickly when their eyes are covered.

Next grasp the fish’s tail with the other hand, without excessive force. Some anglers use a piece of stocking for grip, but with good technique this isn’t necessary. Securing a trout needs only gentle pressure between the thumb and forefinger, applied directly over the base of the tail, applied where it joins the body (hypural joint).

Apply pressure top and bottom through the first joints of the forefinger and thumb, rather than along the sides. The mistake is grasping the tail too far forward and using too much hand in doing so. Squeezing hard does not help as the fish slips more easily.

Now test the grip by lifting the fish slightly by the tail, keeping the other hand over the eyes for the moment. If the grip is secure the trout will not slip, but if it does resist grabbing at it with both hands. By quickly slipping a hand in front of the nose, and covering the eyes again, a lot more fish will be saved from premature release.

With a positive grip on the tail it is now possible to begin lifting the trout safely for a photograph or release.

Avoid squeezing the fish around the soft belly area behind the pectoral fins because this causes discomfort and can potentially cause serious damage to internal organs. Instead slide the free hand under the pectoral fins, orientating the hand so that the trout’s head rests along the index finger, with the pectoral fins spread out between thumb and little finger.

The trout will be nicely balanced and the soft tissue in the belly area will no be supporting any weight. Lifting the trout this way, and returning it to the water between photographs minimizes any distress which could reignite its struggles. Turn the fish belly up when removing the hook.

Handle trout gently and with respect and they won’t panic or stress, ensuring their revival for release without damage and a minimum of fuss.”

© Reproduced by permission – ‘New Zealand Fish and Game Magazine’

Posted by Tony Bishop in environment and conservation, fly fishing how-to, trout information

You only ever fish a river once

I come across a lot of non-fishing related quotes in my search for quotes on things fishy. This one caught my eye.

It is believed to be an old Greek saying. "You never bathe in the same river twice."
I think a quick change of words can reveal another truism: "You never fish in the same river twice".

Rivers change from moment to moment and day to day. Water flows and currents subtly shift. Wind ruffles the surface.

Light changes in intensity and direction. Bottom features seen in one light, reveal new features in a different light or at a different light angle.

Hatches begin and die.

Trout move into and out of lies. New light directions expose new lies. Unseen rain falls and water colour changes. Seasons change and fish habits change with them.
Floods come and go and the river changes again.

Maybe this is why we can fish one river, time after time, year after year, and still find something new every time we fish – for it is never the same river- that for me is one of the prime reasons that keeps me fishing.

Posted by Tony Bishop in fly fishing, Life & Stuff

5 New fishing quotes and sayings – Mar 10, 2009

Just put up 5 new fishing quotes and sayings; numbers 767 – 771

My, I was going to write ‘pick of the new quotes’ as I usually do, but maybe I should write, “the quote most likely to have my C&R friends thumping their keyboards in full fuming mode”.

“I was taught long ago by my Father that it’s necessary to kill and eat fish occasionally to fulfil our evolutionary urges.”
– Bob South, Editor, New Zealand Fish and Game Magazine Nov 2008.

Don’t shoot the messenger!

Posted by Tony Bishop in fishing quotes

5 New Fishing Quotes and Sayings – Mar 2, 2009

I have just up-loaded 5 new fishing quotes, numbers 762 – 766.

My pick of this bunch was very easy – not that there was any bias in my decision:

“New Zealand’s trout can haunt you as no other fish do and the rivers they inhabit can come to possess a part of your imagination and memory.” (763)

Posted by Tony Bishop in fishing quotes