Fishing Ethics and Ettiquette

This is based on a post by Howard over at Windknots and Tangled Lines. Howard is a fantastic blogger and a real class act. When I read his blog post, I took the time to thank him for his approach because even though he was speaking about fishing ethics he didn’t do it in a shaming/condemning way, rather he took a more informative approach.

I will admit, even though I call my skill level intermediate, some of you guys have been fishing for decades and make my level of skill and knowledge look like a beginner. I don’t say that because of low self esteem or out of false humility, but simply honesty in the fact that I have a lot to learn and I’m only covering the surface. With that said, I want to learn. I am here to learn. I haven’t really had anybody correct me for doing anything “wrong”  except for one facebook comment and even then, I didn’t do anything illegal, just something that violated bass fishing “etiquette.” 

You see my profile picture of two healthy hearty bass?Thats the reason the facebook guy was mad.  I kept those sucker and ate them. Is it illegal? Hell No, I pay $45+ for a year worth of fishing and when I want to eat fish, I’m going to eat fish. With that said, I have never been a poacher or done anything stupid or illegal. I know most of the rules and usually look at the DFG handbook if I am confused about something. However, when it comes to “fishing ethics or etiquette,” I am not so well versed.

Although some may call it common sense, it is not common sense! Common sense would be,  “don’t catch fish just to kill them to leave them on the bank,” I think this is a great example of common sense as most people wouldn’t do something like this.  “Trout are a delicate species that require more care, and have a slime that protects them therefore it is best not to even take them out of the water,” is not what I would call common sense.   There are things that some have picked up along the way either from their fathers, grandfathers, other male role models, or even from other fishing buddies that weren’t common sense but rather acquired knowledge.

With this in mind, there are others that use this knowledge to try to argue with others or shame others into submission. I have choice words for that type of person, but I’ll keep those words to myself. Like the guy that called the fact that I had kept the bass in the above picture tried to shame me with his wisdom, what a rotten use of wisdom. On the other hand, my good fishing buddy Mark taught me that you must wet your hand when you catch and release a trout. My other good fishing buddy Sean taught me that you shouldn’t lay a trout on the floor because of the slime on them and their eyes possibly being damaged from being on the ground. If it weren’t for these guys I would be dry handing every trout I catch and tossing them on the floor! But because they took the time to share their knowledge with a fellow fisherman starting out, I now know a couple of these “unwritten rules” that give fish that are caught and released a better chance to survive.

All this to ask this:  Can you please take the time to share a rule/fishing ethic principle or two here in the comments ? (or feel free to e-mail me with them as well)

This could be for fly fishing or just fishing in general. I am doing this for myself but also, I would like to include a blog post/page on fishing ethics for beginning fisherman on this blog.

Thanks for your help everybody!!