Great Fish Jake!

Caught my first 20 pounder on the Elk River 18 years ago, by myself, and released it. No camera so I never got a pic, but was able to beach it in the shallows and keep it on wet gravel while I unhooked and measured it. But no worries, you didn't hurt that fish at all. It obviously has been in the river a while, has well embedded scales, and in the normal course of events fish scrape themselves all to hell on a variety of substrate, first trying to reach the spawning grounds, then in digging them up. Prior to that bucks run each other ragged fighting over hens, and will run each other right out of the water and out onto sandbars - seen it myself. Also seen fish smack repeatedly into rocks, trying to ascend falls, with apparently no ill effects. Compared to this abuse a few seconds on the sandbar is pretty minor. The fish you have to worry about are the immature fish, esp. in the ocean, where scales have not embedded yet, or chromers when they first enter freshwater and are a little shocky already. Anything that knocks out scales is bad news. Still, the outfit I managed in Oregon for several years transported chrome kings and silvers from saltwater to freshwater, by netting them out of a holding pond after crowding them to the head end (we used a soft knotless 3/8 inch nylon mesh net), hoisting them onto a semi, hauling them 100 miles, and dumping them into the freshwater hatchery after first subduing them and shooting them up with antibiotics and vaccines. After all that we had 98% survival to spawning. Fish are obviously tough enough to stand a little handling. Things like untreated stormwater, gillnets, or bonking them on the head are far more deadly than anything us C&R guys are doing to them. So again, don't worry, and lets back off a bit on being so critical of incidental fish handling, ok?

Sometimes you have to for go a photo opp. to be insure the fish's safety.

The fish should always come first...pictures and exact measurements are just a luxury that are avaliable when the oppurtunity presents itself!!

I will repeat...THE FISH ALWAYS COMES FIRST!!!

Nice Fish But agian,

This is why people just dont deserve having the option of taking fish out of the water for photos.

CONGRATS Jacob !!!


Mighty fine looking nate !!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sure it will survive long enough to spawn!!

Nice fishing!!!!!

Cigar

...another reason why I do support Kramer's conservative approach in closing down our C&R seasons when the escapement goal is not going to be reached.

Anglers can not accept the responsibility that comes along with handling a precious resource...anglers can not be trusted!

Nice fish, bad picture. Lets all try to learn from this post. As excited as we get upon catching these rare natives; thats exactly what they are, RARE. Treat them as they are the last fish on earth, even if you are unable to take pic, or measure. Swallow your pride, its ok to tell a story WITHOUT a pic,etc.
If you must lay it down for a pic, lay it in the shallow, 6" or so of water and hold the tail with one hand and take the pic with the other.

Learn from OUR mistakes...

Peter ><>

nice fish jacob!

At least you let it loose! I dont think you harmed it that bad setting it on wet mud or clay in any case its better off than my first hawg steelie years ago I bonked it upside the head and had it for several nice dinners. I let them go more than not nowadays, but the meathead side of me still wins over sometimes.

That's one hell of a fish. When do we get to hear what he was taken with?
I can't say I've never pulled a fish onto the beach before release, but I can say I won't do it again. Will a little clay fatally wound an adult steelhead? I doubt it. But I also feel that it's best to take every precaution possible to make sure the fish is ok. Sometimes that means not getting a picture. I do have to say, I did cringe a little when I read the part about "measure the fish, take off my vest, unzip the back compartment, take out the camera, unzip the camera case and take the picture." I think a lot of anglers do more harm to fish by depriving them of breathing than anything else. If I just finished a marathon, I couldn't hold my breath for more than a couple of seconds.

Well,if you are still reading this jacobF..NICE FISH.I will skip the ethics lesson though.I still remember my first big fish and the exitement.Caught on the upper sol duc.Got a picture of it that looks alot like yours.Nothing was going to stop me in my exitement from getting some pics.Ended up getting an even bigger one next cast!!!

Thats a real trophy, and congratulations. Obviously you didnt know better or you wouldnt have posted that pic. We all learn from mistakes, these things are learned. Next time I hope you treat the fish properly now that you know better.

Congrat's,
Thats a really nice fish you should get a reproduction made.

Nice FISH Jacob,
I guess you've learned the hard way not to post a picture of your fish on this board unless you want to get picked apart by a few fishermen who think there perfect.
Anyway Jacob again nice fish.

============================
"I did cringe a little when I read the part about "measure the fish, take off my vest, unzip the back compartment, take out the camera, unzip the camera case and take the picture." I think a lot of anglers do more harm to fish by depriving them of breathing than anything else. If I just finished a marathon, I couldn't hold my breath for more than a couple of seconds"
==============================
Take hook out 10-20 seconds

Measure the fish 15-20 seconds

Take my vest off 5-10 seconds

Take out camara 10-15 seconds

Unzip camara case 45-60 seconds
(take gloves off, turn on, take picture, take another, go set camara down)

Pick up fish for release 10-20 seconds
and release.

Just adding up the conservative column adds up to over a minute and a half! WOW!

As stated previously, go run a marathon and then be forced to hold your breath, You made that fish hold its breath after probabally a good fight for atleast 1 1/2 minutes.

VERY POOR,, you should have just cut it into steaks.

All you guys that are crying about posting a picture just don't get it (and are the reason we need the C&R rules being discussed on another thread). Its not that he posted a pic. Its his selfish attitude in the way he handled the fish that has got everyone POed Measurements and pictures should only be taken it you can do it safely. I wonder how long this fish was out of the water while he, unhooked it, took off his vest, found his camera, and measured it. Certainly longer than you could hold your breath for after fighting for your life.

For you guys that say the fish is alright, perhaps you should do a search on this board and read what some of the Bio's that post here have to say about mortality in these types of situations.

Jacob its not my intention to blast you, I know how tempting a fish like this can be. All I would ask is that you reconsider how you would do it for the next time you catch a big un.

Should there be infractions levied on individuals that practice these release methods? (like in the above picture)

Know your limits, and maybe think about just cutting your line and letting it throw the hook once you have got it in the shallows and know its a native.
Heck of alot better chance for survial than what this fish had to endure.

Jacob--

Nice fish. I can understand your excitement!

I also fish alone alot, and have in my time collected some "fish lying on bank next to pole" shots. I don't anymore. Not worth it. For ANY fish...except those missing the appropriate fin who have already swam off to the great spawning riffle in the sky.

The thing is that the picture sucks. The rod is no measure of scale (looks just like the 9 pounder I C-n-R'd yesterday) and the fish is covered in sand. The instant I saw that pic I heard the sickening sound of a fish being stuck in the sand...it's like rolling a slug in salt. Still, you were probably motivated by a desire to hurry, snap the pic, and get it back in the water...next time, savor the moment a few swallows, bring the fish to your hand in the shallows, and be ready for it with your pliers between your teeth. Quicker isn't always the most delicate.

I know you're getting your share of flak right now and I sympathize--hopefully you are able to see that posters here are passionate about the resource and only encouraging low-impact hook and release methods and not necessarily flaming you in particular.

I remember one of my first posts--I was excited about fishing a planter lake with single eggs--received an indignant reply that using bait for trout was evil and I was wrong for doing so...but then you'd swear some guys are so conservationally-minded they don't use bait, hooks, line, weight, rod or reel, internal combustion engines, waders made of petroleum products, wool gloves, styrofoam corkies, any 3M product, &c. &c. &c. I mention this by saying that yes, there are extremists out there, but that no, the posters above chastising you for roughing up one of the big boys are not those kind of extremists.

Thanks for tolerating all these critical posts--I for one hope you stick around.

My opinion is this; a twenty pound plus steelhead is an awesome benchmark for any avid steelheader. Jacob's buck may well be the largest specimen he'll C&R during his lifetime. With this considered, a picture is a priceless memento of the event. Without it recalling the event with friends and members of the board is just a fish story. So people should ease up a little on Jacob, because I'm sure he was too stoked to think of all the fine points y'all are lambasting him for.

Also people need to practice what they preach! Some of the naysayers that are proponents of not taking fish out of the water are doing exactly that on the pictures under their respective monikers. Who knows how long those fish were in the open air? Rough hands will also remove slime even if they are wet? I also recall a certain picture of a small steelhead or resident rainbow one of the naysayers posted last month that was dragged up on the gravel right next to the river's edge! What's up with that??? What's next, a debate on what substrate removes less slime???

oh yeah, I forgot...Congratulations and nice fish Jacob..................peace out

You think jerking a 1/0 hook through a steelies jaw and fighting him till he's too tired to swim is not detrimental to its health? Even the best of handling does not insure survival. As soon as you hook a fish there is risk of mortality. So all you veterans lamblasting jacob, think about that. Why don't you quit fishing, that way you won't hurt the fish at all.

I am sure that jacob will be even more careful after this, but I bet all the rest of you have a few skeltons in your closets also.

Nice fish Jacob. Send us another pic some day when you get tht underwater camera everyone's talking about.

-rbf

Although I don't like to see fish dragged up on the beach, and it's something I do not do to native fish, I agree with Hohwaiian.

Nice fish Jacob!

Parker - Advocate of the Grip N Grin