By the time this copy hits the newsstand, the summer, per se, will be over. Most of the pilgrims will be back in their homes or, at least, somewhere else and hopefully the heat will be turned down a wee bit. Hopefully our hard-pressed firefighters will have a handle on all of these wildfires that have proliferated all summer and the smoke will be gone.
As an aside, sometime back I joined Trout Unlimited. Not because I believe that all of their members, including the guiding brass, slavishly follow the precepts they profess, but rather to embrace an older oriental philosophy and plagiarized in the “Godfather” film. That thought being, in essence, “Hold your friends close, but hold your enemies more closely”. Paraphrased, of course.
I only say that because for several decades I’ve considered Trout Unlimited as the enemy, principally because I am a blue-collar, non-discriminative angler. In other words, I’ll embrace any legal discipline that allows me to catch fish. To eat. I don’t play with my food and I try not to entertain myself with enjoying inflicting misery of what many consider lesser forms of life. Which fairly well explains my concept of catch and release. At least the way I see it practiced, especially by what seems a majority of commercial interests.
Interestingly enough, their own magazine,”Trout,” has caused a shift in my perception of some of these folks. Regarding a recent article written by member Kirk Deeter, it validates my viewpoint and explains that, for one, I’m not the only one holding to philosophical canons that to disguise, camouflage or negate the popular philosophy that guides our commercially regulated existence.
For example: When it’s hot out and the fish are being stressed by extreme heat, why go fishing unless you plan to eat your catch? At this point, every summer, catch and release does more damage to the fishery than anything short of total loss of waters. The fish are stressed beyond our comprehension and even just “playing” with them a bit can easily kill them.
Not to mention that mishandling the fish, such as using a net, rough gloves or even dry hands, scrapes off their protective slime and reduces their ability to resist fungus, parasites and disease. Yet this carelessness seems to be standard practice among the C&R crowd. All just so the jerk angler can hold his/her precious trophy for a minute or two, while someone takes the angler/trophy’s picture. During which barbaric practice, the fish is suffocating. Even gently reinserted into the waters, will it survive? Hard to tell. Too many don’t.
How about those sportsmen who enjoy using superlight tackle to catch their trophies? After a 20-minute match with a large fish, it matters not whether the fish breaks off or gets its photo taken, in this weather and even in more moderate weather, the odds say it’s toast.
As Deeter says in his article, it should be mandatory reading by any angler over 12 years old and every fly-flinger out there, as there are dozens of factors that influence how effective catch and release really is. My complaint, and the real elephant in the room is, when confronted by a rich jerk pilgrim who brags at the bar after a paid day on the river fishing from a float boat under the auspices of a professional fishing guide, that he “boated and released over 30 fish.” (true story but the number was over 50), is the stats indicate that between 20% and 37% of those fish will die inside of two weeks, while I’m limited to three fish for my supper, just how many fish did our wealthy pilgrim kill?
And, why is this rich dude supposed to be more than holy because he fishes with artificial flies and has the cash to afford a pay-to-play river guide, while I’m regarded as second only to bathtub scum for using bait and eating my catch? If the fishery can withstand fishing at all, then it should be open to all licensed anglers regardless of the size of the income tax returns and style of their legal angling methods. If not, then close the waters until they recover. I feel the same way about big game hunting and antler size regulations. But that’s another story we’ll explore at a later date.
Regardless, that’s how I understood Trout Unlimited’s philosophy from their magazine. Probably why a lot of people resent our state game department’s embrace of Trout Unlimited’s influence and money on programs that should benefit all anglers, not just fly-flingers. Unfortunately, all of those programs I’m acquainted with that have been aided by Trout Umlimited have resulted in benefiting only private-property owners or those who embrace using artificials.
Have they changed direction or was, as in the case of many political traffic jams, their mission misconstrued because of the arrogant attitude towards the general mass of recreational anglers from the other side of the tracks among their more wealthy members?
Not to overstate the issue, but could the lack of trophy-size trout out at East Newton Lake be due to pressure and the resulting mishandling of the C&R ethic? Is it, in actual practice, an outmoded practice similar to the cowboy technique of shooting wild horses in the neck, grazing the neck and stunning the horse? A practice now outlawed simply because it was barbaric and too many wild horses died for the practice to be profitable.
And then there’s the question: “Why can only artificial tackle practitioners use East Newton Lake and not bait anglers, when anyone, including lure and fly-flingers, can fish the adjacent west Newton Lake? That’s simply not right. Our license money pays for the maintenance of both lakes, all of our license funds, both bait and artificial. If a fancy fishing outfit wants to contribute to the common weal, wonderful. But that shouldn’t buy them exclusive using rights.
Unfortunately, this article that impressed me was but one article out of several and, to me, the only one that rang true to the ideals of conservation which is Trout Unlimited’s herald. Do they do a lot of and contribute to a plethora of conservation projects? Yes they do, but it seems only where it eventually leads to exclusive fishing rights for their members. In other words, another rich boys and girls club.
But if you want to discuss egregious, let’s have a conversation about the upper and, now, the lower Clarks Fork. Talk about creating a privileged class from the financial contributions of all concerned. How does it feel to have the Democrat party’s operating philosophy controlling the G&F ?
But back to Trout Unlimited. As far as the remainder of its magazine, it’s an interesting, informative read, if a bit on the high-toned side. In summary, my impression was that it informs the reader of how the angling crowd that drive BMWs, Bentleys and Mercedes and who promote the exclusivity of the electric car think and approach the goal of finalizing their control over the best of the fishable waters in the mountain regions and isolating those blue-collar ruffians not included in their high social order.
Not to labor the point, but both issues I’ve read left me feeling like a Ford or Chevy owner who’d just fallen down in a pasture full of cow pies.
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