Author Topic: Which direction do you release? (Read 635 times)

Devin Olsen · « **on:** July 24, 2011, 11:51:27 AM »

I was fishing a stream the other day where I was catching a significant number of fish in each prime hole/run. I began to wonder as I observed fish swim back into the hole or downstream, does it matter if the fish swims back into the hole or should I try to make it vacate the premises?
Traditional water covering theory often preaches that you work all the fish that are lower in a run first so they don't spook into the head of the run/pool and alert other fish. So does that mean I should try and force the fish to go back downstream on the release or do fish get more uneasy as their cohorts leave the pool one by one making them feel lonelier and uneasy about being the one of the last fish standing?
Any thoughts or personal observations?

Alain Barthelemy · « **Reply #1 on:** July 24, 2011, 08:58:35 PM »

Excellent topic. I always release fish back to the same place where caught. I have noticed that the activity of fish swimming back to the lie seems to spur competition amongst other fish, urging them to bite. It is unlikely to catch the same fish again, but you may get other fish interested. How often do you catch a fish and see others following it during the fight? Also, quite often catching a single fish from an area causes a feeding frenzy where before no fish were caught.

There are differences in behavior between wild and stocked fish, but a strong sense of competition is always there.

Alain Barthelemy · « **Reply #2 on:** July 24, 2011, 09:13:53 PM »

This goes hand-in-hand with first hooking a fish. When you first hook a fish, your goal is to remove the fish from the area where others are, so as not to spook them. This is because the fish is fighting you and acting unnaturally. When you release a fish and it swims back on its own, it is a more natural-looking occurrence and may spur competition.

Devin Olsen · « **Reply #3 on:** July 25, 2011, 07:41:31 PM »

Thanks for your input Alain. I'm inclined to think similarly but my inquiring mind still wonders. Anyone have any other thoughts?

Chris Smith · « **Reply #4 on:** July 25, 2011, 08:06:52 PM »

I prefer to release my fish downstream.

I have to believe that fish, like other wild creatures, exhibit distinct patterns of behavior when stressed or placed in danger. We may not recognize these signals, but other fish most certainly would.

That being said, I do subscribe to the safety in numbers theory. Releasing a stressed fish into a large pool isn't likely to put down the whole pod. Releasing several probably would.

Paul Bourcq · « **Reply #5 on:** July 25, 2011, 11:13:00 PM »

Devin, I have thought about the same thing myself a few times. Ill tell you the experience I had once. I actually discussed this with Dejon sometime back. Anyway, I was in West Virginia for an invitational comp. The water was standard freestone stocky stuff with big fish. I hooked a fish that had a distinct mark on its face. I landed and scored the fish and carefully released it back into the seam it came from. I watched it bolt off.....and then cruise back. The fish stayed glued to the bottom for about 30 minutes then pulled up a few inches and started feeding. I hooked that fish twice in the session and missed him another time.

But in most comps the fish goes back wherever the judge is. Josh Stephens told me of some un named europeans that would squeeze fish to mess up their swim bladder when they released them. they would leave "alive" but would be unable to eat and would cause anglers behind them to not catch as many fish......pretty shitty.....doesnt surprise me though.

Jim Frazier · « **Reply #6 on:** July 26, 2011, 07:15:15 PM »

I really think the big fish go right back to their previous lie. I have seen this first hand on fishing creek this summer. The big brown i hooked 24 " + took me down stream 30 yds and barrel rolled between 2 rocks sticking up out of the water almost like he knew they were there and what to do with them ..lol , breaking my line with both of my nymphs still hooked in his jaw , i dove on em scuffing up my rod pretty good , disgusted and shaking i went back upstream to try to nymph up another big brown , well i got a 16-17 " er out of the same run but when i landed it i said to my buddy check this out , it had 4 nymphs in his mouth , the first 2 i thought were in the big fishes mouth and the 2 i tied on which was the same 2 patterns ....UN REAL !!!! so he swam back up into that same hole that fast and while he was swimming the other brown had to grab the trailer nymph when he swam by . never seen anything like it in all my years trout fishing !!!! so the moral to my story is release em where u want Devin they are gonna go where they want !!!!