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What’s right and wrong? That’s what ethics really boils down to. Certainly, there are nuances about how much space to give other anglers on the river or how long we should hold a trout out of the water for a picture. But doing the right thing and being an ethical angler is probably best achieved by asking ourselves one question: Does this action makes things better or worse? And are you helping or hurting the woods, the water, the fish and other anglers?
The best ethics probably happen when no one is looking. And holding ourselves accountable to do the right thing is a reward based in the satisfaction of self-discipline.
There is no handbook for ethics in fishing, of course. And much has been written and discussed on the topic through the years. In this podcast episode, the Troutbitten crew holds a philosophical discussion about ethics in fishing. It’s not a list of concrete examples or rules. It’s an interesting, thought provoking conversation.
Resources
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Ethics of Guiding — More Harm Than Good?
READ: Troutbitten | Category | Catch and Release Safely
READ: Troutbitten | A Fisherman’s Thoughts On Spot Burning
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Season Thirteen of the Troutbitten Podcast continues next week with episode four. So look for that in your Troutbitten podcast feed.
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Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com
Great podcast. As long as fly fishers think about things at anything close to the level of concern evident in your conversation, things will be OK. But I’m not sure it’s going that way.
There is increasing lack of respect of the woods in my home creek (rural mountain setting). More litter, people sawing down alder trees to get access, people leaving spinning trash in the water. I regularly pull out a spinner connected to 50 feet of overly thick line. I have a collection of that shit. I never used to find anything like that. Maybe a fly on a branch twice a year. Fly-fishers are more likely to be wading, and will retrieve their junk, while the spinner guys (who are fishing illegal barbed treble hooks to begin with) probably don’t want to get their Nikes wet. So they break off and leave the crap in the water, along with their can or bottle on the bank. I see other people fishing the creek maybe 1 in every 10 times out, and most of the time they’re throwing spinners for dinner on our all C&R, barbless, special-designated water (the entire creek is).
I disagree a bit in that I think people can love the sport of fly fishing and still trash the place. Hotspotters love the sport. A guide who pops in above you with 3 clients on a river with plenty of space, he loves the sport. That’s happened to me a few times.
I love your podcast, and all that each of you contributes to it. I kind of feel there’s a clock ticking. Eventually fishing in solitude will no longer be a possibility. I’m glad in a sense that I’m in my 50’s now and have gotten to enjoy fly fishing the way I have. Alone in the wilderness, not leaving a trace. Those photos of a bunch of fly-fishers covering a river, I can’t understand why anyone would want to do that.
And sorry, but I gotta say — Trout Routes? Isn’t that hot-spotting app?
Good stuff. But let me answer the TroutRoutes thing. I’ve done this before. TroutRoutes is not a spot burning app. You need to check it out to understand. There is no social media / sharing component. It is MAPPING software. It aggregates public data about rivers, such as CFS, state forest land, fly shops nearby, etc.
The truth is, more people using TroutRoutes will help anglers spread out. I don’t agree with you that solitude will be gone. There are MILES and MILES of good trout water that almost no one fishes, because they don’t know trout are in there. The states list these rivers as having trout. TroutRoutes makes that data easier to access. I like it a lot.
Cheers.
Dom
I hope you’re right! Thanks for the clarification.
Joe Humphreys is my hero, great teacher with wealth of knowledge!!
I have not fished for wild trout in the last 6 months due to very low and warmer water conditions here in WPA in our mountain creeks. For me being an ethical angler means putting the needs of the fish above my own, having a love and respect for the wild trout in our waters. They are having a tough enough time hanging on to survive and spawn in really abnormal challenging conditions, and for me personally I do not want to be wading through disturbing redds and stressing fish unnecessary. I am happy to forego the sport I love for the greater good, until such time as water levels get back to normal. This is my own personal point of view and not a criticism of those who think differently. I add my comment for a further dimension to what ethics in angling means. I will fly fish for bass on larger rivers like the Mon, Yough and Allegheny where I believe fish are less stressed and can cope with being caught. As for a trout route app, I think people should use their own imagination and investigative skills to identify places to fish that is part of the charm, but if it is being used it would be nice if it warned anglers not to fish areas when certain conditions are met e.g. particularly high or low temperatures, low sustained river levels etc. If it did that it would at least have an educational value.
I’d say those are your ethical decisions, but not ones to force upon others. Warm water is one thing, but low water is fine with me for the most part. Also fishing during the spawn but not for spawning fish is fine here too. These fish might spawn in 2 percent of the water. Easy to avoid them, honestly, with self discipline.
Troutroutes is a great app. If you think there’s no educational value, then I think you may not have used it or seen it much.
Not a criticism here either. Just a response.
Hey Dom,
Just started listening to the podcast and really enjoy it. I just finished listening to the ethics episode and wanted to throw a monkey wrench into it. Let me preface the comment first. I am an avid outdoorsman, hunt (archery), fish (new to fly fishing, long time standard tackle fisherman), backpacking, just about anything if outside is involved. The comment: Is fishing or hunting ethical? I feel that to talk about the ethics of fishing, or hunting, especially for sport, that we have already made a decision or an allowance. This has been something I wrestle with occasionally. Catching fish, regardless of how it’s done, isn’t great for the fish. We can be conservationist or nature advocates without the hook or arrow, I think. Just something philosophical I think about.
Well, in this podcast season, we’ve said this twice: The best way to protect the trout is don’t fish for them. None of us are blind about this fact. We all choose to fish, same as you, and hunt. But if anyone puts the safety of trout as paramount, then they shouldn’t fish. That’s why the discussion about barbless hooks, water temps, tippet strength, etc. can all fall a little flat.
Fishing for trout never helps the trout, right?