Is Fly Fishing Humane?

[WebFreeman]

Glad to see you came back, Rabbi. I find your essays interesting so I'm glad you'll be around to discuss.

[Chief Grey Bear]

As a rabbi and a fly fisher, one of the most common questions I get asked is about the ethics of fly fishing. Is it morally acceptable to spend one’s free-time taking a trout from the river, either to return it shortly to the stream or to eat it for food? Is fly fishing humane?

Boy, good thing I ain't a fly fisherman.

One other thing you may want to try to ease your mind of whether it is ethical to practice catch and release is to remove (smash) the barb on the hook. It does less damage to the fish and make catching them more of a challenge! I have only been flyfishing for a couple of years, but I have not killed any that I have released.

As far as I know, I haven't killed any either. But as in Bass Tournaments, who knows what happens in the day or two after we release them. I don't think so though.

I don't know about Missouri in general...but on Taneycomo, while at / on the lake the trout must be completely intact. Head, tail and all.

Bill

It applies to all waters in the state. The rule states something like this;

The head, tail and skin must remain attached to all fish while on the waters where caught where length limits apply. Unless checked by an agent of the department.

[Rabbi Eric Eisenkramer]

Thanks Eric.

You have to leave some part of the trout attached... head, skin... for identification purposes until it's off the water. Once on a dock, in a cleaning area, it can be filleted and bagged. But if you're wading, canoing or boating, you have to leave some sort of identification of the fish intact.

Thanks Lilley. Good to know.

I jsut learned that in England, they use an object called a Priest to humanely kill a fish and it does not require cleaning the fish.

Here's what I found on the internet:

"A “Priest” is a short length of weighted wood or metal that anglers use to humanely kill fish - hence the angling expression “visited by the priest”. Used properly, with two or three hard raps across the top of the head and behind the eyes, a fish is killed cleanly and quickly."

Maybe they call it a Priest because just as a priest (or a rabbi) helps a person near death, we should be equally kind to fish?

Rabbi

[Project Healing Waters]

I wonder how many of us would consider it "humane" to be bludgeoned about the head until dead with a small club?

But I worry far more about being humane towards humans than I do towards fish. And I have never had a fish complain about how I was treating him, either.

FYI, they call it a priest because it's sole purpose is to administer piscatorial "last rites."