# Abusive catch and release?



## Jedidiah (Oct 10, 2014)

Saw some kid catching browns in the pool right on the lower side of Olmstead, catching fish after fish for something like 3-4 hours and by the time I left he must have caught every fish there at least a couple times.. He was pulling them in on about every third cast and letting them thrash for 5 minutes or in the shallows and then pulling the hook and let them go, he had a landing net but wasn't using it. I went down to try my luck a little above him and caught one female that had a torn jaw and was badly bruised around the belly with a bad scrape along the side, I let it go and left after getting a snag (I catch fish for eating, not just for fun.)

Is there anything you can do about someone literally fishing fish to death?


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## martymcfly73 (Sep 17, 2007)

They are spawning. They are rubbing themselves on the gravel. They get beat up. No harm. Don't worry about what others do. He sounds like he's not doing much harm. You must not fish the provo much. Those fish get beat up. Go back up in a month. You'll see dead browns all over from spawning. The circle of life. I'm going up tomorrow to get in on the action.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Jedidiah said:


> Saw some kid catching browns in the pool right on the lower side of Olmstead, catching fish after fish for something like 3-4 hours and by the time I left he must have caught every fish there at least a couple times.
> 
> Is there anything you can do about someone literally fishing fish to death?


(Gentle) Education on how to do things the right way? Especially if it was a kid.

McFly is right too. A lot of the browns will be beat up and/or will have the white fungus from spawning right now. A few will die from it.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

martymcfly73 said:


> I'm going up tomorrow to get in on the action.


Crushed em a couple days ago on egg patterns and sows. The snow ought to keep the fair weather crowd away too. Enjoy. 8)


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

Stomp through some redds while you're at it.


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## martymcfly73 (Sep 17, 2007)

brookieguy1 said:


> Stomp through some redds while you're at it.


That's my main objective. Someone has to do it


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## spencerD (Jan 14, 2014)

Catherder said:


> Crushed em a couple days ago on egg patterns and sows. The snow ought to keep the fair weather crowd away too. Enjoy. 8)


been using the same rig. It's amazing this time of year.

I've been catching an inordinate amount of whitefish, too. Guess they're capitalizing on the brown trout spawn as well.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

spencerD said:


> I've been catching an inordinate amount of whitefish, too. Guess they're capitalizing on the brown trout spawn as well.


I'm always happy when the whities show up and some of them on the LoPro are piglets.

From this past week.



Something tells me I'll be back up there again in the next few days.;-)


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## Jedidiah (Oct 10, 2014)

Pretty much every brown I've kept in the last couple weeks has been chock full of those little aquatic versions of sow bugs, as in....the entire digestive tract is full of them from beginning to end. I've been catching them on pearly white plastic shad with the vibrating tail, drives em crazy.


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## martymcfly73 (Sep 17, 2007)

Jedidiah said:


> Pretty much every brown I've kept in the last couple weeks has been chock full of those little aquatic versions of sow bugs, as in....the entire digestive tract is full of them from beginning to end. I've been catching them on pearly white plastic shad with the vibrating tail, drives em crazy.


Sow bugs are probably 90% of the diet for lower provo browns. You can never go wrong fishing sow bugs.


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## Bhuij (Oct 23, 2014)

Jedidiah said:


> Pretty much every brown I've kept in the last couple weeks has been chock full of those little aquatic versions of sow bugs, as in....the entire digestive tract is full of them from beginning to end. I've been catching them on pearly white plastic shad with the vibrating tail, drives em crazy.


You putting them on a jig or just a regular hook?


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## Jedidiah (Oct 10, 2014)

They're the little white ones from Creme with the reflective plastic insert and a weighted hook inside, also been using the Powerbait and Storm ones but the Creme ones slay the browns and it looks like other people know it because they're sold out half the time. Doing a moderate to fast retrieve at the surface with a lazy jig, then going home and eating trout.

Edit: Oh yeah, the white baits seem to work better about an hour before sunset and a little after. Around sunrise might work too.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Don't get caught doing the San Juan shuffle, the Provo Polka, the Weber Waltz, or any other form of wading while fishing.------SS


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

Springville Shooter said:


> Don't get caught doing the San Juan shuffle, the Provo Polka, the Weber Waltz, or any other form of wading while fishing.------SS


The Provo Prance is totally acceptable!


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

brookieguy1 said:


> The Provo Prance is totally acceptable!


Isn't the Provo prance when one needs to relieve oneself, but cannot discreetly "hydrate a bush" because there are so many fellow anglers on the river that will see the action?

On a serious note, remember that *scented/flavored* plastics like PB and gulp brand (and others) are illegal in the AFL section. They are perfectly fine and effective to use in the general section.


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## Bhuij (Oct 23, 2014)

AFL? Not familiar with that acronym.

And is wading in the Provo in town illegal or something?


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## martymcfly73 (Sep 17, 2007)

Artificial Flies and Lures=AFL


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Bhuij said:


> AFL? Not familiar with that acronym.
> 
> And is wading in the Provo in town illegal or something?


Wading is not illegal. Some of the stuffier sorts of fisherman think you are trying to chum fish by kicking up sediment. We laugh at them and call them idiots.----SS


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