Bait-and-Switch Can Be a Real Lifesaver in Fishing
Seven weeks from today, U.S. 395 becomes the fish-fry express.
Thousands of anglers will be making their way north to take part in the annual bash that is the Eastern Sierra general trout season opener. The next morning, tens of thousands of rainbow trout will come out of the drink and land on the fire.
The fortunate ones will be thrown back by conservation-minded anglers. But are they really that fortunate? Will they recover or merely flounder around before their ordeal gets the best of them?
Studies conducted over the years generally have concluded that trout caught on artificial flies and lures experience a lower mortality rate after their release. This is widely accepted and comes as no surprise.
However, another study was carried out last summer and fall at June Lake, hoping “to see if recent bait, tackle and technique innovations would allow bait anglers to join artificial lure anglers in the catch-and-release fraternity.”
The results were released this week and, it seems, bait anglers can release their fish and expect them to live, at least until someone else catches them, if they do the right things.
The 13-page study, conducted by fisheries scientist Tom Jenkins, Friends of Sierra Trout and the city of Bishop, involved catching hundreds of trout using various methods and observing them in pens for various lengths of time. Among the findings:
* Barbless artificial flies, to no surprise, lodged most frequently in the mouths of the fish. The mortality rate was nil.
* Circle-C hooks, with in-turned barbs and rounded configurations designed to hook fish in the mouth for easier releases, lodged in the mouth 70% of the time. However, those hooked in the esophagus did not fare well after the hooks were removed, suffering a 27% mortality rate. Of those, 77% died within five days. The mortality rate was substantially lower when deeply lodged hooks were left in and the line cut. Overall, fish caught on “circle” hooks suffered almost a 9% mortality rate.
* Standard “J” hooks lodged in the esophagus 65% of the time and, surprisingly, none of 150 fish hooked in the mouth or esophagus perished during a minimum observation period of three weeks. However, “their high incidence of deep hooking and the possibility of long-term damage warrants caution at this time.” Trout caught on J hooks experienced slower growth than those caught on other hooks, suggesting their feeding habits were affected.
* Treble hooks lodged in the esophagus 63% of the time and the hooks were not removed. The mortality rate was only 2%, but since they too are ingested more often than not, their use by catch-and-release anglers is not recommended. If they are used and the hook is beyond the outer mouth area, the line should be cut.
* Another hook involved in the study was the little-known Shelton Release hook, which “is equally [effective as artificial flies] for catch-and-release fishing in a typical Eastern Sierra lake.”
Manufactured by Bay Area real estate broker Bill Shelton, Shelton hooks are designed with the eye on the outside of the curved portion of the hook, a movable sleeve that fits over the shaft and a separate “tag line” attached to the sleeve. In essence, you reel in your fish, pull the sleeve forward with the tag line and tug on the main line and the hook exits the flesh the same way it entered. It sounds complicated and cumbersome, but those who have used it say otherwise.
Shelton hooks were studied extensively because of “the promise” they show and the overall mortality rate was less than 2% despite a high ratio of ingestion. When the fish were released without being handled--by the tug of the line--only two of 300 died over a period of two months in captivity.
Results of the study, paid for through a $25,000 rural development grant from the U.S. Forest Service, were released, as intended, in advance of the April 28 onslaught in hopes of reducing angler impact during the season.
“It just leaves more fish for everyone else,” says John Frederickson, a spokesman for Friends of Sierra Trout and the concessionaire at June Lake. “You can’t go digging down in their throats with [pliers or hemostats] and expect them to live. This study points out that if you use certain techniques with bait and follow certain guidelines, you can let your fish go and expect a low mortality rate.”
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How are things shaping up for the opener?
“We’ll be open, but all this late weather isn’t helping,” Frederickson said Tuesday afternoon, in the middle of yet another snowstorm. “When it all comes in March like this you lose those days when it should be melting.”
Frederickson said residents on and around the June Lake scenic loop have spent the week trying to keep snow from piling too high on the roofs of mostly older buildings and keep boats and other equipment in outside storage from being buried. The blanket is five feet thick, with drifts to seven feet.
All of the lakes are iced over, with the exception of a small patch on June Lake, kept open to protect 10,000 trout being raised in pens for periodic releases during the season.
“We’re using an electric motor, which we have on a timer,” Frederickson said. “It clicks on periodically and keeps open a whole acre of water, and it only costs $7 a month to run. It also aerates the water, and we use a sump pump to bring up the warmer water, water in the 40s, to the surface, which keeps the fish active.”
The trout weigh 1 3/4 to 2 3/4 pounds and are expected to grow by an additional half-pound or so by the opener.
Frederickson’s daughter and son-in-law, Heather and Jeff Topp, run the concession at Crowley Lake about 30 miles down U.S. 395. Crowley only recently became totally iced over and during a relatively mild January, because of accessibility, “truckloads” of DFG hatchery-raised brood stock were dumped into the reservoir. Crowley, therefore, is primed more than usual for another excellent opener. That is, if winter gives way to spring on time.
NEWS AND NOTES
* Local saltwater: As soon as Mother Nature starts cooperating, the situation should vastly improve. Rockfish anglers have fared well when boats have gotten out, and as soon as they start getting out on a regular basis expect one of them to score big on the white seabass. Last Friday, anglers aboard the Tracer out of Pierpoint put five on the deck, including a 60-pounder. Resident fishermen on Catalina have been picking up occasional croakers on the backside of the island, as have commercial squid fishermen.
Sixteen anglers aboard the Mission Bell out of Seaforth Landing in San Diego encountered hungry schools of yellowtail on Thursday, boating nearly 50 fish.
* Local freshwater: Bass-rich Lake Barrett in southeastern San Diego County reopens on a reservations-only basis March 21. Reservations can be made for March, April and May through Ticketmaster at (619) 220-8497.
* Baja beat: Rancho Cielito Lindo owners Juanita and Dave Fitzpatrick have retired and sold the business, but will remain on site “with Pocho our dog, Porky Pig and Charlie cat.” The new owner of the motel, bar and restaurant, RV and camping area is Esteban Valdez Espinoza, a Tijuana businessman who will move on site with his wife and three children after the school year.
Espinoza has promised various improvements to one of Baja’s most charming getaway spots, but otherwise “they plan on keeping Cielito Lindo much like it has been,” Juanita Fitzpatrick said, adding that the famous roast-pig fiestas, enabling townsfolk a chance to mingle with tourists, will continue.
* Baja bite: You know the fishing stinks when the Cabo San Lucas fleets are touting whale watching. Cold, green water and generally rotten weather have resulted in another poor week of marlin fishing. An abundance of squid also is being blamed, as what billfish are there are gorging on the mollusks. If there is a bright spot, it’s that the green water and squid usually attracts swordfish. Offshore fishing is so bad that anglers are switching to lighter gear and targeting sierra mackerel closer to shore. Farther up the gulf coast, at the East Cape, a similar situation exists offshore, but Gary Graham of Baja on the Fly reports very good beach fishing for jacks and small roosterfish.
* Whale watching: The gray whales’ northbound migration has begun and should peak in the next couple of weeks off the Southland coast. The American Cetacean Society, hoping for good timing as well as good weather, is running a “Floating Fiesta” trip to Catalina on March 17 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. out of 22nd St. Landing in San Pedro. Details: (562) 437-4376.
WINDING UP
This is a big weekend for fishermen, who are flocking to the Long Beach Convention Center in record numbers to experience the 55th annual Fred Hall Fishing Tackle and Boat Show. A show spokesman said the line spanned 4 1/2 blocks before the show opened Wednesday, and that a record 5,000 people passed through the doors in the first hour alone. By day’s end nearly 39,872 had attended the show, which runs through Sunday. Much larger crowds are expected this weekend.
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SKI REPORT, D14
