It may seem strange to be writing about trout fishing at this time of year when the majority of tr
out waters are closed until next spring.
The exception are a few stillwaters which stock with so-called triploid trout that are infertile and can be fished for all year round.
But I have met many anglers in my long fishing life (over 70 years) on many different fisheries and the opinions that I have formed differ from those of some other anglers.
Bear with me, then, while I try to explain my own views on the subject of killing some trout or putting them all back which we call 'catch and release' fishing.
I like to see brown trout put back unharmed if they are wild-bred fish that can live a very long time and are part of our heritage.
On the other hand, I have fished in some remote lochs in the Scottish Highlands where breeding facilities for trout are good but food supplies limited.
Here the catching of stunted wild brown trout is very easy and you may well be helping nature by reducing the number of wild brown trout.
Where stocked rainbow trout from fish farms are almost the whole of the trout population, and replenished frequently, I personally dislike the practice of fishing hard when conditions are in your favour and when all the fish are released.
I feel sure that on heavily-fished waters having too many anglers catching and releasing fish on every outing is bad for the fishery.
It results in traumatised fish that are almost impossible to catch and sometimes in poor condition.
Also, killing a limited number and not overfishing allows further batches of stock fish to fill the space available to replace those killed previously.
Remember, though, that in a small number of fisheries, especially on the River Wye in Derbyshire, most of the rainbows are wild fish nowadays, thanks to the efforts of that brilliant keeper Warren Slaney, and you do not kill these.
I am not particularly proud of the fact that on occasions in the past I have had days when conditions were right and the fishing easy and I have fished long and hard, releasing lots of trout.
And over the years I have killed many, many trout without breaking any rules and either eaten them myself or given them away oven-ready to friends.
