John Goddard explains why he's at an advantage by not taking a landing net to the riverside, and how he releases fish with the use of his rod-tip.

One aspect or tradition adhered to by the vast majority of fly fishers is that one should always carry a landing net when fishing. Whilst I accept under some circumstances it may be prudent to conslder this - if your quarry are very large fish such as salmon, steelhead and even large sea trout, or when trout fishing in stillwater from a boat, where it can be dangerous to lean over the side - I do not agree, particularly when fishing rivers for trout or grayling and covering a lot of water, where it is sensible to travel as light as possible. Apart from the weight aspect, landing nets when clipped to bag, or belt, or even looped over one's shoulder seem to act like a magnet to any tree, bush, fence or post in the vicinity and have to be constantly untangled. In addition to this, I am sure that more fish are lost at the net by mishandling than for any other reason. It is a long, long time since I last carried a landing net on a river, as providing you know what to do it is a relatively simple matter to land any trout with your hand - even very large double-figure fish.

First of all, decide upon the area along the bank where you are going to land the fish. Ideally, this should be in a slack area out of the main current. Once you have played the fish towards the chosen landing area wait until you can get his head up above the surface and keep it there, then slide your finger and thumb down the leader, put the rod down or tuck it under your arm, and with your free hand grip the fish across his back just in front of his dorsal fin and turn him upside-down. This seems to disorient the fish, as in most cases they cease to struggle and you can gently lift them out of the water and place them on the bank.

Over the years catch-and-release fishing has become increasingly popular, particularly on those rivers still holding stocks of wild fish, as it is now considered by many eminent authorities the only way to preserve the fishing for future generations. It has now been proved beyond reasonable doubt that - at least so far as the various species of trout are concerned - they can be caught and returned many times without affecting their well-being providing certain rules are strictly applied.

The rules of release

1. Always play a fish and release it as quickly as possible. Playing a fish too long and exhausting it builds up lactic acid in the body which may eventually kill it.
2. Do not practice catch & release during prolonged hot weather which lowers the oxygen content of the water.
3. Always use barbless hooks.
4. Use a knotless landing net and release the fish from it while it is still in the water.
5. Release the fish by sliding finger and thumb down the leader with or without the use of a net.

Some authorities now advocate the use of a net, others prefer them not to be used. However, whichever of these methods is used, the time taken to get a fish close enough to release it counts against its survival. I will now explain a method of release that will solve the controversy between these two methods and at the same time reduce the amount of time taken to release the average trout by nearly 50 per cent. This, I must admit, was a technique I discovered by accident rather by design. When I first adopted catch-and-release tactics using barbless hooks in the early 70's I found myself in a situation that I had never experienced before. I spotted a good trout rlsing in a mill stream at the head of a long, deep, brick-lined culvert.

The brick wall on either side was at least five feet high, so I must have assumed when I first started fishing that if I caught it I could play it downstream to a spot where I could release it. To cut a long story short, I did eventually hook it, only to discover to my consternation that there was no way of releasing it by any normal method as there was a large pipe crossing the bottom end of the culvert only two feet above the water surface. Facing the probability that I would have to break it off, I decided to give it a little further thought. Realising I was fishing with a barbless hook, I wondered if it was possible to release the trout by pushing the tip of the rod down the leader to get it as close to the fly as possible and then waggle it about, hoping the fly would drop out. Trying this manouevre, I must have slipped and pushed the tip of the rod down onto the fish's mouth. The next second, to my amazement, he was free and swimming happily away.

Giving it a little thought, I realised the tlp ring of the rod must have acted like a disgorger, closing over the fly and removing it as I accidently pushed down. Since that day, I have never looked back and now release all my fish this way. The big advantage of course is that with this method you can release a fish very quickly indeed, in fact as soon as you have played it to within a rod length. When my great American buddy, Lefty Kreh, first came over here to fish with me in 1983, I showed him this technique and he thought it was the greatest invention since sliced bread. He, and most of my friends over here, have now adopted this method, but there are certain rigid rules connected with the technique which one must follow to avoid breaking the tip off the rod. I have in the last 25 years broken two rod tips, but in both cases it was due to my negligence. In the first instance I slipped down the bank just as I had pushed the rod tip round the fly, and on the second I foolishly thought I could remove the fly from just inside the mouth of the fish, when he jumped and snapped off the tip.

If you follow these basic rules you should have no problems.

1. Never even think of using this method unless you are using barbless hooks.
2. Never try this if the fly is inside the mouth of the fish. In practise you will find that most fish are hooked where you can see the fly outside the mouth.
3. I advise you only use this technique with small hooks, no larger than size 12, and never with longshank hooks.

The procedure for releasing a fish is as follows:

When your quarry is within a rod length hold the fly line in the free hand and slide the rod down the leader until the tip ring encloses the fly, then if he is hooked in the scissors wait until his head is facing away and give the rod a little jab forward, but no more than an inch or so or you could of course break the tip. Usually the fly will come free on the first attempt, but occasionally it may be necessary to repeat the proceedure.

Article taken from the January/February 2001 issue of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying