[Oliver10]

I am a long time reader. I never post. I mainly fly-fish. I will fish anyway that I can though. I saw the original posters post and was impressed and felt like it sums up the way I feel about a lot of fishing. I catch and properly release 95% of what I catch. If it is mortally wounded I am eating it.

I don't understand why so many people are so ignorant about the fragility of most fish and that letting them flop around in the mud, dust, leaves or who know what else just shows a total disrespect for your quarry. If people who hunted came up to their wounded prey and left it suffer while they pissed around taking pictures, finding the right tool or whatever else, fellow hunters would see red.

For whatever reason fish don't get many people as incensed.

Here is how fishing should work.

Catch fish.

Decide instantly if it is legal and if you will be eating it.

If yes to both. Kill it humanely.

If no quickly and carefully release it giving it the best chance of survival.

There should be no in-between.

If you go fishing you should have the proper tools to release the fish you are going to catch. Anything else is irresponsible. Even if you plan on eating your catch nobody is assured of only catching keeper sized fish 100% of the time. There will be a need to release fish.

While I don't think that there are any secret spots in NJ. Anybody with Google maps and time can find where to fish. I do think that finding the spots is half the fun. I have fly fished the Passaic for pike a few times. I have not hooked up. I have do have to say that this year there are more people than ever out there. Most have no licenses and many don't know a thing about the rules or proper fish handling. I think as this fishery gets more well known it is going to decline. The river is urban and it flows past a lot of people who for the most part believed it was a dead gross river. As word spreads that fish live there they will be harassed until depletion.

I would like to see somebody post a good tutorial on how to safely and humanly release by-caught turtles. I have never caught one and am glad it has never happened. I see a lot being poorly treated though.