There is a right way and a wrong to practice catch and release.
Using heavier tippet, fighting the fish faster, holding it in water while getting the hook out, using a barbless hook, cutting the line if hooked in gills or stomach, not dropping on rocks or boats, not freezing gills in snow and cold air, not squeezing the fish or putting fingers in gills… and more all goes to decreasing catch and release mortality.
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It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself. Charles Darwin
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