The Ethics of Fishing for Trout on Their Way to Spawn

A monster lake-run brown from Western New York. Photo by Capt. Scott Feltrinelli, Ontario Fly Outfitters

As year-round fly fishing for trout has become more popular and states have opened rivers during fall and spring spawning seasons, the ethics of fishing to trout on their way to spawn has become a bigger issue. There is full agreement, of course, that anglers should never target fish on redds, but as  Tony Bonavist writes on River Reporter, there is less consensus about when and where fishing should be allowed.

Some folks, myself included, supported and promoted extended-season trout fishing for a number of years. Other anglers did not, because they did not believe fishing should be allowed for lake-run trout on their journey to the spawning grounds.

Bonavist gets into the nitty-gritty details and research that help illuminate the issues involved.

Click here for the full story in River Reporter