Now that the winter has set in, my evening fishing trips have been replaced with tying flies for hours on end and frequenting fishing forums. I’ve noticed, at least in my area, that there’s a serious division in the angling community regarding the harvest of trout. I’ve seen both extremes, where some folks fish exclusively to harvest fish and others release everything they catch, wild or stocked. Like many fly anglers, I gravitate towards wild or native trout water and practice C&R on those streams, while occasionally breaking out the spinning gear to go catch stocked trout with my non-fly fishing friends with the intent of catching a limit to throw in the smoker.

With this being said, I’m curious how the strict C&R mentality for wild and native fish influences a fishery over time. In my personal observations, I’ve noticed wild fisheries that are regulated as strictly catch and release tend to become overpopulated with small-medium fish and the trophy fish start to become fewer and further between. Do you guys believe there’s a place for the ethical harvest of wild and native trout in some instances and how would doing so change the population dynamic over time? Obviously there’s no right or wrong answer, but I’d like some outside perspectives from different regions.