If you catch a fish during a closed season or a sub-legal size, how must it be released?

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Multiple Choice

If you catch a fish during a closed season or a sub-legal size, how must it be released?

When a fish is caught during a closed season or falls under a sub-legal size, the priority is to conserve the resource by returning it to the water alive and with as little harm as possible. The correct approach is to release it back into the water from which it was taken, and to do so without causing avoidable injury. Handling the fish with wet hands helps protect its slime coating, which is essential for disease resistance and overall health. This keeps the fish alive and minimizes stress, supporting the population’s ability to recover and continue to thrive. Keeping the fish for personal consumption, releasing it onto the shore, or bagging it for a later release all fail to meet the rule's intent: they either remove the immediate opportunity to protect the fish, expose it to harmful conditions, or involve keeping a fish during a period when possession is not allowed. The in-water, wet-hand, immediate release approach is the proper method to honor both conservation goals and legal requirements.

When a fish is caught during a closed season or falls under a sub-legal size, the priority is to conserve the resource by returning it to the water alive and with as little harm as possible. The correct approach is to release it back into the water from which it was taken, and to do so without causing avoidable injury. Handling the fish with wet hands helps protect its slime coating, which is essential for disease resistance and overall health. This keeps the fish alive and minimizes stress, supporting the population’s ability to recover and continue to thrive.

Keeping the fish for personal consumption, releasing it onto the shore, or bagging it for a later release all fail to meet the rule's intent: they either remove the immediate opportunity to protect the fish, expose it to harmful conditions, or involve keeping a fish during a period when possession is not allowed. The in-water, wet-hand, immediate release approach is the proper method to honor both conservation goals and legal requirements.

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