Marlene from One Cast Fly Fishing Adventures also sent me the photo above of a very sick trout showing all the signs of being really badly handled before release. The skin ahead of the tail has been ‘burnt’ by being picked up with dry hands or gloves, and being held too tightly for too long. This type of handling removes protective slime, damages the skin and opens the way for infection and worse.
The fish above was doomed. Infection had spread, and the fish at the time of being photographed was on it’s last legs (fins?).
Guides see too many fish damaged by poor handing. It is really sad because this kind of thing can be so easily avoided by using correct handling techniques.
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