- Keep fish in the water as much as possible
- Land fish quickly — use heavy enough gear
- Wet your hands before touching any fish
- Barbless or crimped hooks only
- No fish on the bank, on the grass, or in the air
- Support fish horizontally until fully revived
On rivers like the Kanektok and Arolik, we practice these standards on every trip. These rivers support wild fish populations with limited angling pressure. Proper release practices allow the same fish to be caught multiple times in a season and still survive to spawn. Catch and release fishing in Alaska works when fish are landed quickly and handled properly. Rainbow trout are particularly sensitive to warm water and extended fights — summer surface temperatures on Southwest Alaska rivers can push into ranges where stressed fish don’t recover if mishandled.
Handling & Releasing Fish
On our Southwest Alaska float trips, proper catch-and-release practices are not optional. These are wild fish in protected wilderness rivers, and how they are handled directly affects survival. Speed and care are the two variables you control — your guide will assist with every landing and release when needed.
Getting a fish landed and released quickly is the primary goal — not a quick photo, not a measurement. On a hot day, the stress on a fish compounds fast, and a fish that looks fine swimming away can still die hours later from the physiological effects of an extended fight or prolonged handling out of the water.
Keep the fish in the water as much as possible. If you need a photo or a quick measurement, do it with the fish still submerged and cradled gently with both hands. Wet your hands before you touch any fish — dry hands strip the protective slime coat that shields them from infection.
Never toss a fish back in. Support it gently, facing into the current, until it kicks away under its own power. If it’s not ready, hold it steady in the current — or leave it in the landing net with the net facing upstream — until it recovers and moves off strong. Keeping fish in the water while they revive serves two purposes: it provides oxygen for recovery, and it supports the fish’s body weight, reducing stress on internal organs and spine.
Fish out of water are suffocating. A few seconds for a photo is acceptable. More than that starts costing the fish. If you can’t get the shot with the fish still in the water, keep the out-of-water time under five seconds.
Dry hands remove the slime coat. Before you touch any fish, wet your hands in the river. This applies to every fish, every time, regardless of the species.
Support the fish with both hands — one under the belly, one near the tail. Don’t squeeze or grip. Internal organs are not built to handle pressure from above. Horizontal holds with full body support are the standard.
Hold the fish facing upstream. Water flowing through the gills delivers oxygen for recovery. When the fish kicks away on its own, it’s ready. If it rolls or sits still, keep holding it until it doesn’t.
When water temperatures approach 70°F, cold-water species like Rainbow Trout are already stressed. We may suggest taking a break from trout fishing during peak afternoon heat on warm days. A fish you release dead is not catch and release — it’s just catch.
The longer a fight, the more lactic acid builds up in the fish’s muscles. Use tackle strong enough to bring fish in efficiently. Intentionally light tackle that extends the fight increases mortality, full stop.
Gear & Landing Strategy
The right gear isn’t just about catching fish — it determines how quickly and cleanly you can release them.
Use tackle matched to the fish you’re targeting. A 4-weight on a King Salmon is bad for the angler and worse for the fish. Size up so you can apply pressure and end the fight in a reasonable time. Exhausted fish have a harder time recovering — particularly in warmer water conditions.
We strongly recommend fishing flies over bait. Fish caught on flies are typically hooked in the mouth, handled briefly, and released with minimal injury. Bait-caught fish are far more likely to be gut-hooked, which dramatically reduces survival odds regardless of how carefully the fish is handled afterward.
Go Barbless. There Is No Good Reason Not To.
Barbless hooks allow for a dramatically faster and less injurious release. The hook backs out cleanly, often while the fish is still in the water. The fish spends less time out of the water and handled. You lose fewer fish? Possibly. You harm far fewer fish? Absolutely.
You can buy hooks already barbless, or pinch down the barb on any hook with a pair of pliers before you tie on. Takes about two seconds. We push this on every trip, with every guest, for every species.
Use knotless or rubber mesh nets. Standard knotted nylon nets strip the slime coat, abrade fins and scales, and create unnecessary handling time. Knotless or rubber mesh nets minimize contact damage and let you keep the fish in the net, in the water, while you back out the hook. That’s the standard on our trips.
Planning a float trip in Alaska? Our guides walk every guest through these practices on every trip.
Removing the Hook
The goal is to back the hook out with the fish still in the water. When that’s not possible, know when to cut the line.
A hemostat is the standard tool for hook removal and should be on your vest or pack on every trip. Barbless hooks back out with minimal force in most cases — a quick turn and the fish is free. If the hook is barbed and sits cleanly in the jaw, compress the barb first if you can, then back it out the way it went in.
If a fish is deeply hooked — cut the line. Attempting to extract a deeply embedded hook causes far more trauma than leaving it. Hooks in soft tissue typically rust out within days to weeks in fresh water. A deep extraction attempt risks tearing gill arches or internal tissue. Cut the leader as close to the hook as possible and return the fish to the water immediately.
A 5-inch hemostat lets you back out a hook without your hands ever touching the fish — fast, clean, and with the fish still in the water. It’s a two-dollar piece of gear that belongs on every fishing pack in Alaska.
Yup’ik Traditions & Catch and Release
This is something we discuss with every guest. It matters — and it changes how you think about handling fish on these rivers.
When you float a river in Western Alaska, you are a guest in a place where people have fished for subsistence for thousands of years. Many local Yup’ik residents hold serious concerns about catch-and-release fishing — not because they object to sport fishing broadly, but because their traditional ethics hold that fish, like all animals, must be treated with respect. A fish that is played, handled repeatedly, and returned to the water in poor condition is not a fish that has been treated with respect.
Traditional Yup’ik belief teaches that animals observe how they are treated, and that mistreatment can result in those animals simply leaving — moving out of the river, not returning the following year. For communities that depend on salmon for winter food, this is not a philosophical abstraction. It is a real concern with real consequences.
Being a Good Guest in Their Homeland
We take this seriously on every trip. The best response to the Yup’ik perspective on catch-and-release is not to stop fishing — it’s to fish with the kind of care and intention that makes the practice genuinely defensible. That means: fast landings, minimal handling, fish back in the water before they are compromised, and a guide-assisted release whenever there is any question.
Every fish you release well is an argument that sport fishing on these rivers can be done right. Every fish you drag out for a five-minute photo session makes that argument harder to make. When you are on the water with us, we ask that you approach catch-and-release the way the Yup’ik people would want to see it done — quickly, carefully, and with real respect for the animal.
Catch & Release — The Rules
Everything on one list. Print it, memorize it, or just follow your guide’s lead out there.
- Keep fish in the water as much as possible — for photos, for hook removal, for revival.
- Wet your hands before touching any fish, every time.
- Cradle with both hands — one under the belly, one near the tail. No squeezing.
- Go barbless whenever possible — or pinch the barb before you tie on.
- Use a knotless or rubber mesh net to minimize slime coat damage.
- Match your tackle to the fish — land it quickly; a long fight costs the fish.
- Fish flies over bait whenever possible — mouth-hooked fish survive far better.
- If deeply hooked, cut the line — do not attempt extraction. The hook will rust out.
- Face the fish into the current and hold it until it swims away under its own power.
- Watch water temperature — when it approaches 70°F, consider resting trout fishing through the afternoon heat.
- Let your guide assist on any release where you’re unsure — that’s what they’re there for.
In many of the waters we fish in Southwest Alaska, proper catch-and-release handling is not just good practice — it is a condition of the USFWS and NPS permits under which we operate. Your guide will always be available to assist with any release.
Ready to Fish Southwest Alaska the Right Way?
Five July Kanektok trips. Arolik trips by request. Contact Paul directly — he responds personally to every inquiry.