Fishing Spring Brook in NE Wisconsin 

I wetted my hands just for show. I don't do that anymore as it was supporting a lie. Studies have shown that wetting your hands prior to handling a trout has ZERO impact on trout mortality. It is exceedingly unlikely for a trout in the wild to get a skin infection and I don't believe there has even been a documented case of such a trout dying from a skin infection. Fish hatcheries and warm water fish are a different scenario.

I would side with Andrew. If you GOOGLE this question, I find pages stating that you should wet your hands before handling trout. It comes from notable fishing publications and fisheries alike. I could find nothing that states it doesn't matter. You yourself mention that fish hatcheries are different. Not always easy to see which fish are plants. Secondly, I'm of the opinion that trout should not be handled with any glove, including sun gloves. Once wet, they don't provide much warmth so that's not an issue. SPF 50+ if you're worried about melanoma.

@@CoppersmithStudios1 Can you direct me to these studies on wetting vs not wetting hands? I'd love to review their methodology and results.

@@andrewvoorhees4062 You can start with Hulbert and Engstrom-Heg (1980) and Hegen et al. (1987). I plan on posting 2 large articles on my website exposing the myths regarding catch and release information that is put forth by the mainstream media, hopefully by July 15 (I'm busy fishing until then). The above 2 articles are just the tip of the ice berg. You can check my RU-vid channel description for the links to these articles.

@@CoppersmithStudios1 I caution you on basing your conclusions as to the importance of wet vs dry hands based on studies that were not specifically conducted to examine the impact of this effect on trout. The major functions of trout mucus are to act as an effective separation between internal and external environment of fish, abrasion resistance and primary defense against the numerous aquatic pathogens. Until I see concrete evidence that wetting hands does not have any effect on long-term fish survival, I will continue to error on the side of caution and wet my hands so as help limit the effects of handling trout. Anytime I can actually wet release a fish without touching it or removing it from the water is my preferred method of release.

aayyy we went to school together

Hello Chuck, Ann and I thank you for your kind words and support.

Dude. Relax. Nothing is a secret anymore and on top of it, every stream he’s on in these videos has designated fishery areas. These streams are for everyone.

Calm down dude. Trout routes has made it very possible for everyone to fish for trout. So call them if you want to bitch somebody out. Also, bashing people for not being able to pronounce things isn't cool. You sound like a complete fuck wad. I hope you don't catch a single trout this year!