Winter fishing

[BlueBird]

I have this question always in my mind... Winter is just around the corner. I never try going out for fishing during winter. But I am pretty sure there are people out there who fishes during cold winter days.

For catch and release: What I read is that With temperatures near freezing point, you should not take the fish out of the water because it will freeze and kill the fish. If you really need to take the fish out of the water for photo shooting, you should only do it very briefly out of the water.

Now this is my question... I heard some people fish above bridges and they will bring the fish up and toss it back to the water. Tossing out with shallow water will probably mostly kill the fish already. But bringing it up high with freezing temp might probably freeze and kill the fish too.

I may be wrong with how I am thinking....

 

[MTskibum]

I fish in the winter. If i catch a fish that i want a picture of, i just try to get a picture of it as quickly as possible. I never keep any fish, and i know that no catch and release fisherman has a 100% survival rate. I try to maximize the survival, and not dwell over the few that i kill.

I wouldnt go and toss trout from a bridge though, whether it is summer or winter.