The Skeena
People are reacting strongly to a recently-posted YouTube video of two dudes demonstrating “piss poor” form with a wild Skeena steelhead.
“This is the worst handling of a wild steelhead I’ve ever seen. Absolutely terrible. You should be ashamed of yourself,” wrote one commentor on the video, which now has over 5200 views.
“Had a net and still beached it! What kind of fish handling was that?” another wrote. “This video is a how-to in exactly how not to fish. Unreal.”
The person who posted the video provided some background on what is happening: “I had moved to the area fairly recently and seen a number of vehicles along the highway. I decided to walk down and see what was happening and got the video of these two random guys landing a fish. From what I hear they were from out of province.”
He goes on, “Even though I was obviously excited to see this and at the time I realized this was a sloppy retrieval, handling and release, I didn’t fully appreciate just how badly this fish was handled. Please view this for what it is, a mishandling of very important species.”
Other viewers definitely agree. “This is criminal, absolutely criminal,” writes one.
Watch the whole thing here.
Of course, when handling Steelhead it is imperative to ensure they remain in the water at all times. The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC and the Steelhead Society of BC have great resources and tips to make sure you keep ‘em wet when fishing on the mighty Skeena.
