Catch-and-release fishing is really born of necessity and the byproduct of two things—degraded fish habitat and increased angler pressure. We can and should talk about how to be a better catch-and-release angler via fish handling, photo taking, barb pinching and all that stuff. But until there’s a meaningful, deep-dive discussion industry-wide on those two underlying factors, the long-term sustainability of the fly-fishing economy will be in question.
