Forceps Tip

 There is a little thing I have been doing since I began fishing small mountain Rio's. It has to do with my forceps, besides removing a hook with it. After I land a trout, there are times I need three hands to secure my rod, remove the hook, and quickly release the trout. 

I've always preferred using forceps to remove a hook from a trout lying in the bottom of the net. The less I handle a trout the better it is for him...even better if I don't touch him at all. Usually, I attach the forceps back on my shirt pocket after removing the hook. When chaos is happening, I often drop them at my feet to focus on getting the fish back into the water. When dropping them at my feet, I've had a tendency to lose a few forceps in the grass from time to time. Yeah, I'll sometimes forget I dropped them after removing the hook...then after releasing the trout with a tip of the net, I'll start walking up the stream before remembering, "Mike, you dropped your forceps back at that last trout catch!" Of course I would go back to look for them, but I didn't always find this essential tool of mine.

Well, I solved that issue a few years ago with two changes in my catch-and-release routine. First, I began using forceps with bright colored handles. Second, when I removed the hook from the trout's mouth, I would clamp down and lock the forceps onto the dry fly. After releasing the trout, I could simply lift my rod, and there would be my forceps coming out of the grass for me to grab and secure back on my shirt pocket. That fixed it!

This little trick has saved me a few dollars, and frustrations through the years. It's just routine for me now to keep the forceps clamped on the fly after removing it from the trout. And, it gets me back to casting a fly quickly.