Anglers should not play fish to exhaustion. If using a fly rod, use the heaviest tippet possible without spooking the fish, and land the fish as soon as possible.

Before handling a trout, anglers should wet their hands in the river or lake, never touching it with dry hands.

If possible, anglers should not remove the fish from the water while removing the hook.

If anglers need to remove the fish from the water such as to take a photo, they should support the weight of the fish evenly with both hands. As they remove the fish from the water they should take a breath and hold it. When the angler needs to take a breath, so does the fish. At that time, the fish needs to go back in the water.

Anglers should remove the hook gently. They should not squeeze the fish and never put their fingers in its gills or under the gill plate. If the fish is deeply hooked, anglers should not pull the hook out. Instead cut the line and the hook will eventually rust out.

Anglers should release the fish in the coolest, most oxygenated water available, usually in moving water.

If using a landing net, do not touch the fish when you release it – simply dip the net entirely into the water and work the fish out. Usually the fish will swim away immediately. Use only landing nets with soft mesh or rubberized bags. Traditional knotted nets can severely damage the fish’s scales and protective slime coating.

If you release a fish from your hands, gently hold the fish in the water until the fish swims away under its own power. Slightly moving the fish forward and back may help the fish recover.

If the fish is bleeding heavily, do not release the fish - it will probably not live.

At all times be as gentle as possible with the fish when releasing it.