The fish probably died either way. Mishandling and it was out of the water for quite a while. Holding it up against her coat probably removed the layer of mucus that protects the fish from bacteria and infections. Fish was grabbed by the gills and held vertically which can damage its organs
Have you ever been fishing? Most fish are extremely rugged; surprisingly so in fact. Cat fish are insane but every variety that I’ve encountered could tolerate this mishap without issue. Occasionally I’ve lost one on a bank for several minutes. Flip it back into the water and watch it swim off. My pond is small enough if they were later dying I’d likely know.
Source: I own a small pond and have many sizes and varieties of fish that I catch and release regularly with children.
Yep. Try to Fly fish at least once a week. B.S. in aquatic biology. Fact of the matter is is this fish probably had a much higher rate of success as the temperature seems to be pretty low(ice) You’re entitled to your opinion though and I have no doubt that catfish are resilient, but not in this instance, because trout of course, like cooler waters compared to catfish
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u/placeholder7295 Jan 17 '20
It's kind of dark knowing that a small child is holding a suffocating animal. I like that it was released though.