Wyoming Anglers’ Shift To Catch-and-Release Fuels Worry For Maimed Fish

There was a time when fish were caught mainly to eat, and plenty of anglers in Wyoming still do that.

But there’s been a large shift toward fishing mostly for the experience or catch-and-release fishing.

That’s raised some concerns over fish suffering injuries from repeated hooking, particularly in popular fisheries, like the Miracle Mile stretch of the North Platte River in the Casper region.

Most of the fishing along the prized sections of the North Platte seems to be catch-and-release, even though regulations allow anglers to keep at least a few trout, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Wyoming Wildlife publication recently reported .

Concerns over mouth-ripping hook injuries are nothing new on the Miracle Mile. The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission in July moved to ban barb