PRESENTING THE FLY

PAIN AND THE TROUT
This subject will be debated wherever fishermen gather and until we discover some way of communicating with fish or a scientist devises a foolproof method of testing for this emotion which will convince all and sundry, then we will continue to speculate. The arguments that trout
(and other fish) experience pain have so far been stated by some who seek to see no animal, vegetable or lower life suffer pain even to the extent of seeking to ban fly-spray to prevent the killing of flies and mosquitoes. The explorer David Livingstone was once attacked by a lion at Jabots, in southern Africa and described his reaction to being grabbed by the shoulder and mauled. 'The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess in which there was no sense of pain or feeling of terror, though quite conscious of what was happening. It was like what patients partially under the influence of chloroform describe, who see all the operation, but feel not the knife. The singular condition was not the result of any mental process. The shake annihilated fear and allowed no sense of horror in looking round at the beast! From his own book Missionary Travels and Researches in Southern Africa, 1865). If this question cannot be answered without leaving any doubts one way or the other then we must consider what is most likely. The trout certainly has a nervous system and so we must deliberate whether we are inflicting pain on our adversary once the fly has been accepted. It is certain that it feels some sensation when it is injured, but it would be wrong to say that this sensation is pain as we humans know it. Fish experience a very low level of pain as they do not have the sophisticated sensory perception of humans; innumerable cases of trout and salmon with gaping wounds from predators and still hunting and mating have been recorded. In fact, if the brain of a trout could be removed then it would still react to a pin being stuck in it in the same manner as if its brain were intact. It reacts from its nervous system. .From my own experience, a fish played very gently will not be alarmed and will only react violently when the emotion of fear is activated. Even the lowest order of animals will not repeat an act which has caused them injury or hurt, yet many trout are caught with flies or lures firmly embedded in their mouth with many of these still recent. However just as our bodies release adrenalin in times of fear or injury, the trout also releases a chemical (lactic acid) in times of stress. Prolonged stress can be harmful to the fishs welfare so if it is intended to release the fish, then do so with a minimum of fuss. The fishes also have their own pain as humans but we won't hear it.

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