As the weather turns cooler, small stream anglers begin dreaming about their favorite thin blue lines. It should be a great fall season — we had a very wet summer and the natives and other wild fish are in great shape. But along with fishing for wild trout and char comes great responsibility, to both the fish and the resource. Here are three things you can do preserve and protect wild fish.

Minimize fish photos. Anglers with cameras have needlessly killed more small stream wild trout — intentionally or not — in the last 10 years than in the previous 100. You can blame it on the convenience and portability of digital devices. You can blame it on social media. Or angler narcissism. Or all of the above. One solutions is: take no photos, or Take The Wild Trout One Photo Challenge.

Be on the lookout for redds. Fall is spawning time for wild brookies and brown trout. Learn how to identify a redd, the nesting area for spawning fish. And please, stay out of the water. The eggs you don’t crush will be the trout you’re catching in a couple years.

Keep Fish Wet. Catch-and-release is useless if you’re ignoring its fundamental best practices. Learn to do it right, and you’ll have more wild fish to catch on your next outing.

Thank you and tightest of lines.