Depends, if youre fishing for coho or any salmon or steelhead I like to play them and tire them out a little bit before getting them to shore. Salmon will feel the shore and will go buck if they are not tired enough. All wild fish which dont have retention should be kept in the water and not beached and released with care. But if you know its a hatchery amd id'd the fish correctly, tire it out and beach it. Coho are squirly so trying to horse them in is not the best idea. They will start death rolling and pop you off really fast.
I am so excited for the fall. Totally hooked on Salmon fishing.
I can eyeball a steelhead from quite far away. Is there a trick to identifying hatchery vs. wild coho from the shore so you don't harm a wild one? Or is the trick to get it close to shore and try to ID it quickly in shallow water? Is it easy to spot the adipose fin?