You might be right, my neighbor and I were fishing that creek a couple days ago, he caught a fish right about there, he could have dropped on the ground, the creek trout (Rainbows) don't like to be held even when you're just trying to get the hook out to release them
Mine do that with spent salmon after the run.
Calling it stinky is being polite.
I’ve made dogs ride in the trunk more than once back when I had a regular car.