Trout mortality

So we have all done it,
You hook a fish bring it to hand and go to release it and it is done. I caught a brown over the weekend that was in a no kill section of the river. I took him on a dry. Hook right down the gullet. Literally unable to remove it. I cut the line and tried to release it. After 20 minutes she still wouldn't revive. So it was floating belly up. I literally felt like crap. I keep maybe a fish or two a year mostly because I hurt it and don't want to waste it. But with the regs the way they are I had two choices. Let it go belly up or harvest illegally... I came up with another option.
I don't like it but I took a piece of tippet and tied a loose knot in its mouth tied it to a twig and kept wading. Two hours later came back and it was in the current revived thank God and I cut the line and released it. But what do you do in this situation? I couldn't legally harvest so what? Let it float down river? This is my biggest fight against no kill regs.
Thoughts?

Trout mortality