willdeb
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How do you catch and release a fish properly
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Phish_On
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Oh boy. Here we go.
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Fishidiot
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Willdeb is young and learning about fishing.
Will,
The best way to release fish properly is to minimize the amount of time that the fish is out of the water, handle the fish gently, and try to ensure that fish are not hooked deeply. Fishing with flies is a good way to get fewer deep hookings. If you have fished with bait, you may have noticed that fish sometimes swallow the bait deeply and often bleed when you try to unhook them. Fish hooked deeply like this will probably not survive. Fish that are bleeding will almost certainly die......so you don't want deep hooked fish. If possible, when you bring the fish in, just grab the hook and shake the fish loose. If you want to take a picture, a landing net will help too. I have found that, if you have a trout that is thrashing around in the water, if you gently turn them over on to their back, they will relax making it easier to unhook them.
Will,
The best way to release fish properly is to minimize the amount of time that the fish is out of the water, handle the fish gently, and try to ensure that fish are not hooked deeply. Fishing with flies is a good way to get fewer deep hookings. If you have fished with bait, you may have noticed that fish sometimes swallow the bait deeply and often bleed when you try to unhook them. Fish hooked deeply like this will probably not survive. Fish that are bleeding will almost certainly die......so you don't want deep hooked fish. If possible, when you bring the fish in, just grab the hook and shake the fish loose. If you want to take a picture, a landing net will help too. I have found that, if you have a trout that is thrashing around in the water, if you gently turn them over on to their back, they will relax making it easier to unhook them.
Railking
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Barbless hooks or at least pinching your barbs down is a lifesaver. I lose no more fish now than I did using barbed hooks.
mutzinbaugh
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ask people who fish the tully. all the fish i catch there have mouth sores from all the hooks poking them.
get a pair of hemostats.
get a pair of hemostats.
StarvinMarvin
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Yes^ the pair I got from RYguy are great. Highly reccomennd a curved point for better leverage!
osprey
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Use forceps or needle nose pliers , try not to touch 'em as the slime on fish is like a barrier , get 'em in as quick as you can , get 'em back in as quick as you can using only the forceps or pliers , no hands.
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Phish_On
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If you have to touch them, wet your hands first.
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Rickb326
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The thing that I have always wondered is if by chance you catch a fish and it is bleeding I have always been told that it will not survive. So if you are in a DHALO section should you still release that fish back into its habitat and let nature take its course?
Maurice
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By law you have to...
willdeb
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Thank you for all the help
klingy
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Dale49
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Going to catch heck for this but here goes. Why do you need a picture? Get the fish in asap. Wet hands whether you bring the fish to hand or net. Gently get the hook (fly) out quickly, fine point hemos are great and so are barbless hooks. Release fish. I have no pictures of any trout that I've caught. Don't need to share pictures with anyone. These are my memories. Just my humble opinion.
Chaz
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Play the fish quickly, use a landing net , wet your hands, use barbless hooks, and use forceps. I don't buy that about bleeding fish being dead. I've never seen a study telling us it's true.
Brownie101
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It depends where the fish is bleeding at. If its bleeding in the mouth area then the fish is fine and will survive.
osprey
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I've heard the gills bleeding is a death sentence for them butalso have never seen anything written to back this up. Common sense when releasing fish that you want to survive goes a long way....use common sense......pictures of fish laying on rocks next to fly rods make me cringe , especially winter ones where the air temp is much lower than the water temp., might as well whack it in the head with a rock.
ROVERT
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Obviously, it's best to keep the fish out of the water for as little time as possible if you intend to release it. When handled gently, I have no objections to a quick photo. If one doesn't feel he needs photos to document his day on the water that's his choice. Just because someone likes to have a few photos of fish he caught doesn't make him a fish killer. Stream surveys done by biologists subject a fish to just as much handling and time out of the water as an angler who gets a quick pic to remember his day on the stream.
Something I haven't seen touched on much is the fight. The length of the fight in bringing in the fish is possibly the most important factor. It's more than the fish just being tired. A long fight can lead to lactic acid build up in the muscles which will then lower blood pH. This can kill the fish even if it seemingly swims off when released.
P.S. The steelie laying on the rocks, next to a fly rod, in the winter in my profile pic went into a cooler, not the stream.
Something I haven't seen touched on much is the fight. The length of the fight in bringing in the fish is possibly the most important factor. It's more than the fish just being tired. A long fight can lead to lactic acid build up in the muscles which will then lower blood pH. This can kill the fish even if it seemingly swims off when released.
P.S. The steelie laying on the rocks, next to a fly rod, in the winter in my profile pic went into a cooler, not the stream.
Brownie101
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osprey wrote:
"I've heard the gills bleeding is a death sentence for them"
Very true. When fish are bleeding at the gill area especially in the summer when warmer water temps take over the fish might as well be dead. Use barbless hooks!!!
"I've heard the gills bleeding is a death sentence for them"
Very true. When fish are bleeding at the gill area especially in the summer when warmer water temps take over the fish might as well be dead. Use barbless hooks!!!
B
barbless
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I've read studies published on the Internet by fishery biologists that show that gill-hooking has a very high mortality rate- like 90%.
Most of the important stuff about releasing fish in good condition has already been covered: use barbless or debarbed hooks, wet your hands, don't squeeze, keep the fish out of the water for only a few seconds, put the fish carefully back into the water instead of just tossing it in the air.
Turning fish upside down does help to calm them down.
I've never been able to get the hang of using forceps for hook removal. But some sort of tool is a good idea for deep-hooked fish. This year, I'm going to try a lobster fork- those little forks with two short tines.
If you can't unhook a fish after a few seconds, put it back in the water to swim a little bit and try again. If it's too hard to get the hook out, cut the leader off.
One point that osprey brought up: in the winter, be very careful with handling. In subzero temps, their gills can get frostbite quickly, which is a death sentence. Laying them on the snow is a bad idea, for the same reason. It's always best to keep fish in the water to unhook them, but it's an especially good practice when the temperature is below freezing. If you have to take a fish out of the water to unhook it, be quick about it.
As far as photographs: I sort of leave it up to the fish. Some fish are okay with posing for a second or two, some don't like it. The camera-shy ones struggle, and I put them back without delay. I prefer to get pictures of fish in the water anyway, but they often scoot. Oh well. I take fewer fish pictures than I used to. If it's too much like work, I don't bother.
Most of the important stuff about releasing fish in good condition has already been covered: use barbless or debarbed hooks, wet your hands, don't squeeze, keep the fish out of the water for only a few seconds, put the fish carefully back into the water instead of just tossing it in the air.
Turning fish upside down does help to calm them down.
I've never been able to get the hang of using forceps for hook removal. But some sort of tool is a good idea for deep-hooked fish. This year, I'm going to try a lobster fork- those little forks with two short tines.
If you can't unhook a fish after a few seconds, put it back in the water to swim a little bit and try again. If it's too hard to get the hook out, cut the leader off.
One point that osprey brought up: in the winter, be very careful with handling. In subzero temps, their gills can get frostbite quickly, which is a death sentence. Laying them on the snow is a bad idea, for the same reason. It's always best to keep fish in the water to unhook them, but it's an especially good practice when the temperature is below freezing. If you have to take a fish out of the water to unhook it, be quick about it.
As far as photographs: I sort of leave it up to the fish. Some fish are okay with posing for a second or two, some don't like it. The camera-shy ones struggle, and I put them back without delay. I prefer to get pictures of fish in the water anyway, but they often scoot. Oh well. I take fewer fish pictures than I used to. If it's too much like work, I don't bother.
