Proper Fish Release

new boat · 03-30-2001, 05:49 PM

Saw something this morning that mad alot of us mad. Fishing in a hogline off sand island and a guy just upriver (alumaweld with blue trim I think)hooks a nice one. It has too many fins and they have the fish in the net and then bring the fish aboard. We hear the fish is hooked good, next we see the fish being held up by the gills and then released quite dead. Oh yea, one of the guys says "gee since the fish is going to die, can't we just keep em' anyway?" Of course he will die, you just got done sticking your fingers in his gills!!! Of course, he got many responses from the rest of us, something about a big ticket and others I can't put on the web. Don't people know how to release a fish alive??? If we're are not careful a few bone head moves like this will ruin the fishing for all of us. What to y'all think? Anybody know this guy or also see it this am??? [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]

Fishin Magician · 03-30-2001, 06:05 PM

If they are hooked deep cut the line, and release them!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fishbulb · 03-31-2001, 06:23 AM

I think many folk don't believe that a finned fish is worth a $5-$10 lure. I know you are thinking the same thing I am, how much does a herring rig cost? Maybe they really think that a deep set hook means it will be impossible for the fish to spawn. Or they just hate the idea of selective fisheries so much they want to make some kind of rebellious statement.

Netting a fish like that means a couple things. Scales and mucus protect fish from fungal infections. Netting and landing mean the loss of many scales and lots of protective mucus. Scales come off, fungus goes in, the fishes imune system is weakened, the fish expires before spawning. That fish is never observed at the spawning grounds resulting in future fishing opportunities going down the drain. Other damage can result from holding a fish like that but fungus is really the enemy.

Pete · 03-31-2001, 06:53 AM

I saw nearly the same thing a week ago. I saw the nate floating in a pool of blood and wondered when the sharks would arrive. A guide interupted his client's fishing, went over to the fish and spent 20 minutes trying to revive it. He was unsuccessful. Then he put the corpse in his fish box!

All this prompted me to write ODFW. I asked who had the greater liability. I learned that keeping the fish is a greater offense than killing it. The unfortunate thing, in my eyes, is that Oregon no longer can afford to enforce laws which protect our future.

smilesforu · 03-31-2001, 08:08 AM

Unfortunately deep hookings will happen on endangered runs while we fish. Sometimes the damage is done before we can get the fish to the boat or shore. I have had it happen (doa)Even using methods to help minimize the deep hook ups they still happen. If you have a pair of dikes you maybe able to cut the split ring on a plug without ripping the hook out causing futher damage. With a bait leader just cut the line close.
Putting your hand in the gills doesn't help the fish, but the guy may have not known the difference. I am sure he felt bad especially after you were done with him. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Joe Schwab · 03-31-2001, 08:14 AM

How to capture and release a native fish just has no definitive answer. I know many feel the net is not the way. Neither is trying to pin a thrashing fish against the side of the boat so you can "properly" tail it. Overfighting the fish to total exhaustion so you dont have to net it is not the answer. Use the net if you have to to gently subdue the fish. After all they survive gill nets that slide the entire length of their body and escape unharmed. Dont lift the fish into the boat. Hold it in the water and release it as quickly as possible. Yesterday below Cathlamet I saw at least 4 fish lifted out of the net by their gills and dropped tail first into the water! Dead fish. A release that does not require a net and allows the fish to swim away unharmed is a thing of beauty. Not always possible however. Do the right thing for the situation.

Pete · 03-31-2001, 10:57 AM

Releasing a wild fish unharmed is not magic, but it starts with a congnizant angler. Just as with trout or steelhead fishing, release is much easier with a barbless hook. (No, barbless hooks won't reduce your catch rate.) It's helpful to use strong enough gear; tiring a fish out to exhaustion will reduce it's chances of making it. Nets should be avoided, particularly if they are made of hard nylon mesh. Lifting a fish from the water significantly reduces survivability of hooked fish. For trout, 60 seconds out of the water doubles the death rate. Lifting fish also causes internal damage ... fish are designed to be surrounded by water. When lifted their organs rearrange themselves and may be injured.
If not knowing the right way to release a fish unharmed is a defense to not doing it right, then I think I'll try it out on my next speeding ticket. "Sorry officer, I didn't know there was a speed limit." Yah, sure.

03-31-2001, 07:21 PM

Must of been the one HOGTIDE found.
Both mine were released today holding
the leader and popping the hooks. Never
touched the fish. Heads up, net guys
on wild fish. They will shut us down! [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

[ 04-02-2001: Message edited by: ****** ]

HOGTIDE · 03-31-2001, 07:24 PM

Tried to revive a side-finner this morning.Saw him struggling just under the surface. I worked on him for about 10 minutes. He did not appear to be bleeding, but could not be recesitated. I did not keep him. It was a waste. But, I doubt I would have been believd by the authorities at the boatramp. Not worth the fine or game violation on my record. Sometimes doing what is legal is not necessarily doing what is 'right'.

rob allen · 03-31-2001, 10:10 PM

grrr preaching to the choir but..
NEVER NET A FISH YOU YOU ARE GOING TO RELEASE, never lift a fish out of the water, never touch it's gills. grr with people acting like that the season might as well be closed!

bait boy · 03-31-2001, 11:47 PM

Well, I made my first call to wdfw about someone keeping a fish with too many fins. I kinda felt weird doing it but I felt ok. My biggest concern is that I will get into a confrontation with someone over that type of thing. Its much easier to make that call when you out number the other boat. my biggest problem this weekend was that there were 2 older fellas in the boat with their grandkids and that fish still went into the anchor locker. What does that teach our kids and grandkids about how to respect the resource?

Rick