Safe Release of those nice Reds

Tuna Chaser · 08-26-2003, 05:46 PM

This is a post I just put on another topic. I was reading a couple of others and saw that this seems to be a real problem for you guys. There is a way to release those big reds reasonably safely to let them live again. No one hate the waist of a good fish more than I do. If you will take the time and put in a little effort, you can sleep better knowing that you tried to do your part. The post is as follows:

To everyone who hate this kind of thing as much as I do. There is a way to release those nice red unharmed, even on a large Party boat. If you will take a large 32 oz. Jighead like you would use on Scampi and cut off the hook just past the barb, then sharpen the cutoff end to a point. Keep a rod filled with about 30 lb. super braid of Dacron handy. Tie the jig head onto the Dacron at the bend of the hook so that the head and the new point are pointing down. Take your fish as soon as you get it on the boat and run the point through the soft fleshy part of the lower lip and let the fish back down to the bottom. DO NOT PUNCH A HOLE IN THE AIR BLADDER. Once you hit the bottom, pull back HARD and your fish is released and re-compressed at the same time. It's no different than a diver with the bends. Once the pressure is back on the fish, he has a good shot a making it. If your on a Party or Charter boat, this can be the deckhands job. I've been doing it for years and I figure if it only saves 50% of the fish, that's 50% not gone to waist.

Just a thought,
Mike

Mello-Yello · 08-26-2003, 06:22 PM

Bravo...it should be law!

[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

Sea Jypzee · 08-26-2003, 06:32 PM

Very good idea, and it makes good sence that it'd work. Thank you for the suggestion and good explanation.

corrirod · 08-26-2003, 11:30 PM

Is the fish able to swallow it's stomach again? Is this a better method than a well placed syringe in the air bladder?

Either way I would like to see some method of release promoted thruout the fishing community. Unfortunately the reality of it is that the real abusers are the trawlers and they certainly aren't going to spend any amount of time re-submerging or giving medical attention to thousands of pounds of red fish. :depressed:

I guess all we can do is take care of our own.

Snapset · 08-27-2003, 12:20 AM

I found a way that works most of the time also. Go to K-mart and get some of those cheapo #4 snelled hooks. Connect one to the swivel just above the spreader, and put the hook through the snapper's lip. Bait up and get ready to fish, and after you send it back down for the flatty, give it a quick sharp yank to snap the snelled leader. The snapper will have a hook in his lip for a while, but he should recover.

Threemuch · 08-27-2003, 02:02 PM

Great idea for the fish that are caught out at the pile in less than 200 feet or so. Deeper than that, they are beyond help. If their eyes crystalize, they are deaders, even if you get them back down. But they certainly have a better chance on the bottom than floating around on top, and if they die down there, they become food for crabs, flatties, etc, rather than sea gulls, pelicans and bacteria.

Kurt

Tuna Chaser · 08-27-2003, 03:52 PM

After I made this post last night, I did a little research on this. I could not remember where I first heard it, then I remembered that an old party boat skipper came up with the idea many years ago for the southern California winter Cowcod season and it was further investigated by the Fish and Game Department. After about 3 years of study, they found that they had a reasonably good survival rate on the larger Cowcod even at depths as deep as 150 fathoms. The trick was not to poke any holes in the air bladders or eyes. Keeping in mind that air or gas bubbles will contract 50% for every 33 feet of depth you go or expand 100% for every 33 feet when you're being them up from the bottom, poking holes in the fish isn't necessary. All that will do is expose the fish to microbes that will most likely cause infection and death. I will try to find some more research and post it here when I do.

Mello-Yello · 08-27-2003, 04:17 PM

I can't imagine a more helpless feeling than having your stomach hanging out your mouth, your eyes bulging out of your head, and then someone throws you in the ocean and drifts away...

:shocked: [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img] :shocked: