|
Hey Bob, good questions. There are several factors in the survival of released fish. Species, water temp, hook placement, length of fight, amount of handling, time out of water, and if a net is used are some that come to mind. If you know you are out for a some C&R fishing use circle hooks and heavier line. Circles reduce gut hooking and heavier line shortens the fighting time and reduces fish exhaustion. I don't like nets for releasing fish. There are knotless meshes that don't tear the fins and strip slime layers but any contact can cause a fish trauma. The clasic shots of large outh bass hanging at an angle from their lower jaws is not the best way to handle a fish. Keep them in the water if you can and if not, keep the fish horizontal and support as much of the body as you can. If the fish is hooked deeper in the mouth, throat, or gut then cutting the line is much better than digging/ripping the hook out. The other, and often best, option for a bleeding or deeply hooked fish is to take it home and eat it. Another aspect with large, strong, or toothy fish is to protect you self. All sharks should be cut off at boat side if possible just for safety sake. I once tried to be a nice guy to a small thresher and wanted to cut him off with as little line hanging off him as possible and I got tail slapped hard. It got me in the leg, thankfully, but hit me hard enough to leave a welt/bruise through a 3mm wet suit. The next time he came around I cut him off with about 6 feet of line out. I was way out side the Carlsbad power plant by myself near dark when this happen. This incident could have been a desaster. I hooked a 6' black tip shark off Nags Head NC last summer and I didn't even think about being a nice guy. I cut that shark off with about his body length of line attached. It's easy to say, but stay cool when the fish is at boat side. Don't hurry, and have your release gear, pliers, boga grip, ready. I gently released, not beat up, bleeding, or exhausted, fish has a good chance of survival. I hope this helped. Mike
|