Yellowtail Release

[taggermike]

Great video and well done with the release.
A few asked about handling and lipping YT. Basically YT have no teeth. They have a sand paper feeling similar to large mouth bass. They do have strong jaws but can't hurt you. Their gill plates aren't sharp either.
Like all jacks they have 2 small, but sharp, spines tight in front of their anal fin.

YT are easy fish to release and have an extremely high survival rate.

Personally I very rarely put fish in the freezer. I eat it or give it away. But I don't feel like I have to feed the whole neighborhood either. I've certainly failed at this but I don't keep alot of fish cause I'm confident I'll catch more soon. Mike

[dos ballenas]

Originally Posted by taggermike

Great video and well done with the release.
A few asked about handling and lipping YT. Basically YT have no teeth. They have a sand paper feeling similar to large mouth bass. They do have strong jaws but can't hurt you. Their gill plates aren't sharp either.
Like all jacks they have 2 small, but sharp, spines tight in front of their anal fin.

YT are easy fish to release and have an extremely high survival rate.

I wouldn't go so far as to say their mouths can't hurt you. I have a nice scar to prove it! A big "green" yellow can lock down on your thumb... and if it decides to spin when locked on it's like 60 grit sandpaper and will leave you a nice red bare patch on your thumb. That said a played out (fought for over 5 minutes) and tired yellowtail will probably just sit there trying to breath. Best to leave the fish in the water and not try to grab it. Just take your pliers and remove the hook as it sits there... this is easy to do from a kayak.

Yes they are easy to release. Just make sure there are no dogs around when you release them or they won't last long!

I stopped giving fish to my neighbors years ago.... I used to give people fresh caught fish. That was until I learned that 90% of those people just threw the fish in their freezers and would forget about it until it was freezer burned and then toss it out.... lame!

[ronbo613]

We released more yellowtail than we kept. By the time kayak fishing season rolled around we usually had a freezer full of albacore and the occasional bluefin. No need to kill another fish. Also, cleaning a couple hundred pounds of albacore did not leave much enthusiasm for cleaning any more fish...

[5-20]

I've lipped a 100-130 lb BSB before to get a jig stuck way down its throat but I was pretty sure that'd be harmless enough. Just wasn't sure about YT. Cool. I like having some fish in the freezer every now and then but there are many times when I just want to fish for fun and really don't want to mess with bringing fish back home and knowing this will make it easier for me to release some of these YT.

[goldenglory18]

Originally Posted by 5-20

I've lipped a 100-130 lb BSB before to get a jig stuck way down its throat but I was pretty sure that'd be harmless enough. Just wasn't sure about YT. Cool. I like having some fish in the freezer every now and then but there are many times when I just want to fish for fun and really don't want to mess with bringing fish back home and knowing this will make it easier for me to release some of these YT.

+1

I fish for sport and thrill, not for food...(but I'm not against a legal catch either)....

[RK]

Owyn is that a boogie board under the spray guard?

[dos ballenas]

Originally Posted by RK

Owyn is that a boogie board under the spray guard?

Yes sir it is. For emergency purposes... poor mans life raft