LOGIC AND REASON GUIDE
CATCH AND RELEASE
Writing about catch and release makes me feel like a plagiarist,
there is little that hasn’t already been published. This
hasn’t: I believe it is perfectly within reason to take
a fish for dinner!
O.K. No more philosophy, just some facts and a few opinions;
after all, most all of fishing is pretty much opinion anyway.
But first, let’s define catch and release. Are we talking
about 10 to 12 inch very delicate wild trout in our back country,
or planters, maybe a catfish that can live for hours out of water,
or a not-so-tough short 22 inch white sea bass? There is a lot
of difference.
But to really understand the critical factors of release, one
need only to understand what kills fish after they are caught;
then apply logic and reason.
They die from: stress; exhaustion, physical damage through rough
handling, infection resulting from such rough handling, weakening
of their protective coating, wounds and internal injuries from
the improper extraction of hooks, improper support of organs in
larger species, drying of skin, or rapid changes in pressure.
So applying the aforementioned logic, here is the word on catch-and-release
(my comments in italics):
- First, anglers must decide if they will be releasing or keeping
fish for it has a decided bearing on the gear to be used. It
is a given that those caught on barbless artificials have the
greatest chance for survival. (recent research suggests that
bait caught fish with proper hook removal have high survival
rates.) Circle hooks appear to produce more shallow hookups,
and even though when swallowed they do greater damage, they
do work. Quick hooksets with bait, while maybe reducing hook-ups,
might reduce deep hooks.
- If you are releasing be certain you are barbless whether it
is by law, personal standards, and either by the factory or
by pinching down the barbs. It’s really easy to forget.
Change out trebles with single barbless hooks. I’ll say
it again, I think we might see the day when all hooks are manufactured
without barbs.
- The book says use heavy enough gear to land fish quickly to
avoid exhaustion. Sorry, I can’t fish for a 12 inch trout
with 10 pound test, I think skill is more important. But the
logic works, unskilled anglers should abandon ultra light gear.
- The release gear is important: rubber or plasticized knotted
nets, hemostats or long-nosed pliers, maybe a glove, and hook
disgorgers (only if skillfully utilized.) But the absence of
barbs is really a more critical factor and enhances every piece
of equipment. Those high quality nets are expensive but really
work. Use a net only as a backup or to help support release.
- If possible leave the fish in the water and remove the hook
(this is where barbless helps.) Don’t damage the skin
or muscle, and the gravitational pull on the organs of a large
fish can do damage. That usually means trying to grab and squeeze
it with your bare hands or letting a fish flop on the creek
bank or on a boat deck. Time out of water is critical.
- You should always handle a release with wet hands, a soft
wet rag, or a soft glove. That takes care of their protective
coating and I certainly agree, but I don’t think my hands
are ever dry while fishing. And remember to lay the spines down.
- Learn the techniques of holding a fish while you remove the
hook. Smaller fish can be held with a thumb and index finger
grasping the lower jaw (don’t try that with a ling, halibut,
or even a buck rainbow.) Don’t use fingers in the gills
or eye sockets. You can even hold them on their back (kind of
hypnosis but don’t hesitate to get help with bigger fish.)
On big fish it’s even OK to use a gaff in the very front
of the lower jaw if necessary.
- Know your species, their habitat, food preferences, and general
habits. I feel confident that when I fish for a few Bishop Creek
planters for the skillet, I know enough about the wild German
browns that I can avoid them.
- Extraction of single barbless hooks is simple with hemostats
or long nosed pliers. However, if a fish is hooked deeply, barbed
or not, it is almost universally accepted that cutting the line
offers the best chance for survival. I have found that if I
can see the barb or bend I can grasp it with hemostats, pull
the rounded eye of the hook on through, then cut the line. I
disagree with those who hold that the hook should be pulled
out through the same channel it entered; that barb tears. Above
all, don’t grab the hook with pliers, hang the fish over
the side and shake it. That’s a dead fish swimming.
- Swim bladder. Science is still out on this one. When a rockfish
is reeled from the depths it’s common for the change in
pressure to force a bladder to fill with gas and become distended.
There is general agreement that a needle or sharpened tube device
inserted just behind the pectoral fin will allow the gas to
escape and thus enhance the chances for survival. Other scientists
feel the possibility of infection is too great a risk. After
watching pelicans and seagulls diving on a rockfish unable to
descend I’ll chance the infection.
- The actual release can be more significant than the technique.
Don’t just toss a fish back from the bank or a boat deck;
do so gently and be certain that the fish is able to swim. Holding
the fish in your hands and forcing water through its gills can
revive an exhausted fish (even in a bait tank.) Holding a fish
in running water can do the same. How many times have you seen
a short fish tossed over, and as he swims away mortally wounded,
someone will say: “Oh, he’s OK,” knowing that
a lazy sea lion lurks in the shadow of the boat.
- Released fish must compete for food and avoid predators –
let’s not handicap them.
- Never apologize for taking a legal fish home for dinner,
or to my house for that matter, but you should apologize if
you ever kill a fish with no intent of preparing it for the
table. Or if you waste any fish or game – shame on you.
Ice it!
We’re getting better; even taxidermists have helped with
their reproductions with fiberglass and airbrushes. Catch and
Release is not the only answer, but it will sure help. The real
answer for conservation rests with us: knowledge of catch and
release, care and concern for our marine world and its creatures,
consideration of its habitat, and efforts to manage, enhance,
sustain, and utilize our fisheries.
Not to close them down! Hey, a Greek has to philosophize once
in awhile. |
