Hook size to limit injury to released fish

[Bugs]

I was wondering what folks feel about using small hooks to avoid injury when participating in a fishery where a significant portion of the fish need to be released (ie. lots of small winter springs around, fall Coho fishery in Sooke, Cape Mudge or Nanaimo in summer when lots of undersize around). I have now gone to tandem 2/0 gammys on hootchies and anchovies.... I also take the open Siwash hooks off spoons a use a 2/0 or 3/0 gammy... I really think it reduces the serious injuries, particularly eye-hooking, to have the smaller point shank gap (harder for the hook to reach the eye on a 2-4 lb fish), and a shorter point (gammy relative to siwash).

I am confident that I don't lose more fish on either hoochies or bait (my hook-up rate on chovies may be a little lower than with trebles). With spoons I am not so sure, I think the split ring makes the octopus hook sit a little funny... I have been wondering how to get around this.

When I guided and had no option but to maximize fish in the boat it was trebles on the bait and big hooks on the hoochies and spoons. However, I find now that knowing I have killed a couple of the fish I couldn't keep really takes the edge off the day, and I really think small hooks make this a much less frequent occurrence.

 

[Califbill]

I like a bigger hook as I see less small fish hookups. Here in Calif. We use barbless hooks, and if bait, circle hooks. So most are edge of mouth hooked on bait, and the lures are easy to release from the barbless.

 

[searun]

Having caught plenty of steelhead for the hatchery brood stock program over an 11 year period we came to learn that there was less hook related wounding when we used smaller hooks. The larger hook gaps allowed the hook to get closer to the fish's eye when hooked in the corner of the mouth. Having said that, hook mortality was very low. We lost more fish to subsequent handling in the hatchery a month after capture. So my experience is smaller hook gaps produce less potential damage.

 

[Peahead]

First I have to say I have minimal knowledge of mortality rates/comparisons based on any research except to say that DFO had some past results I saw for treble vs single hook results and the findings were surprising. At that particular time treble hook releases were found to have little if any differences in mortality as compared to single hook releases. I am sure that must have not included released "shakers" but I don't know. I' d have to say I am of the feeling that a release method/efficiency is likely more important than hook size however saying that, hook size could play a part in the efficiency of a release. A larger siwash could reach a fish eye and do damage however smaller hooks seem to be more likely to ingest and set deeper and therefore cause a release to be tougher job and a longer process causing more trauma for more fish. Not only trauma directly related to the deep hook set but trauma related to what searun mentions as an issue at the hatchery - the handling the fish. Comparing a release success rate from a hootchie with large siwash hook vs that same hootchie with 2 tandem smaller steelhead hooks, I'd say the 2 tandem would be worse ( for the reasons stated above) . Any direct and indirect moralities caused by the trauma of releasing deeper/smaller hook sets may be more severe then the occasionally mortality caused by a larger hook damaging an eye.