Reducing your catch footprint--catch and release

[jandj2]

I personally have been releasing over 90% of the salmon that I catch on southern Van.Island--Oak Bay to Sooke. On Fisheries website under recreational fishing they have conducted releasing and survival rates experiments called Fishing for the Future that have survival rates of 85-95%. When using single barbless hooks large fish have a 90% survival rate. Washington State have conducted similar studies with similar results. You can increase the survival percentage by deciding which spring is a good candidate for releasing and which are better kept for your personal consumption. My belief is that the best freezer is the ocean so I personally only take a fish when my supply at home is low or the fish is badly hooked. Ask yourself this how many times have you had a successful day and return to the marina and then said what are we going to do with all this fish. Would it not be better to take one for the table and let the others live another day or return to spawning grounds. Releasing fish is like anything else the more you do it the better you get at it.

 

[KoneZone]

I'm a member of the Fillet and Release Club. Fish! It's what's for dinner! I love Golfers, that way they're not on the water. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Clinging to my Guns and Religion. www.KoneZone.com

 

[JuandeOne]

Not withstanding the fact that c&r has its intrinsic merits, I beleive if you take into consideration the poor handling practices a majority of anglers take before releasing a fish, and these %'s drop dramatically. I have witnessed on countless occasions when anglers net a fish and/or yard it into the boat and literally wrestle with the fish for minutes attempting to remove a hook(s) or untangle it from a net...sad but true. Lose of slime, scales, dramatic stress, suffication and physical abuse, can not be good for long term survival.

I say catch your fish as you or the limit provides and go home.

 

[Gone Fishen]

I say catch your fish as you or the limit provides and go home.
[/quote]

Gotta agree G.O. I spent a fair bit of time repairing lodge boats in places like Langara lodge ect. After the work was done I always got a couple days fishing in while waiting for a float plane seat to become available so I could go home. There was lots of catch, kill and release going on all around me.(theres lots of lodge boats out there at any time). With the guests it kinda went like this. Catch the fish, bring it in the boat, fart around for a long time getting the hooks out while unwittingly beeting the crap out of the fish, then hold it up for the pictures & to show the other boats, then release it."it was retarded" The seals ect were loving the free lunch. The survival rate was probably somewere around 0%?.

My other observation in the Charolettes was while Steel Headin on the Yacoon river. The rule there was catch one Steelhead, (the limit) Then stop fishing for the day.(this was also enforced) This was a great rule that should be made universal to all fisheries. If people have to stop fishing as soon as they catch & keap there limit of legal size fish(no picken & choosen) for the day, 1 000 000's of fish with a muchly reduced chance of making it to spawn would have to be released in the first place.



I'm setting priorities & making time for fishing.

 

[Gone Fishen]

quote:Originally posted by The Jackel

Practise catch and release all the time, might bonk 6-8 springs a season for my needs. You should never take the fish out of the water,tail it release it, end of story.

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If you can tail a big spring you've probably played it out so bad it will never outrun the preditors upon release. A pair of neadlenose pliers on a barbless hook works sometimes, you don't even touch the fish. If the fish is to fiesty just cut the hook off. The fish will spit the hook or it will disolve in no time. Not overplaying the fish is also important if it's going to survive.

I'm setting priorities & making time for fishing.

 

[Bighorn]

A lot of rivers and lakes are catch and release only in the interior and Kootenays. I have caught the same fish more than once in the rivers. Same hole same fish, I know for sure because it had a disfigured dorsal fin. These catch and release rivers and lakes have improved significantly. I have a friend that steelhead guides on the Dean and they release all their fish. Seems like the debate on this is bigger for salmon but I have never seen a floater after releasing a fish. The only time that catch and release in the interior was a problem is when the water temp got too warm which we don't have to worry about in the ocean. As much as we give the DFO a hard time with their management of our fisheries they try to do controlled studies on catch and release, a little more controlled then us out there thinking that the fish are going to die. Let the debate continue. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

[reelfast]

a release 'tool' is as simple as a piece of dowl rod with a cup hook screwed in the end. no need to handle the fish, no net involved, quick and pretty easy once you get the gist of 'how.'

 

[chevyshaulass]

Unhook em with the the gaff instead of tailing them. This way you can get them off a lot sooner than you usually would trying to tail them. I agree with the saying, "theyve got a lot better chance of survival back in the water then they do in my freezer."

 

[jandj2]

I wish I had posted a direct link to the DFO Survival Experiment which I mentioned on my first post. In the Survival Experiment fisheries used novice to experienced anglers. The anglers played the fish, netted the fish, measured the fish then returned the fish to a tank within the boat and kept them there for 24 hours. Fisheries feels that 95% of mortality occurres in the first 24 hours. They also said that they felt that they were rougher on the fish than the average angler would have been. Survival rates were 85-95%. Fisheries spent the money to conduct these tests which in my opinion was money well spent, but where they failed was not telling anybody about it and promoting it. It was conducted in 1995 I'm sure that this is not going to change the minds of you who think because I caught it is going to die if I release it. Is it not our goal as sports fisherman to continue to be able to go fishing, but reduce our impact on the resource?

 

[Gone Fishen]

quote:Originally posted by jandj2
The anglers played the fish, netted the fish, measured the fish then returned the fish to a tank within the boat and kept them there for 24 hours. Fisheries feels that 95% of mortality occurres in the first 24 hours.

I believe the majority of released fish survive if released strong and without there gills bleading in none seal infested waters."Havn't found any of them lately". How many hungry or playfull seals did they have in there tank? I also believe most mortality happens in about the first five minutes of being thrown to the wolves so to speak.

Don't get me wrong im not nocking releasing fish"I release way more than I keap" I just believe you have to do it fast and gentle.

I'm setting priorities & making time for fishing.

 

[searun]

I agree, be selective with the fish you release. If you think the fish isn't strong enough to out swim a seal then probably not a good one to let go. I prefer not to touch any fish being released by using my gaff to flip the hooks out. I would be interested in seeing a picture of that little release hook device described in an earlier post.

 

[highlights]

Another note and huge NO No. Please when releasing large ***ually ( thats s e x ually for the editors ) mature fish, DO NOT TAIL AND LET THE WEIGHT OF THE FISH HANG SO VERTICALLY> Ensure you cradle the fish horizontally. Otherwise spinal seperation of the vertebrae will certainly be the outcome. It is a disgusting thought but if you have ever had it happen to a fish you just tailed it feels and sounds like cracking all your knuckles rapidly and sequentially. Not a good thing for the fish.