releasing dead fish

[bluechips]

just me bit-ch-ing<br /><br />if theirs one thing I hate more than anything, is having to toss back a fish you know is good as dead, just because its undersize. <br /> Especaily when you leave them floating belly up, like I did yesterday. hooked a small jackfish in the gills and it bled out. was basicaly dead before I even got it in the boat. <br /><br /> seems like a big waste to me, im from the school of though where if you kill it, you eat it.... oh well thier where lots of loons on that lake, sure one of them got a easy meal

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: releasing dead fish

Turtles got to eat too. I hate it as well and usually the only fish I keep are those that I fear are not gonna make it and turn belly up when they are released but with care in handling and things such as barbless hooks or using circle hooks with live baits the amount of fish i have to keep has gone down to the point of me actually having to decide to keep some in order to bring any home.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: releasing dead fish

I have had to release some walleyes that went belly up right after they were put back. I also hate that, but for the life of me I can not figure out any solutions to this issue other than the post above ( prevention )

 

[gonfishn]

Re: releasing dead fish

Its the same with the Muskies..they wear themselves out with all the fighting and if they aren't handled with care and released quickly no one else will be able to share their attitude in the future......Cradles are great but its a two man operation.....

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: releasing dead fish

Some times I get lucky and catch a big fish that<br />gets played out in the deep water and by the time<br />I get her to the boat they can go belly up.Some<br />of these fish can be more than 50 years old so I<br />want to do the best I can to help them recover.<br />Lately I just put her on a good stringer through<br />the lips and leave them in the water, some times<br />trolling slowly while she drags behind.After a<br />short while they almost always make a recovery and<br />start to thrash around on the stringer and I can <br />just release them, and they dive straight to the<br />bottom fully recovered.I get to stalk them again.

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: releasing dead fish

My understanding is the stringer will permanently damage their gills. Not sure but you may not be helping.<br /><br />I'm usually after trout and these things seem so fragile in comparison to walleye I caught as a kid. I just figure the loons, eagles and osprey have to eat something so I toss the dead one's their way.

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: releasing dead fish

Dont put the stinger through there gills. Thats a<br />bad thing. String them through the jaw.

 

[splugeeman]

Re: releasing dead fish

string them thru the jaw ..a hole is a hole ...gillin em will killem

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: releasing dead fish

No not in the gills ,the jaw.The gills are on the<br />side of the fish.The jaw is on the bottom.<br />They are just as dead if you dont try to revive <br />them.

 

[bluechips]

Re: releasing dead fish

if I have to revive, ill try to keep them in the net whie trollng along, till they start to come to, then just back off the net and let them go. and I prefer barbles hooks, just easyer to get out. only time I dont use them are in stocked trout ponds, or if Im jigging for perch<br /> but theres not much you can do if they swallow the hook and bleed out through ripped gills, not much blood in a 2lb fish.<br /><br />but the fish do ocationly get back at you, been cut by a few fish, quite badly once. yep im <br />another dumb trout fisherman who almost lost finger to a pike. I had never heard of a fish with sharp teeth in canada before then.

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: releasing dead fish

barbless hooks help, but when fishin with kids<br />I always have to deal with swallowed hooks.<br />mostly panfish like bluegill or sunnys. since I<br />hate killing ANY fish I'm not gonna eat, I used<br />to cut the line in the hope the hook would eventually<br />rust away in the fishes stomach.... until one day<br />a big Heron swooped down on one that wasn't quite<br />revived yet. I felt aweful!!!<br />now the lil sunnys get de-hooked even if fatal.

 

[Basenjib123]

Re: releasing dead fish

If a "special provision" was allowed for under sized dead fish you can bet it would be exploited big time by a few bad apples.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: releasing dead fish

Good point MY. I never really gave much thought to the fact that another animal could inherit that hook left in the belly of a sunny.

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: releasing dead fish

yeah Flathead... gotta be cruel to be kind sometimes.<br />when I was a kid, we used cut them for bait.<br />never was any concern... funny how things change eh?

 

[bradyt]

Re: releasing dead fish

In Indiana it is a fine for throwing a dead fish in the water,considered littering.If you keep a fish thats to small it's a fine as well.It is a major conflict as far as i and alot of fisherman i know.Explain to me the reasoning behind these laws,what do you do with the small that you know are going to float on top when you throw them back?Something is going to eat them. <br /><br />MTH54-Pink at night sailors delight,Pink in the morning sailors take warning!

 

[Scoop]

Re: releasing dead fish

Call me stupid, but I have filleted the small Bluegills, that have been gut hooked. Not much meat, but since it is going to die anyway, the kids get their mini fillet. If they are too small for that, then gutting them and frying them whole is the best way to eat them. In fact, I like that with the big ones. Too bad no one else in the family does. <br /><br />Nothing else like good fresh Fried bluegill and wild blackberry pie and cobbler with berries picked that day.