Catch and release

[charlieannear]

From BBC News

[Mike Fox]

I read this too and found it uncomfortable reading.

 

It raises many questions about hook material, how long before it rusts away "naturally", losing a big 'un, trace line strength, cutting the trace for a deep-hooked fish before returning it...etc.

 

I bet I'm not the only angler to have gutted a good fish to have found an old hook in it, and have seen a disturbing number of hooks once in a good conger landed from a well-fished wreck (think it was 7) caught on a charter boat.

 

Are circle hooks the way to go? Even if you lose the fish, there has to be a better chance for the fish to shed it, or continue feeding?

 

I'm going to see about changing over to try these!

 

Mike

[great white]

Shame to see a fish suffering with a hook left in it.

 

But if bought onboard and T barred off, would it have been just as damaged?

 

I have seen many videos of fishing in Florida and do not see many fish netted onboard.

 

We use bronzed hooks not tinned or stainless, in the hope that any left in a fish rot out quickly.

My thoughts are better to let the fish go with a hook in it, than nearly kill it getting the hook out.

 

Mike was the eel with 7 hooks still well ? ie did it fight hard to show it was?

It must still have been feeding or it would not have been caught.

 

look forward to readiing other peoples thoughts.

 

Charlie

 

 

[Mike Fox]

Charlie,

The eel with the hooks looked in prime condition, and was back in Summer 1981. It gave an angler a fish of a lifetime, and seemed to have no trouble feeding. I don't recall any "wet sack" syndrome. He kept it, I gutted it on the trip back to save him weight carrying it, and everyone was amazed. They were in various states of corrosion, all bronzed, none having rusted through at all, but there was no way to tell how long the hooks had been there.

 

Mike

[petesnr]

I suppose most of us have pondered on the fate of fish released with hooks still in.

 

The T-bar is effective in removing hooks but must cause trauma to fish as their weight is often used to jerk the hook out. Once the fish has lost the support of the water around it then its internal organs are easily displaced and damaged so many fish the are T-barred may be (fatally) wounded.

 

My view on this is that if a fish is released then at least it has the chance of survival and to maximise the survival rate the minimum of trauma is essential. If this means sometimes leaving hooks in fish then so be it.

 

Incidentally, a small hook will corrode quicker than a large one and even if the hook is well down (as long as there is no bleeding) a small hook is probably less of a problem.

 

My experiments with circles have been inconclusive as regards damage but I would be interested to hear of others' experiences.

 

There's always barbless hooks.............!

 

Petesnr

[Newboy]

I once caught a 7 lb bass with one barb/hook of a treble hook sticking out of its arse. I always let the first fish go, but its belly/arse looked very red and sore, so I kept it and release the second fish instead.

When I came to gut it, the hook was rusty and in no way it was going to rust thru in any time soon. It must be days for the hook to flow thru its digestive system.

[great white]

Thats interesting

Kam

I thought that hooks would rot out eventually, and to be honest quicker than that. But sometimes trebles are fairly beefy hooks.

If you caught it on bait, at least it proves that the fish was still well and feeding.

 

Mike

Sounds like there was little wrong with the eel, even with all that steel inside.

The two small eels we bought in on the open comp were caught hours earlier and had been in the livebait tub, after weighing they both swam off.

Catching and unhooking had obviously not harmed them.

 

Peter

I agree

I would rather cut the trace of a deep hooked fish than struggle to T Bar it, on the better hooked ones they usually t bar off with little more than the head above water.

 

better to release them and give them a chance than keep them to bring ashore. IMHO

 

Charlie

[Maverick Martin]

I bet I'm not the only angler to have gutted a good fish to have found an old hook in it, and have seen a disturbing number of hooks once in a good conger landed from a well-fished wreck (think it was 7) caught on a charter boat.

Perhaps we should start using magnets instead of bait fishing

 

Seriously though surely a fish has more of a chance if a deepset hook is left in than it would have after an angler has used his surgical skills to remove it.

 

At least with catch and release we are trying to give the fish a chance to survive unlike the commercial sector that has to discard bycatch whether dead or alive

 

Martin

[Newboy]

Thats interesting

Kam

I thought that hooks would rot out eventually, and to be honest quicker than that. But sometimes trebles are fairly beefy hooks.

If you caught it on bait, at least it proves that the fish was still well and feeding.

 

Mike

Sounds like there was little wrong with the eel, even with all that steel inside.

The two small eels we bought in on the open comp were caught hours earlier and had been in the livebait tub, after weighing they both swam off.

Catching and unhooking had obviously not harmed them.

 

Peter

I agree

I would rather cut the trace of a deep hooked fish than struggle to T Bar it, on the better hooked ones they usually t bar off with little more than the head above water.

 

better to release them and give them a chance than keep them to bring ashore. IMHO

 

Charlie

The hook I removed still had some silver on it, maybe it's stainless or a very well chromed one.

[codpiece]

This revives the old chesnut- do fish feel pain?

[Paul J]

I think the above case is an exception rather than the rule or maybe that species is sensitive to rust.

 

There have been lots of examples of fish surviving with hooks in them especially Conger.

 

If in doubt go barbless, definitely with trebles

 

PJ

[Rob]

 

do fish feel pain?

 

No!

 

Put a ring through the nose of a one ton bull and it will follow you because of teh pain. Put a hook in a fish and it will fight back.

 

If the hook was in me I know which one I would be like!