Catch & Release ?

b0ogaloo · Catch & Release ?

Heres a controversial subject.. it is in bass fishing anyway

Just wondering on people views on the subject, I'm talking wild fish here not fisheries

Personally .. I put everything back.. unless the fish is bleeding heavily from the gills, and has little or no chance of survival

Andy

FIREY BROWN · c & r

Andy

99% of all my catch are put back unless someone would ask for a fish then i`ll take one OR if i want one for the pot then i`ll take one but it would only be a brownie that i`d take...

on the Bleeding fish issue,,i has been said that if Rainbows bleed they should be killed immediately but Browns can recover hmmmm im not so sure on that as im no fish expert....

Bass fishing is a different matter altogether,,would they not survive ??

FIREY BROWN

b0ogaloo

The beauty of fly fishing for the bass is they rarely get deep or gill hooked

the same goes for lure fishing for them .. bait fishing is a different matter, Bass have huge cavernous mouths.. and will swallow a whole mackerel without blinking,

Would you use barbless for wild fish ?

Andy

FIREY BROWN

harry_lfc

same hear nearly all my fishing is catch and release and i would use barbles hooks

fossil-fish

My angling background is coarse fishing, which is all C&R, but I am happy to take the occassional trout for the table. Pike especially require careful handling. In their case the process begins with choice of tackle and rigs and, most importantly, bite indication. C&R is not about simply putting a fish back in the water, but returning it in a way that ensures it's survival. Anything less is really a pointless exercise.

Up until recently I have been involved in carp fishing for the last few years. These guys take the ultimate steps to ensure fish welfare, both in methods and safe rigs, and the specialist equipment to safely handle very large fish. Sometimes though I think some of the attitudes go a little to far.

Agree with Firey re the bleeding gills issue. With coarse fish, perhaps with the exception of perch, deep hooks can always be removed with disgorgers or forceps without harming the fish. After many years bait fishing for trout I have found them to be very different. Attempts to remove deep hooks usually resulted in a bleeding fish which was unlikely to survive. In my opinion when bait fishing it was better to cut the nylon as close to the fishes mouth as possible when the hook was out of sight. I was happy with this method for two reasons, firstly the fish swam of well and strongly, and secondly I have gutted many healthy fish that have partly dissolved, or almost completely dissolved hooks in their stomachs. One of the great advantages of fly fishing is that hooks are almost always visible and easily removed when de-barbed.

One controversy in C&R is the use of nets, and opinions vary greatly. Again coming from a coarse background I always carry a net. I have heard people strongly argue against using nets in the name of fish welfare, but again those most fish safety aware carp anglers never advocate not using a landing net. I have seen people spend far to long playing out a fish and then spend more time struggling to get it into a position were they can reach it. This, in my opinion is not best practice. If I can safely unhook the fish as it comes to hand I will. If not I will net it, leave the net in the water, remove the hook and release the fish from the net. If a fish has to be landed, due to the bankside terrian or my own old age and inablilty to reach it, I find that a barbless hook has usually fallen out in the net. Again I accept that opinions vary on this and views are strongly held. The above is just my opinion and way of doing things.

It is nice to take an occassional fish, and is a sustainable practice to eat rod caught fish. There is certainly nothing at all wrong with eating your catch as long as you only take what you immeadiatley eat. (Some of the practices at my local reservoirs, where fish are taken and killed in large quantities and sold to local restaurants, are nothing more than theft.) This of course applies to stocked waters, fish that are particularly under pressure form environmental and commercial concerns should be treated different. I would think that this would apply both to our marine bass populations and some of our wild brown trout.

One very nice thing that I have found from taking the odd fish, is the oppertunity to spoon it. Not only to identify what the fish are taking on the day, but to actually see the aquatic creatures that you are trying to represent. That can be a truly educational experience.

tack4

funny i seem to practice C&R on game fish

but if i get a mackeral or bass then its barbie time Very Happy

return any bass bigger than 3 lb to go forth n produce schoolies lol
but smaller as long as leagal goes on the plate

any faveourite recepies guys on the hunt this friday evening and night a night session with kyle n some m8s Cool

ahhh barbecued bass hmmmmmmmmm droooool !!!!!!!!!!

Catch & Release ?

c & r