Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron&Julie
Hopefully, he is explaining to ALL of his customers fair boundaries, and proper release techniques. I'm sure not all of his trips include CNR, so a couple of pointers here:
1) Be gentle. Handle the fish as little as possible, removing slime removes their protected barrier against bacteria.
2) Try not to take it out of the water, but if you do, put it back ASAP.
Please feel free to add more.
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3) Circle Hooks!! - hopefully you guys are using them already for the cbass cause they greatly increase your chances of getting them to the boat without chewing thru your line. I like the Owner Ringed Gorilla Circle Hooks 2/0 - 4/0.
4)Quickly inspect the fish... Not all fish are releasable, bleeding/damaged gills, swallowed hooks, inflated swim blatter, or even that line burn some fish get on their sides/tails are all good reasons to keep that fish.
Although I can't really imagine any "amatures" actually releasing a quality fish without the coaxing from a much more experienced angler. Even then good luck!!!
As for the survivability, I'm no scientist but these fish survive H&L trama, get thrown on a table cut open, have a piece of plastic installed, sewn up (the whole time out of the water) then released....and guess what, they live!!! I've even seen dozens of WSB with some pretty big scars from gaffs, spearguns, and even sharks and they seemed to heal up fine. But then again, your right, no fish is better off after being released.
And as far as I know "culling" means keeping a smaller fish on-board until you catch a larger fish to replace it, then you release the smaller one(s) to stay within the bag limits. I'm pretty sure Wades fish never left the water and was released ASAP.
One thing we can all agree on....posting inspirational fish reports while there are squid around is harmful to the fish, but the videos and stories sure are entertaining, and sometimes even enlightening.
