How many today

[dos ballenas]

Originally Posted by Whiteboy

I am trying to catch one or two a trip but last two times I kept my two. Waiting for buddies to catch theirs and I get other. The other day I wanted 2 got them. They were 20 and 25 lbs. Then I caught a 30+ being the biggest fish I've ever caught I wasn't letting him go. Then it happened again another larger yellowtail. 43 and 45 inches. I just stopped fishing after that but sitting on water watching people fish isn't easy to do. I have been pratcing hand catching them. The last 12 I've caught without gaff. Almost good enough to c&r. No point in releasing a bleeding fish.

I beg to differ. Fish are quite resilient and able to recover from most injuries, including severe injuries such as shark bites, missed gaffs, missed speargun shots, etc.

In New Zealand there is a tag and release program for yellowtail, or king fish as they call them down there. To tag the fish they gaff it, bring it on board, insert a plastic tag, then release the fish. Lots of these fish are then re-caught months to years later after completely recovering from being gaffed and tagged.....

Yellowtail are a very tough fish. I'm sure most "bleeding" yellows would recover and survive if released. Just make sure you don't release a tired yellowtail when there is a dog around....