All you fishing dudes and dudettes...
Stumbled into something on Saturday and tried 'em out last night.WHOO HOO!!! http://tinyurl.com/f3hpy In Pearl/Gray, they are very attractive to stripers - big stripers. I
was totally surprised. Boated and released a ton of blue too. Good times. |
Shortwave
Aug 7
2006
|
| Friend of mine manufactures these. Donates a lot to the kids fishing ponds
at sport shows, etc. Work well. It is making some for the salt. So the
advantage of a J hook that you can release.
http://www.sheltonproducts.com/sheltonrelease.html |
Calif
Aug 8
|
| I just sent him an email - if he does make a saltwater version, I want
some - I think that's a great idea. I'm going to try some of the larger hooks for testing. |
Shortwave
Aug 8
|
| Tom,
That will solve the problem of damaging the fish the fish by touching
and removing the hook. I have heard a problem with real "fighting" fish
is the die from all the stress and the lactic acid they produce while
fighting. By the time you get the them to the boat, they are completely
spent and don't even have enough energy to swim to keep the water
flowing past their gills. Someone posted something about keeping fish
in an live well until they have recovered, I have never heard of that
before, but it does make sense if it is at all possible. |
Reginal
Aug 8
|
| You have to allow time for recovery just like a human running or a
bicyclist hopped up on testosterone - you have to have time to get it
out and allow the organism to recover. The best way to do that is
oxygen and plenty of it. I drop all my largemouth, in particular in hot months, into a livewell
that is constantly running to provide shaded rest and plenty of oxy. I
don't think I've ever lost a largemouth - can't prove it, but when I
chuck 'em back into the lake after 20 minutes, they seem pretty
lively. Same with stripers, but I hang on to them, never take them out of the
water and let them rest a little before letting them go. I can't prove this and I'm far from being an expert on this subject,
but I've often suspected that not supporting the belly of the fish
when you take it out doesn't do the fish any good either. Like I said, I'm not a biologist, but it just seems to me that hanging
a fish by the jaw out of the water without supporting the belly and
tail is wrong. |
Shortwave
Aug 8
|
| These days, I only fish when I feel like having fish for dinner, and
then only for species I enjoy eating. In the Bay, I like flounder,
croakers, seatrout, and one or two others. I don't much like the taste
of striped bass. We're heading down to Virginia Beach later this week
for a few days, and I hope to spend some time fishing offshore and over
the bridge-tunnel. When I catch a fish I am not interested in keeping, I
try to release it while it is still in the water, even if I have to
climb out onto the engine bracket to get close enough. |
Harry
Aug 8
|
| Tom, think about that paragraph, beginnning with "On the other hand". :-) |
JoeSpareBedroom
Aug 8
|
| Bullshit. People have been catching and releasing you for years and
you're still around. And biting. Tick tock tick tock
|
Charlie
Aug 8
|
| Warning! Do not leave the Gulp baits on a hook or jig when finished
fishing. They dry to the consistency of titanium. Almost impossible to
remove. |
Calif
Aug 7
|
| Mortality rate is lots less than catch and release into 350 degree oil.
Sure there is a mortality from C&R, and lots do not do a good release. They
abuse the fish when ripping the hook from the fish. The California F&G has
done a lot of C&R testing, and they do not see an excess amount of loss. |
Calif
Aug 7
|
| I wonder how they tested. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Aug 7
|
| Couple of different ways. one with tagged fish and another with salmon in
pens. |
Calif
Aug 7
|
| well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats: |
Gene
Aug 7
|
|
We don't have any "big" fish in my part of Chesapeake Bay, so light (not
ultralight) inshore tackle is the way to go. Even the 3' to 4'
stripers around here are not what I would call "fighting fish," though I
do use slightly heavier rigs for them. Yesterday, I was catching 2-3
pound croakers on a 5' ultralight uglystick with a Penn 4300, 8 pound
test and a 20 pound fluorcarbon leader. I catch the blues around here
with the same setup and sometimes stripers, too. If the catch is
heavier, I move up to a 12-14 pound class setup. |
Harry
Aug 7
|
| I've seen some of those studies and they are a concern, no doubt about
it. On the other hand, I fish a lot of lakes and rivers with catch/release
for trout and I don't see evidence of a large amount of over kill in
those - quite the contrary in fact. I think a lot of it is how you treat the fish after catching it.
Personally, if I'm bass fishing, I keep them in a live well with
highly oxygenated water and leave it that way for a couple of hours. I
don't chuck 'em back into the water and I don't hold them by the jaw
with their mouths open. As a result, I personally don't see the same
mortality they have been reporting. With stripers, it's a tad more difficult, but I always try to release
the fish in the water rather than remove it from the water to remove
the hook. Drag it along side the boat for a minute or two and release
it - they seem like they are ok - I've never been back to an area and
seen a dead striper that way. I took that idea from a billfish guide
I fished with ten or so years ago. Blue fish - you can't kill them things - they will eat your face off
even if they are half dead. |
Shortwave
Aug 7
|
| I'm with you on that one. |
Shortwave
Aug 7
|
| Part of it is barbless fishing hooks. I swear, if they went and made barbless hook mandatory, you'd see that
drop too. |
Shortwave
Aug 7
|
| Those things are delicious with dijon mustard. Somewhat related: I'm reading more and more info lately (and not from anyone
even remotely involved with PETA) that catch & release does not work. The
mortality rate may be MUCH higher than we've thought for many years. It has
no relationship, either, to whether you use barbless hooks. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Aug 7
|
| It seems the stress of the fight is too much for the fish. I have seen
many more dead fish floating around the lake in the past few years,
especially in the coves, as catch and release has become more popular.
I have actually seen a "catch and release" fish kill a fish that was not
caught. a 12" large mouth bass tried to eat a 24" large mouth that had
died (my assumption was caught and released) and the smaller fish died
because his eyes were bigger than his stomach. As the popularity of fishing with light weight tackle increases, the
mortality rate among the catch and release increases substantially. It
seems if you can pull them in very quickly they stand a greater chance
of surviving, but who wants to catch a 5 lb fish with 50 lb tackle.
Fisherman need to start fishing with a chum line and then snapping
photos of their "catch". I try to stay out of the "hunting" and "fishing" debate, but the Shark
tournament TV show makes me sick. |
Reginal
Aug 7
|
| Frankly, I don't see the attraction of light tackle for big fish. I mean, I
unexpectedly caught a huge pike on 4 lb test once. What did that prove? It
certainly was not a personal achievment of MINE. It illustrated only two
things:
-Berkley makes great 4 lb line (which I had nothing to do with)
-The line didn't get near any sharp fish parts and get cut, which is a
matter of chance. You could say "You did a great job of keeping it away from
the gill covers", but the water was muddy. I couldn't see the fish at all. So, why risk having the line break, leaving a fish with a treble hook in its
throat? And that bullshit about "The hooks will rust away - the fish will be
fine" - it's a crock. Yeah, the hooks will rust eventually, but meanwhile,
that fish won't be able to eat with a 6" Rapala and two sets of treble hooks
in its face. I've reached the point where I won't fish for anything that I have no
intention of eating. And, if I catch enough, I stop and read a book. If I
had a live well and could make sure the fish were recovered enough to move
(so enough water will pass through their gills), I might do things
differently. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Aug 7
|
| I really do enjoy just being outside. My favorite time of the year is
early spring and late fall, when the lake is quiet. I can go up with a
book. I used to enjoy beer, now I just go up with bottled water and
enjoy mother nature. Now that I have a new Photographer hobby, I can
take some photos of the birds flying south for the winter. I do enjoy
eating fish and meat, so i have always steered cleared of the guns
debates and hunting and fishing debates, but I wish people would catch
what they wanted to eat, and then sat back and just enjoyed the sights,
sounds and smells of mother nature. Since no on in my family listens to me, I really don't expect anyone in
this NG to listen either. |
Reginal
Aug 7
|
| We listen... we just don't pay any attention.... |
Don
Aug 7
|
| Just like everyone in my family. I hope I don't have to pay for anyone else to go to college. |
Reginal
Aug 7
|
| On the surface or down deeper? Don't know who makes them but I've had good luck with plastic/rubber
eels about that size near Marthas Vineyard. |
Wayne.B
Aug 7
|
| My thoughts exactly. Catch what you'll eat, and go home.
-- ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** John |
JohnH
Aug 7
|
