Catch and release problem

[forrest]

So I will be trying my hand at ice fishing and would like to release fish if they stand a good chance of survival.

Lake Trout, whitefish, walleye, perch, bass all have different tolerances for being caught at various depths. Unless I intend to keep the fish I do not want to fish too deep.

 

It being winter must help.

So how deep is too deep for these fish?

 

forrest

[Greencoachdog]

The rule of thumb is 30', but some fish can relieve the pressure by "burping". I believe Lakers can do this.

 

If you can manage to controll yourself and reel the fish up slowly, they'll have a better chance of surviving when released.

 

If you start bringing up fish with their air bladders sticking out of their mouths, you'll need to fish shallower.

 

Crappie can have decompression from be brought up out of just 20' FOW, on the other hand, you can snatch a catfish up out of 40 FOW and he'll just croak at you and take off like a bullet when you release him.

 

Watch your fish when you release them, if they don't swim straight back down to the bottom, they're having decompression issue and you may want to fish shallower.

[Leecher]

The rule of thumb is 30', but some fish can relieve the pressure by "burping". I believe Lakers can do this.

If you can manage to controll yourself and reel the fish up slowly, they'll have a better chance of surviving when released.

If you start bringing up fish with their air bladders sticking out of their mouths, you'll need to fish shallower.

Crappie can have decompression from be brought up out of just 20' FOW, on the other hand, you can snatch a catfish up out of 40 FOW and he'll just croak at you and take off like a bullet when you release him.

Watch your fish when you release them, if they don't swim straight back down to the bottom, they're having decompression issue and you may want to fish shallower.

 

Very good points Glen Also if I may add, try to use single hooks vs triple.... it's a lot easier to get a single hook out then a triple when a fish swallows it deep.

 

Leechman

[Guest gbfisher]

Oh..........THAT kind of selective harvest.

 

I practice selective harvest by keeping the big ones along with the little ones until I'm done.

So depth doesnt play into what I catch.

 

 

[forrest]

The rule of thumb is 30', but some fish can relieve the pressure by "burping". I believe Lakers can do this.

 

Can anyone second the lakers thing? How about whitefish and Pike?

 

When people ice fish with 4 ft of ice are they dropping fish back in?

 

forrest

[Ramble]

Fish with compression issues with also have their eyes popping outa their heads. Bringing them up slow is the best bet. Fishing shallower is one thing, but sometimes you can't target the fish you want in shallow water.

 

Another concern in cold weather is ice damade to the fish. Freezing eyes and fins is quite hard on them. So be aware of that. It doesnt take too long for it to happen.

 

Someone else will probably be able to help you with the depth question. I dont target a lot of deep fish during any given year.

 

-R-

[Roy]

I'll second the laker thing. Google is your friend....

 

"Lake trout are among the generalized fishes known as Physostomi, which have a direct connection (pneumatic duct) between the air bladder and digestive tract. This duct facilitates the direct passage of air in either direction. Typically, this group of fishes fill the air bladder by gulping air form the surface and release air from the bladder by "burping." "

[pike slayer]

i've heard of the laker thing where they can burp but im not 100% on it.

pike seem to take a beating and swim off like a bullet again plus i've never caught a pike in 50ft of water before, 30feet max.

i've fished when there is 4feet of ice and you need to put an extention on the ice auger. and i've release them back down the hole. sometimes fish have a hard time finding their way down the hole. also i remember one year there an air pocket in the ice where we were fishing and we'd release a fish and it would get stuck in the ice and probably never found its way back down. i dont think you have to much to worry about.

also i find using a single hook is better cause when you set the hook all the pressure is going to that one hook and not dispensed to 3hooks and its usually easier getting the hook out with out doing surgery.

Edited January 12, 2009 by pike slayer

[Grimace]

Ramble brought up a great point about the eyes freezing. Get em back in quick if it is really cold out and your not in your hut. If you get a fish in super cold weather outside the hut. Run inside with em, de-hook, and release the little devil back into the hole.

 

Lakers burp. Walleyes and perch will be balloon like. Some people fizz em. I don't buy it. If you come up with a pickeral and his bladder is sticking out his mouth, shove him into your pocket and move shallower.

 

Cheers man.

[BassAsin]

often when pulling lakers from the depths in the summer you can tell they are lakers and not something else by seeing the bubbles popping up on the surface this is the fish "burping " up the air with pressure its pretty neat to see especially when u see a unch of bubbles in your hole when ice fishing