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Fish handling


troutologist

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"I'm a computer programmer, so I seem to have a natural inclination to care about numbers.

 

I track most of the fish I catch in a spreadsheet so I can look at the data and analyze it to hopefully learn more."

 

Your quote about weighing fish. Let us know the results when you plug them numbers into your computer.

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"I'm a computer programmer, so I seem to have a natural inclination to care about numbers.

 

I track most of the fish I catch in a spreadsheet so I can look at the data and analyze it to hopefully learn more."

 

Your quote about weighing fish. Let us know the results when you plug them numbers into your computer.

What is your point? I was explaining to people in that thread why I would care about weighing fish. I haven't yet, and I won't. YOU WIN.

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Am I missing something? Why is Dana out of line for making a joke. A lot of people weigh bass. Some people weigh other fish. I fished in the salmon derby this year and weighed a lot of salmon. Does that make me a bad person? What about all the bass anglers that weigh and cull fish on the water? Weighing fish is a part of the industry and the sport, that is why proper handling techniques are important to share. I would rather an experienced angler weigh a fish if he so chooses than have an inexperience angler spend 2 minutes trying to unhook a fish. Education is important here and in my experience some will not listen or learn from you if you tell them what they are doing is wrong. This was a valuable thread with good information lets try to keep it that way.

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Interesting and often overlooked topic. I'm not going to tell anybody which fish to take pictures of and which fish not to, because a 5lbs fish for someone can mean a lot while for someone else who gets to fish more not so much. But I will always promote quick handling. And personally I like knowing how much a fish weighs it's something I enjoy keeping track of.

 

If you ask me the real culprits here are fishing tournaments. I can't prove this but I know in this area they've been very popular and numerous for smallmouth bass and I'm seeing fewer bass in spots where they were all over the place before. Is it related? I don't know. But my personal opinion is that tournaments kill a lot of fish.

 

The average guy who is careful and takes a lot of pics and vids (like myself for example) I don't think is doing nearly as much harm as tournament guys who keep fish in a livewell all day, subject them to a weigh-in and release them in 3 feet of water when they came out of much deeper.

 

Anyway, with that said, I'm surprised nobody mentioned using the net or other tool to weigh a fish instead of hanging it by the gills on the scale. Personally I use one of those new recyclable grocery bags, wet it and have everything handy. Here's a vid I made about weighing fish last year. Two things I do different when I'm not shooting a video. 1. I wet the inside of the bag first. 2. I release the fish straight from the bag into the water.

 

the fish goes in the net, straight into the running livewell. I've seen fish cut themselves thrashing around a livewell and this stops them from doing that. So the only time I actually touch the fish is when I grab it from the livewell into the bag. The water in the livewell is always running and filled before I catch a fish. I know this works because when the fish is in the running livewell for a few minutes it comes out completely energized and usually bolts back home like a bat out of hell.

 

 

 

Edited by Jigs
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According to something I read, a fish which is caught and landed suffers the equivalent of a human running a 52 kilometer marathon. I try to get fish back in as quickly as possible.

 

What really bugs me is when the hosts of fishing shows scoop a fish out of the water, and stand there blah, blah, blahing, without any move to get it back where it belongs.

 

That being said, once my spouse and I were watching characters played by Mickey Rourke and Kim Bassinger in the movie "9 1/2 Weeks". The two sat in front of an open fridge while Rourke applied various food groups to Bassinger's naked body. I kept thinking to myself, "shut the fridge door...you're wasting electricity..." :unsure:

 

 

A marathon, now how in the heck did someone figure that out?

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DanC, I think you missed the humor in my post, and I don't think I'm out of hand at all. I think the eight thousand people repeating the exact same thing is out of hand. I've read the same stuff over and over again, first in the thread I posted about scales, and then here, and just now what you wrote again. I get it, don't weigh fish. Don't buy a scale. In fact, I threw away the one that I did own after the first batch of peer pressure. But my satirical point was, it's a bit ridiculous to keep repeating it, and going a bit overboard - don't weigh the fish, don't handle the fish, don't photograph the fish, don't breathe on the fish, don't look at the fish... Don't talk about the fish.

 

 

I agree Dana that`s why I try to catch as few fish as possible!!! :Gonefishing:

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A marathon, now how in the heck did someone figure that out?

 

Probably by asking the fish.... duh!

 

 

Unfortunately the slot sizes have forced a lot more handling time. To the OP, I agree, preparation is the key. Have your measuring/photo gear ready to enable a quick release. A dropped/dirty/dry fish is a probably a dead fish.

 

Typically if I'm sport fishing my fish are categorized as : small, decent, big and huge. If I'm game fishing they are categorized as dinner or not.

 

How are you supposed to make up a ridiculous fish story with exact measurements?

Edited by Rod Caster
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I think everyone is going a bit crazy on this one...

 

Think about the stress... Strain... And abuse fish go threw to spawn...

 

Also ... Think about how many fish you've caught with huge scars from a pike or musky attack that they survived...

 

I personally think fish are a lot stronger then most of you think...

 

I'm not suggesting not being prepared or not respecting the fish...

 

But do you really think weighing a fish is gonna be the straw that breaks the camels back?

 

Also... How many bass or walleye do you see floating...?

 

I've only seen a couple walleye ever floating dead... And the odd bass...

 

I see way more carp... Suckers... Eels... Catfish... Etc... Floating dead...Fish that aren't targeted... Exept carp... But the dead carp I usualy see are shot with a bow...

 

I dunno... I'm trying to stir the pot... I'm just pointing out that sportfish have worse things to worry about then 10 seconds on a scale...

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