tough go - what would you do

[AKRISONER]

Hey guys,

 

So this weekend while out pike fishing 50 meters from my dock i had the unfortunate scenario of a large personal best out of season smallmouth bass hammering my crank bait (I know how unfortunate)and hook itself ridiculously deep and in the gills. Needless to say the fish was a mess and the best I could do was cut the treble hook, but for the most part the damage was done, i am pretty certain the fish wasnt going to make it. The fish swam away after some reviving but it was definitely in rough shape and losing a fair bit of blood.

 

What is your take on this? I really wanted to take the fish home and eat it as for it to not go to waste, however the fish was out of season so I reluctantly put back what was sure to be a dying fish. I can only hope that other fish or a turtle found it for a solid meal?

 

What would you do in this scenario?

[SmokestackLightnin]

Well if it's Ontario and it's an out of season fish then you have to do what the regulations say:

 

Immediate Release of Fish - All fist that are caught unlawfully or are illegal to possess (e.g. during the closed season, of prohibited size, or are in excess of catch and possession limits) must be immediately released at the place and time of capture. This includes fish that may be injured during catch.

 

Oh and because it says "immediately released at the place and time of capture" that means there is no time for a picture.

[kickingfrog]

The regs specifically mention having to release even badly hooked out of season/slot fish.

 

It's tough. Following the law says one thing, ethics on not wasting fish says another. Badly hooked fish do survive and their blood does coagulate best in water so decide fast to cut the hooks and get it back in the water.

[Tom McCutcheon]

Pretty much exactly the same as yourself. Those are the rules that we play by.

It has only happened once in my Muskie fishing adventures, but an undersized fish was not reviving on release. After more than an hour trying, it was determined that it had to become seagull and turtle food and allowed to float away.

It happens and we all feel as bad as you do for having to allow a fish to go to waste. However when you think of it, this is nature and nothing really does go to waste.

Muskie research done on the Ottawa River a number of years ago with tracking studies proved that even though a fish may seem injured enough to die, many of them do survive.

[manitoubass2]

Ive made it very clear in another thread where I stand lol(although its not that popular)

 

Sounds like you handled this fish well and after you clipped the barb I myself would release. Fish can tend to bleed alot until put back in the water.

 

 

In this case IMO you handled it very well.

[MrSimon]

If the fish dies, nature will make better use of it that you would anyway. Don't feel bad. You did the right thing.

 

After all, our hobby is to fool animals into biting razor sharp hooks and then making them fight almost to the death .... purely for our enjoyment.

 

Getting upset when one dies seems a little silly.

[Brettiop]

Nothing else you could have done, its a shame but it is what it is....

[BillM]

Stuff like that happens, nothing you can do to avoid it.. What I do on a deeply gill hooked fish is pull the hooks out through the gill plates. Usually a lot easier then trying to take them out through the top. I'd rather replace a hook then potentially kill a trophy.

[AKRISONER]

bill, i wish i could have pulled it through the gill plate that way, but of course to make matters worse, the hook was so deep that it was in behind the gills. Even to get at the hook was brutal and did more damage. Of course theres always the option to cut the line, but this was a big crank bait that filled the entire mouth cavity, if you could imagine, it was a 6 inch crank and the entire lure was inside the fish.

 

I agree at the end of the day, these are just fish and it comes with the nature of the game. Oh well, come saturday that fish would end up on my table and i dont even really like eating fish, but i would have made sure that it found a home in my belly lol.

[esoxansteel]

There is a possibility it could in fact clot, remember the fish fighting is under stress, and the heart will pump blood more profusely, once back in its environemnt, and the stress or lactic acid buildup slows, clotting can and will occur, and Bass are one of the species where this can happen, hopefully will be fine

[chris.brock]

Good on you for caring about the situation.

 

Sometimes fish are more resilient than you would expect.

 

Last year I hooked a walleye through the gill raker, bleeding a lot, and thought it would die. I didn't want to keep it but I hit it on the head twice and put it on the stringer to keep it cool on a warm day. A couple hours later, the stringer is shaking. the walleye is alive and spunky, with 2 scars on it's head. We called it the zombie pickerel.

[Joeytier]

Life goes on. You made a conscious effort to do the best you can to ensure a healthy release, and there is definitely a chance it survived. I've seen bass and pike with missing gill plates and damage to their gills and still be in good health. They are heartier than a lot of people think, and I don't think the GB bass population is in trouble.

 

You can bet whenever a tourney rolls through your water they leave many more casualties behind than your day out on the water