Article by Dale Timmons
“One guy had hold of the flounder with both hands with a towel. The other guy was yanking on the leader as hard as he could. Then the fish was thrown off the bridge like a centerfielder was aiming for home plate.”
This scenario was described to me by a friend of mine last week. Did the fish survive?
Possibly, but the odds weren’t good. In this age of sometimes ridiculous minimum sizes and low creel limits, some anglers actually act like they are mad with the fish if it doesn’t make the grade, and they treat them accordingly. To use an old cliché, that is “like cutting off your nose to spite your face.” Put simply, the fish didn’t make the rules, and it’s not their fault if they haven’t quite grown up yet, at least as far as government regulators are concerned.
Nowadays, most of us handle more fish that will be released than those that are kept. “Legal” flounder of 18.5 and 19 inches, depending on where you fish, are hard to come by. Stripers over 28 inches can be impossible to find at times. There are strict limits on bluefin tuna, and most billfish are turned loose anyway. Sea bass, tautog, trout—the list goes on. If we are to keep the mortality rates of those fish as low as possible so we have viable populations in the future, we need to handle them with a little more care.
Simply put, the best way to protect a fish that is to be released is to handle it as little as possible and get it back in the water as quickly as possible. It is pretty obvious, for instance, when you bring a 15-inch flounder to the surface to see that it is not a “keeper.” So why net it and bring it into the boat? If you can, grab the leader and shake the fish off. If the fish won’t shake off (a “keeper” would come unhooked in a heartbeat), hold it over the water with the leader and grab it behind the head, being careful to avoid the gills and stomach area. Wet your hands first to avoid removing as much of the protective slime from the fish as possible. If a fish has swallowed the hook, don’t pull on the leader. Just cut it off and leave the hook. Rather than cut the leader short, however, leave it long. Studies have shown that leaving a longer leader will help prevent the hook from turning around in the stomach of the fish, a complication that can lead to higher mortality.
If you have to use a net, the type and material can make a difference. I like to use a rubber net, which, even though it is a little heavy, is much more “fish friendly.” It is also less likely to snag your rig or lure. Likewise, some of the newer “knotless” nets are easier on the fish as well.
If you fish for a trophy-sized fish that is to be released, such as a big striper or a red drum, it is natural to want a photo of that fish. If so, be prepared and have someone ready with a camera when the fish is landed. Again, this will lower the time the fish is out of the water. Also, avoid holding the fish up vertically by its jaw or gill plate. Instead, hold the fish horizontally and support it with two hands or lay the fish in front of you with the tail away from you and just pick up the head. This leaves most of the weight of the fish being supported by the sand or boat, whatever the case may be. Even though we were all guilty of doing it “back in the day,” holding a fish vertically can actually cause its own weight to damage the internal organs. When you do put the fish back overboard or into the surf, keep contact with the fish by holding the base of its tail so you can keep the fish upright. This will allow it to regain its equilibrium while it is taking in oxygen and gaining strength back. You will feel it when it is ready to be let go.
Other general common sense suggestions to allow for better survival of your released fish include: don’t handle a fish with a rag or towel; don’t let a fish lay on the deck or the pier or bridge and beat itself to death; don’t squeeze it so hard the eyes almost pop out; keep your hands and tools out of the gills if at all possible; if you fish the Rt. 50 bridge, use a circular bridge net and lower the fish back to the water; if the water is warm, use heavy enough tackle to catch the fish as quickly as possible; buy and learn to use a “deep throat dehooker” tool, and use circle hooks if possible. I make the last suggestion because not only are circle hooks much less likely to gut hook a fish, they are the best thing going when fishing out of a rod holder or sand spike. The one exception to the circle hook effectiveness for injury prevention may actually be in the case of flounder. In my experience, flounder will sometimes swallow a circle hooks just as readily as a J-hook. My theory is this is due to the short distance between their mouth and stomach. One way to reduce the number of gut hooked flounder (nothing will eliminate them entirely) is to use larger hooks. An 18 or 19-inch flounder has a pretty large mouth, so there is no need for small hooks. I like to use at least a 3/0 or 4/0 hook on my flounder rigs, whether it is a “wide gap” Kahle hook or a standard octopus hook. I do use circle hooks for flounder at times as well—it’s just that I don’t feel they serve their purpose as effectively with flounder.
Helping a released fish survive is often just a case of showing it a little respect—if you can’t do that, then you ought to sell your fishing rods and take up golf or bowling or whatever…
Speaking of hooks, circle hooks seem to fall into a several different “styles”. There are the “octopus circles,” the more extreme “round” circles (probably the original circle hooks), and a category that more closely resembles the Kahle or “wide gap” hook (yes, it can be confusing). The latter category has become one of my favorite hooks. They are pricey, yes, but very sharp and very effective, especially for live bait, though in the larger sizes I will also use them for such things as puppy drum rigs. Three of these you might want to look into are the Owner Mutu Light Circle 5114, the Daiichi Circle Wide D85VP, and the Gamakatsu Nautilus Circle, number 4241…these hooks have straight eyes, so I usually just tie them with a Non-Slip Mono Loop knot or a Palomar knot…
Contact Dale Timmons at [email protected] or call 410-629-1191.