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Author Topic: Gut Hooked fish  (Read 7039 times)

TroutFishingBear

  • Guest
Re: Gut Hooked fish
« Reply #15 on: May 21, 2004, 05:53 PM »
Cider is correct handling the fish by the gills can cause the gills to get infections; even handling a fish period can remove their protective slime, and the sodium that is on your hands will have a bad effect on their skin, sometimes causing infection and could even lead to death. Have you ever wondered why people who are experts that net fish use rubber nets? it's because the net does not rub off as much of the slime. Trout especially are susceptible to the skin infections because of very little protective slime and scales. To put it in redneck terms for you it is like someone putting a substance far worse than alkaline on our skin and holding it there and us not being able to wash it off.

wyogator

  • Jr. Member
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  • Posts: 58
Re: Gut Hooked fish
« Reply #16 on: May 21, 2004, 06:00 PM »
This is why I hate using live bait. I just started using live minnows while ice fishing this past winter, for the first time in 15 years, because it is more effective during winter hardwater. Previously, I only used lures and flies. Since the ice has melted, I have become addicted to using minnows and nightcrawlers  for walleye fishing, because it is alot easier to throw out your bait, crack open a beer and wait. Plus, it is easier to fil up my freezer with live bait. Although, I don't think it is nearly as fun as enticing a fish with an artificial lure. I would never do this for trout. In fact, I would never fish for trout with anything other than a flyrod. However, one time while walleye fishing, I gut hooked a rainbow on a nightcrawler. :'( The point I am making is, I never gut hooked fish on artificial flies and rarely on soft plastics and plugs. Now, I'm doing it all of the time. I need to get back on the wagon and start using the lures in my tackle box more; at least until hardwater hits!

chrisfrank

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  • Posts: 48
Re: Gut Hooked fish
« Reply #17 on: May 21, 2004, 06:24 PM »
Cider.    do you have any numbers of fish that die because of removing hooks through the gills?   I don't dispute the fact that it is damaging to the fish,  but i'm still not convinced that it is more damaging than leaving a hook inside.  Also do you know of any other studies that mention leaving a longer line attached?  I'm sure theres more out there and i dont like making judgements on just a single study.


Mackdaddy21

  • Guest
Re: Gut Hooked fish
« Reply #18 on: May 22, 2004, 04:37 PM »
Wyogator,

If you fish bait, you can still have low mortality if you fish it actively and not passively. Setting the hook as soon as a fish takes the bait ensures this. When you drift bait in current for trout, you have the rod in your hand, and when the fish hits, you set, and 95% of the time you have a jaw, lip, or roof of the mouth hooked fish. Using sharp hooks and proper gear ensures that bait, fished properly, is no more harmful to fish than lures or flies.
In a lake when you bait fish, mortality is quite a bit higher than for flies and lures. So if you fish bait in a lake, fish it on a bait rig or under a slipfloat, and have the rod in your hands so you can set as soon as the take is felt. By not using too much bait, and keeping the hookpoint exposed and sharp, you won't miss many that hit. In fact, a single hook bait rig has less mortality in my mind than a treble dressed crankbait or topwater plug.

Tyler


Jigwiggler

  • Sr. Member
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  • Posts: 606
Re: Gut Hooked fish
« Reply #19 on: May 22, 2004, 04:44 PM »
I agree that grabbing or lifting a fish by the gill plate, especially one of substantial weight is a bad idea and can easily lead to further injury of the fish.  However, in some instances hooks can be sucessfully removed through the gills slit with out damaging the gills themselves.  Often with species such as bass and walleye the hook can be grasped and removed in this manner with small needlenose pliers or hemostats with out coming in contact with the gills.  I find that it is much more difficult to remove deep hooks from trout and similar species this way due to size and gills structure.
May your doorknobs smell of fish!!

Cider

  • Guest
Re: Gut Hooked fish
« Reply #20 on: May 24, 2004, 08:36 AM »
Cider.    do you have any numbers of fish that die because of removing hooks through the gills?   I don't dispute the fact that it is damaging to the fish,  but i'm still not convinced that it is more damaging than leaving a hook inside. 

No, that number is impossible to predict in the "real world".  You could measure it in a laboratory environment, but that may not reflect what truly happens in our fisheries.

I agree, leaving a fish gut-hooked is very harmful to the well-being of that fish.  So is running your hands/fingers around in its gills.  If you feel that you must remove a hook through the gills then at least use clean stainless steel hemostats and be very careful not to come into contact with the gills.  Then throw the fish in your creel.

I still hold with my earlier statement.  I said that if you gut-hook a fish, you might as well put it in your frying pan.  I personally don't release gut-hooked fish, I eat them!  Through the ice I have a higher percentage of gut hooking with the tip-ups and live bait.  However, through the ice I am a meat fishermen because that is the time of year when the fish taste best.  During the openwater season I release the majority of the fish that I catch and I rarely fish with any type of bait that a fish will swallow!  If you are gut-hooking so many fish that you will be keeping too many, then you best improve you techniques or choose another method of fishing!

Either way you look at this issue, you have to understand one thing.  Fishing is potentially harmful to the fish even when you practice the best catch & release methods that you know of.  Once you disturb and ecosystem, it is impossible to return it to its normal state.  The best you can hope for is that you were contientious and you did your best to enjoy the fishery and leave it in the best condition that you could when you are done.

Keep this in mind.  Science is not conclusive.  It is self-correcting and self-limiting.  Even the best study can be flawed.  You need to look at the study conditions: environment, controls, experimental groups, number of repetitions.  Don't trust the stats until they have been repeated numerous times and have been tested and cannot be disproved!  One or two studies on rusty hooks in a fish belly aren't going to tell you anything.  Especially if they don't cover all the possible conditions, situations, types of fisheries, types of hooks, and species of fish!  The jury is still out, but one thing should be apparent to you.  Would you let someone put their arm down your throat and pick you up by your lungs?  No!  They are protected for a reason.  The same reason that the gills of a fish are protected behind a bony plate!

Cider, your talk on acids and bases is completely correct. and in Cider's case, he remembers most of his chemistry.

I sure hope so, I use my knowledge/training in the lab nearly every day!  ;D  ;D

 



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