survival rates of released fish?

[flatty_catcher]

Hi all

I decided to post this thread as I have read a bit on the topic in here but still have a few questions?

I seen the gut hooked survival rate thread posted a while ago , but I was wondering a few things.

Large fish on light line.

Why dont they survive and how do they die (threadies too)?

Why do they say to leave about 20cm of line on the hook and cut it with a gut hooked fish (the gut hooked fish thread)?

How does this help them survive?

I heard cod cannot get back down to the bottom when caught (also seen this guy on tv had a release method that weighted them to the bottom then unhooked with some kind of blunt hook).

Is this only open water fishing and does it only happen with cod?

Do normal hookups (hooked cleanly) have a death rate?

Just wondering really main reason is that most fish look pretty good when you let them go.

Bit of a long post..

cheers

[Feral]

Large fish on light line(or any fish on comparatively light line)die because they become totally exhausted. Using line lighter than what is needed is bad fishing practice. The DPI have a fact sheet on it. They recommend using gear big enough to allow you to still catch fish, but get it reeled in quickly and either release quickly or killed quickly (exhausting a fish will also affect the table quality of it)

Yes setups to get fish caught in deep water back down can be necessary as their fish bladder expands with the lower pressure on the surface, and they can not get back down by themselves. It is a good idea to try and avoid fishing where you are getting undersize fish, or fish you dont want to keep, in deep water. Even with the weight to take them back down deep they apparently have a low survival rate.

Leaving some line on the hook if you cut one of is said to hold the hook longways in the fishes gullet, if the hook is free to move about it can affect their ability to feed if it goes sideways in their throat. Best to use circle or wide mouth hooks if bait fishing, (if possible, a bit hard to fish for whiting with a wide mouth hook!)I have never gut hooked a fish using them (and I've caught hundreds with them)

[Smiderman]

Just a quick side note about the swim bladder, a charterboat operator suggested that when we caught a fish with its bladder inflated , just give it a quick jab with the hook to let the gas escape. Apparently the elasticity of the blader & nominal size of hole see it heal quite quickly..... apparently

[flatty_catcher]

Thanks Feral

very informative , also thanks smider , even though I doubt I will be peircing any swim bladders soon, since I don't know where a swim bladder is?

How about threadies, so they get exhausted then just swim away and die?

Dan

[jeff f]

jewfish and black jew have only a 10% survival rate when released according to some research done last year

[Angus]

They have a 100% mortality rate.

On a long enough time line

Im pretty sure you will find it will differ massively species to species, age and condition of the fish, length of the fight, how it was hooked, how they were handled, how long they were out of teh water etc etc..

I think if someone was to say "50% of all released fish die" it would be a massive call".

My opinion.

Angus

[flatty_catcher]

interesting post by Angus,

seems the mortality rate is higer than i thought..

yes and threadybuster who knows?? till they seen it happen in proof?

Jeff 10% is pertty low survival, very interesting

good info

I will definitely take more care in the future..when releasing a fish

cheers

[MoparKevUk]

This "how long to land a fish" bit. What sort of time are we talking? 30 seconds or 30 minutes?

[flatty_catcher]

MoparKevUk wrote:

This "how long to land a fish" bit. What sort of time are we talking? 30 seconds or 30 minutes?

most fish I catch I land in less than a minute or 5 max.

I would say anything over 10 minutes would be relative to the size of the fish and its survival rate.

As Jeff posted , Jew dont survive that well so i guess if you was wanting to release one you would not be using light gear and playing it for 20 mins.

Prolly same for threadies

but in saying that I have caught a jew in about 5 mins and it was totaled when I landed it to the point i just grabed it by the gills (no net, no gaff), so yes it make s sense.

Dan

[Gad]

MoparKevUk wrote:

This "how long to land a fish" bit. What sort of time are we talking? 30 seconds or 30 minutes?

PK,

Back in the 1970`s-80`s you had[a few]"fishermen" who would go out to catch the biggest fish on the lightest line possible.

Now these,folks would have 1 or 2 fishing and a bloke driving the boat,if/when there was a sizeable hook up, the warrior with the hook up, would keep enough pressure on the line so as not to break it.

Now while this was happening the boat driver would keep the speed of the boat to the speed of the fish.Up and down and all around the river/sea they would go.

Eventually the fish would give in through sheer exhaustion,these great warrior/hunters would then bring the totally frigged fish in,slap each other on the back,go all macho and tell each other what great Fn sports fishermen they were?????

Now this great battle could have gone for 1/2hr,1hr,1&1/2hr

PS

Thankfully these days the majority, fish with the fish`s well being in mind,if your fishing for a feed,use appropriate breaking strain line for the species your hunting.

If fishing for "sport"use a breaking strain that test`s your skills,but also gives the fish the best survival chance if it out does you.

cheers

[waldo]

Mortality rates vary enormously between species and then are further complicated by depth, water temp, where hooked, and handling. If you care at all check out the catch and release best practices, you will most likely be shocked by what a bad job you are doing now.

Gad If you are refering to ANSA they still exist and still have 1 and 2kg class records I believe so not a 70's or 80's thing. How many people chase oversize flathead and cod on purpose today? The majority of people fish the way they do because they don't know any better, others because they don't care. So don't get so high and mighty about what others did in less enlightened times. There are a lot of people that C&R and think all their fishies are living to fight another day yibbidy yibbada when in fact they could be killing more than their bag limits at times.

[Terry H]

flatty_catcher: the method with cod for release with the 'blunt' hook is:

Take 1 hook with no barb, (or flattened barb) so it can fall out of the fish easily, tie a heavy sinker onto the eye, and tie a line connected to a rod to the top gape section of the hook.

Put the hook in through the bottom lip and let the fish go

The sinker will pull the hook down and subsequently pull the fish down to the bottom. Then when its reached the bottom you can pull on your line which will pull the hook upwards. With no barb the hook should come out easily and the fish remain on the bottom.

[Gad]

waldo wrote:

Gad If you are refering to ANSA they still exist and still have 1 and 2kg class records I believe so not a 70's or 80's thing. How many people chase oversize flathead and cod on purpose today? The majority of people fish the way they do because they don't know any better, others because they don't care. So don't get so high and mighty about what others did in less enlightened times. There are a lot of people that C&R and think all their fishies are living to fight another day yibbidy yibbada when in fact they could be killing more than their bag limits at times.

waldo

If you read my post,I stated "["a few"]fishermen", meaning Charlie Wankers,not fishing groups.

I have been a member of a number of fishing clubs over the years,have been fishing for almost 50 years, and believe it or not, even in the "less en lightened times many people fished for the future,and practiced C&R.

As for a High And Mighty Attitude,I tactfully stated "a Few fishermen" instead of saying Charlie Wankers,so that I was not miss read by any fishing group,and not to offend any of the pre mentioned "few fishermen.

So from the bottom of my tackle box I most sincerely apologise for offending you, WALDO,may you continue to enjoy your fishing,how ever you fish.

May the enlightenment be with the majority

Cheers Gad

[kriso]

TerryH wrote:

flatty_catcher: the method with cod for release with the 'blunt' hook is:

Take 1 hook with no barb, (or flattened barb) so it can fall out of the fish easily, tie a heavy sinker onto the eye, and tie a line connected to a rod to the top gape section of the hook.

Put the hook in through the bottom lip and let the fish go

The sinker will pull the hook down and subsequently pull the fish down to the bottom. Then when its reached the bottom you can pull on your line which will pull the hook upwards. With no barb the hook should come out easily and the fish remain on the bottom.

i reckon if was gonna chase real big fish cod etc i wouldnt unless i had this setup with me ready to go.

[waldo]

No need to appologise as I am not offended Gad

I think you are misinterprting what I have said. I was implying that the look at me boys weren't just a 70-80's phenomenom (sp?) and still exist today.

There are a lot of things that went on then and are going on now that although different are damaging stocks. People just don't know any better hennce the value of websites like this.

[flatty_catcher]

got a link to the best practices?

I'm interested to know the details.

Dan

[Feral]

Links page for a few articles of interest

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/cps/rde/dpi/hs.xsl/28_1213_ENA_HTML.htm

release guide now appears to be a full on web site.

http://www.info-fish.net/releasefish/