"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:

I was speaking with a NY DEC biologist about a month ago. He said he'd
just been to a seminar on the results of catch & release, where one
discussion focused on the results of catch & release. It may not be the
panacea it was made out to be. Fish apparently build up huge amounts of
lactic acid in their muscles as they're being caught, and they may not
recover from the experience. The fact that a fish swims away is no
indication of future survival, because in many cases, the fisherman is a
moron who picks up the fish around the mouth and gills, thereby damaging
the gills. Removal of lactic acid from the bloodstream requires efficient
breathing, which can't happen when the gills are damaged. And, even a
minute out of the water for a photograph is enough to cause trouble.


I use light wire circle hooks, the lighter the better, and snip off and
file down the barb. When I want to release anything other than a trash
fish, I usually can grab the end of the hook with my long nose pliers and
wiggle it out of the corner of the fish's mouth without lifting the fish
completely out of the water.

You have to be really careful with toothy, aggressive fish, for obvious
reasons. I lift blues out of the water behind the gills and release them
the same way.

If I can't get the hook out of the corner, I snip off the leader and line.
Since I'm using light ferrous hooks, I'm pretty confident they'll rust out
fairly quickly.

There's no doubt, however, that sal****er fish caught and released do not
have the same high survival rate as, say, freshwater largemouth bass who
are caught and released.

Actually, there has to be doubt. It's easier to tag and study fish in a
lake, where, assuming they're not caught and eaten, they're more likely to
be seen again. In the ocean, there are no boundaries.