Unhooking flatties

After the Jimmy Smith on Saturday im wondering how many anglers know how to unhook from behind the gill plate and how many were just plain lazy

Just in case anyone has missed to read it - this is the best way to unhook flatties properly:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30031&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=properly+unhooking+flatties
This simple technique gives undersized flatfish like flounders, dabs, etc. the best survival rates by far.

everyone knows yet the beachs were carpeted with dead flats maybe people just dont bother making the effort maybe having to get two signatures on the card ment the fish were out of the water longer than they should have been another thing that didnt help was not many people had buckets of water for there fish

everyone on this site should have no problem Unhooking flatties after reading all the information on here,after using the information myself I have no problem Unhooking flatties even deep hooked ones

this is my first year fishing competitions and so far I haven't seen any washed up flatties I think that is partly because the lads handed out a handy disgorger that is ideal for flatties at the comp,thanks pete a

one thing I don't like about the rules in competitions is the length of time you can keep the fish out of the water,after landing a fish you can bait up and cast out first and then go to the next peg to get the fish measured and get your card filled in which all takes time

I think it would be better if you landed a fish that you should unhook it and then go to the next peg and measure it and then return it to the water before you can cast out and fill in the card

everyone knows yet the beachs were carpeted with dead flats maybe people just dont bother making the effort maybe having to get two signatures on the card ment the fish were out of the water longer than they should have been another thing that didnt help was not many people had buckets of water for there fish

whatever about other species flounder can last a long time out of water - weve all heard the stories of lads taking one home and hours after being out of the water sticking it in the pan and it jumping around

they are able to bury themselves if beached and wait for the next tide so they dont suffer from being out of water as much

once you sever the gills the fish is pretty much a gonner -thats what kills them

got to agree with you brian,sounds like hooks were just yanked out damaging the fish...ive caught loads and unhooking them is easy with the gadget....and as brian said,they last a long time out of the water..

I've started throwing the fish into a bucket of water with the trace still attached while i recast. Also a mate and myself have started putting flats and small rounds into a bucket for five minutes before returning them after the hook is carefully removed. This seems to be working well with undersize whiting and coalie in particular, rather than going belly up when put back in the tide, after a few minutes in the bucket most seem to make a better effort when put back in the tide. Problem is, this practise is near to impossible to practise when match angling with regard to cheating etc.

We need to treat the fish better full stop, not just for the long term benefits of the sport but to keep the anti blood sports lobby off our backs. We can plead that we practise c & r till we're blue in the face but all it takes is some anti angling zealout to witness a beach full of small and dead fish to start some sort of campaign to bin us! ( Without meaning to be a drama queen, they'res plenty of such people out there). South Shore ran a superbly well run comp on Sat and it was great to see anglers as far as the eye could see in either direction; it would be a major own goal if this was to be jeapordised because of our own behaviour.

i remember fishing with chris feeney one time after he returned from home nations event

he was placing the small white fish in a bucket before unhooking and after and then after a while putting them back in the water

i was amazed at how few if any went belly up

youd need 2 buckets to do this at a comp and as you said bazzer wide open for cheating

this is one of the things that put me right off competition fishing. we were in a shore angling club for a year and fished some open and invitational events and the ammount of people who reel in a trace with a full house of wee fish and unclip them and hang them on the tripod flapping about while cliping on a new baited rig, wade out, cast it out then return to tighten the slack line before doing anything with the fish flapping about was saddening. then they have to go through the process of unhooking the 3 fish and if one happens to be difficultly hooked there is another few mins of mucking about before all 3 are returned to the sea. sadly it did'nt bode well for the fish they caught as they just washed back up on the shore knackered more often than not. i remember getting the end peg at an event on waterfoot beach co antrim as the tide was flooding in. 3 hours into the comp there must have been a half dozen dead flounder being washed back in with the surf. it sounds daft, but i felt guilty as hell as the dog walkers were going past looking at the fish then looking at me with disgust not knowing it was bugger all to do with me. i understand how competitive some of the lads on the shore comp scene are. but surely this could be reduced with the bucket idea as it would at least give them a fighting chance. i'm no tree hugger by any means and there is always the potential for a fish getting gut hooked and ending up as gull food. it's just one of those things that's gonna happen from time to time. but i think if some of the lads on the comp scene worried as much about the welfare of the fish in their care on the beach as they did about getting another rig back out there there and a score card marked up there would be a lot less instances of the high tide line being awash with dead tiddlers after a comp. no where near as bad as back in the day when everything was killed and marked up at the end and dumped back into the sea, but things are progressing in the right direction by comparison of 30 years ago. still room for improvement thow

Al/jordan

Al I can understand where your coming from and I am in total agreement with you, great for the comp anglers to be fishing, but it only takes seconds to unhook a fish and even if its deep hooked cut the hook as close as possible.... I understand that in a comp time is limited... and nobody really knows what they will land.... But as said before we don't need the public walking past and seeing dead fish in the tide....

Yes the bucket is a way out of the situation but so is unhooking the fish 1st thing after they are signed for( but I understand that people are needed for that part ) so maybe that part needs to be looked at as well.... and maybe having a rig ready to cast as soon as the 1st one is pulled in......

Sorry lads for the rant but that is just my point of view on the subject and I hope you all can respect hat for me and the lads i fish with the welfare of the fish comes FIRST.......

Regards

Dave

Just in case anyone has missed to read it - this is the best way to unhook flatties properly:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30031&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=properly+unhooking+flatties
This simple technique gives undersized flatfish like flounders, dabs, etc. the best survival rates by far.

just top put my 2c in on this,
there are 2 very good ways of unhooking flatties
both are quick and do little or no damage to the fish.

here viewtopic.php?f=6&t=16946
and here viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30031

only because one says properly, doesnt mean the other isn't just as effective!

all very well being able to unhook fish through the gill plate,or using a wooden chopstick,as described on this site,great if people use what ever humane method that they're comfortable with.....but its all pointless when lads return fish at the waters edge feckin the fish 2 feet up in the air,i dunno if fish suffer concussion or what but its chances of survival are slim..we've all seen dogs horsed back being swung by the tail...just hold it at the back of the head and slip it in.......just like you know what

Where would one get one of these gadgets for releasing hooks from the mouth?

you can make then up from a metal coat hanger..... or try a tackle shop

a coat hanger works well if you bend a crook at the end of it - ideally a thinner diameter wire is better

also the metal the coat hangers are made of tends to rust badly in time