Releasing fish properly...

Discovering fast, in particular with the small coalies that have the place infested at the moment, that a brief spell in a bucket of clean sea water really helps them when it comes to putting them back alive. Unhook them quickly and drop em in for a couple of minutes. You would be surprised how much stronger they swim away when you drop them back after a brief recovery period.

have done this myself in the past and it does work for some species...

Thanks for the info, gonna have to try this soon.

Ye must try that,, every time i seem to put back a small whiting they just float back up to the surface, which i hate to see!

Any coalfish i catch seem to be quit hardy and go back easy enuff however whiting and codling for me is a different story if keeping them in a bucket helps i will give it a go in future.

wet hands, unhooked with care, plus if you have a bucket of water for the smaller fish to revive them in its handy, if you have to drop fish in from piers etc it is best done by lowering them down in with a net or something instead of throwing or dropping them, as the impact with the water can kill them, if returning fish on the beach best to wade in and hold them until the kick off under their own steam.

Thanks lads some great tips and suggestions there. I will have to take greater care with my release. I would be a terrible waste of fish to kill them just as you are letting them go.

Ye must try that,, every time i seem to put back a small whiting they just float back up to the surface, which i hate to see!

whiting are extremely hard to return alive- best avoid fishing for them if possible.

small whiting tend not to go back well because u usually dont know u have one on and other fish will attack it while its hooked i have brought in whiting who,s whole belly has been eaten and on one occasion had one half way up the harbour wall in bray with another one with its head buried in its stomach .even using braid small ones can fail to register a bite supose the only way around it it to up hook size to avoid catching them if possible :?

a buddy of mine swears blind about throwing wrass hard against the water when releasing them, the shock seems to shake them back to life. tried it a few times myself and i have to say 95%of them went back but i dont know how many might have floated up again out of sight of the boat

Sure I read an article about returning wrasse - though can't remember the technique - must go and find it, I have a feeling it was something that seemed a bit counter-intuitive so maybe Paul is right. I find it's the cuckoos that don't go back very well, don't know how many I've seen the gulls guzzle. Be nice if there was a way to get them back down there.

That trip from Kilmore Quay nothing short of amazed me. Wrasse well over 3lb being swooped on and swallowed whole by Gannets before they got chance to right themselves.... Unreal.

It is amazing what birds are able to take in 1 go. Just wondering though.... is there a swim bladder issue with some fish e.g. pollack, whiting. Have heard that the swim bladder can rupture if the fish is retrieved quickly from deepish water due to a sudden change in pressure. Not sure if this true but makes sense to me.

I seen it on the box but i cant remember what fish but they dropped them head first in the water and they shot off. Something about the rush of water through the gills helps them.

mb3 told that last year and ive never looked back. works really well for whiting and pouting. its nice to see your fish swim away.