Whiting dying

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bassboy
SAI Hammerhead
Posts: 323
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:32 pm

Whiting dying

#1 Post by bassboy »

Hi all,on Friday night I went fishing and we caught about 20 whiting .One of the whiting coughed up a ragworm and I used it as bait and caught 4 more whiting.When I was putting the whiting back in ,8 of them died even though they were released them in less than 10seconds and were only lip hooked.can anyone please give me a few tips to stop this please,thanks
chuckaroo
SAI Megalodon!
Posts: 1939
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 7:40 am
Favourite Fish: halibut
Location: Co.Antrim

Re: Whiting dying

#2 Post by chuckaroo »

think that its almost impossible to prevent.. delicate little fish
dont concern myself to much about it, plenty of them about. and they'll make a great meal for a passing gull
Charlie

2025 targets:
40lb+ stinger, shore skate, shore tope, 10lb+ cod
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donal domeney
Head of International Security and Bringer of World Peace
Posts: 4898
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 11:13 pm
Location: cork

Re: Whiting dying

#3 Post by donal domeney »

Have a bucket of sea water next to you, when you catch a fish place it in the water attached to the trace. After casting out a new trace remove the hook from the fish and place it back in the bucket to give a minute or two to recover.

Try to return the fish into deep water away from the edge of the surf, empting the water at the same.

Fill up the bucket again for the next fish

I use this system at SAI comps with a 90% return rate.
At a few of the comps I’ve had the anglers next to me using my bucket to try to keep their fish alive too.
Specimen Fish 2024: Shore Rockling (3) 36cm, 34cm, 31cm; Thick Lipped Mullet (2) 58cm, 57cm; Smooth Hound (1) 109cm; Sting Ray (1)125cm; Ballan Wrasse (1) 48cm ; Corkwing Wrasse (1) 24.8cm. Golden Grey Mullet (2) 43cm, 1.8lb; 40.6cm, 1.55lb;
Total species boat/shore: 45
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Specimen Fish 2025: To date: 6.
Flounder 46cm; Spurdog 120cm; Stingray 91cm; Smooth Hound 114cm; 103.5cm; 104cm
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donal murphy
SAI Hammerhead
Posts: 218
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2005 7:19 pm
Location: Dublin

Re: Whiting dying

#4 Post by donal murphy »

Good tip Donal.. Thanks
bassboy
SAI Hammerhead
Posts: 323
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:32 pm

Re: Whiting dying

#5 Post by bassboy »

Thanks I was quickly unhooking them and just dropping them down the side of the harbour carefully but it doesn't really seem to work for whiting .thanks for replies .i will have to try the bucket and water
Eoin
SAI Hammerhead
Posts: 334
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 5:18 pm

Re: Whiting dying

#6 Post by Eoin »

you probably did this already but dont throw them back, place them gently back as the belly flop impact can stun and even kill them.
mojo
SAI Lug Worm
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2011 12:58 am

Re: Whiting dying

#7 Post by mojo »

They die mainly from the temperature shock, this can damage the gills. The sea is still 5-7 C while the air can be much colder. The last few nights have been below freezing. I agree with the bucket of water for unhooking/returning the fish.

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