Fish care

[alexthefisherman]

Hi lads, I've had a few thoughts on this topic lately, stemming from my background as predominantly a pike angler, concerning the way we handle fish on rocks/beach/pier/riverbank etc.

Most people fishing for pike, carp and tench will use an unhooking mat to lay fish when unhooking or transferring from net to weigh sling, but it appears that it doesn't happen very much in sea angling.

I feel that if we harp on about C+R then we should ensure the fish go back in as good a condition as possible. surely the use of some sort of unhooking mat would help prevent scale and fin damage, and prevent unnecessary slime loss?

What do people think on the topic?
Alex

[beachcomber]

Good point Alex, ideally unhook in the water but not always possible, proper unhooking tools will also help. Maybe a list of guidelines for unhooking and return would benefit.

[ShaneH]

99% of shore fish are unhooked while been held so i really don't see a point in using a unhooking mat
but i would like to see a change in the way fish are held for photos etc.
seeing ray and shark species been held by the tail or weighed by the jaw really pises me off.

[alexthefisherman]

well for what its worth, for pike i would consider this the requirements:

large unhooking mat, it doesn't need to be thick and padded, just enough to cushion hard ground. ideally rubberised, so that when wet it doesnt rub slime off.

tools: long nose forceps, needle nose pliers, side cutters for cutting hooks

handling: dont lift the fish above waist height for photos, and carry it in the net or sling when moving it back to the water. hold it using a chin grip and keep it well supported under the belly.

pike may seem tough as old boots but in reality they're very fragile and sensitive to poor handling. i'm sure sharks are the same, and bass etc can't but benefit from gentle treatment.

[alexthefisherman]

a lot of photos seem to be taken with fish resting on rocks or sand, which can't be good for the slime or scales i think.

[folanf2]

you should be studying our fyp alex not studying how to unhook fish if any more of them ray show up you won't have to worry about an unhooking mat anyway

[chuckaroo]

A lot of good points here Alex. i too am becoming more and more aware of the fragility of fish and the way they should and should not be handled. with our diminishing resource we should be very considerate of the way be handle our fish esp freshwater fish and especially pike imho

a lot of people will differ in opinion as to how much a fish can 'handle' being handled but here are a few good pointers well worth a read:

http://www.ginkandgasoline.com/fly-fish ... mortality/

i reckon all fisheries should have a fish handling protocol

there are arguments for and against all aspects of catching and handling a fish with the best advice being to try and handle fish to be returned as gently as possible, obviously. we need to be aware that fish are completely out of their natural environment when it comes to leaving the water - they don't have the support of the water around their bodies; the slime around their bodies that protects them against bacteria, fungus and infection can be easily removed; and, temperate and surfaces differ.

chin grips can break jaws! ive seen the lower jaws of pike broken in 2 by grips, not a nice sight i can assure you.
people argue that nets remove the protective slime. i fish a local rainbow trout fishery from time too time and there are some fish in there with fungal infections down 1 flank, i would be very reasonable to assume that the slime of the fish was removed when lifted into a net
people argue that even just touching a fish's gill can cause a lot of damage

[alexthefisherman]

yeah i agree, there's some level of damage that's unavoidable unless you don't fish, but we have a responsibility to the fish and other anglers to do our best, and if that means not getting a photo because you can't avoid damaging the fish, then so be it!

p.s. frank-stats are done!

[fishfeatures]

good thread imo Alex. I alwasy try to cause as less stress on the fish as possible, but recently when fishing from the beach, there were also 10-13 other anglers there too, and I was shocked to see the way in which they treated their catches. They were literally unhooking doggies , flats, etc and walking close to the waters edge and dropping them back into the water, at times one fella was flinging his doggies out 10ft or so back into the water. Total lack of respect...

[ste c]

i do have 1 thing to say on this and its who ever goes chasing the smoothies this year with a pair of scales at least buy a weigh sling the amount of idiots i seen last year with scales hanging from where ever they could get it was rediculous,also makes life alot easier/quicker to weigh and return