Releasing Kings

[JDK]

Just returned from lake Ontario.  What a fantastic fishery you have.  Perhaps a very dumb question...can kings be released successfully this time of year? The ones that we tried didn't do very well.  

[LongLine]

They won't survive if you don't.   (sorry but wiseguy in me)  Hold their heads in the direction of your troll for a few minutes to try to resusitate them, then push them downward.  Many do survive this way.

[JDK]

I guess if you don't try they die.  We stopped fishing for them because of the hard time releasing.

[HB2]

I find the best thing you can do is have the pliers handy , net them , get the hooks out and get them back in the water in seconds . I rarely take pics anymore because of that . Sometimes I don't take them out of the water and rip the hooks out with the net  to get them gone ASAP . 

 

And don't put your hands in their gills so they don't bleed.  

[Frogger]

There’s been past posts on this topic, I too have unhooked them and have gotten them in the water only to see them belly up.  Since doing the bogo grip on a rope trick I haven’t looked back.  If you haven’t tried it, do the fish a favor and give it a try. 

[Yankee Troller]

1 hour ago, Frogger said:

There’s been past posts on this topic, I too have unhooked them and have gotten them in the water only to see them belly up.  Since doing the bogo grip on a rope trick I haven’t looked back.  If you haven’t tried it, do the fish a favor and give it a try. 

 

This helps revive more than not. 

[sherman brown]

the best thing you can do if they are caught in water deeper than about 25' is to get a kit for deflating their air bladder. u-tube is your friend. watch videos on bleeding the air bladder on them. then after bleeding the air bladder you still want to revive them like stated above. you can try holding them with their faces facing into the current for a few minutes.

 

I have also thought about using a metal stringer with the locks on the clips and hook them through the front of their bottom lip then hang them over the side of your boat for a few minutes with the boat moving forward to revive them.

 

the most important thing for any fish released from deep water is letting the air out of the air bladder. you have to do this if you want them to survive.

[Tall Tails]

I second the Boga grip with a rope.  Unless its a long copper fish they will swim away 98% of the time. 

[JDK]

Thanks all.

 

Will try the Boga next year should we be lucky enough to be in the same situation.  

Edited July 26, 2023 by JDK

[Frogger]

[TyeeTanic]

21 hours ago, Frogger said:

There’s been past posts on this topic, I too have unhooked them and have gotten them in the water only to see them belly up.  Since doing the bogo grip on a rope trick I haven’t looked back.  If you haven’t tried it, do the fish a favor and give it a try. 

Agreed. Bogo grip on a rope, as quickly as possible (keep photo time to a minimum  ... 1 to 2 shots at most), troll with them hanging off the back. Go back to your normal fishing stuff. Once you see them shaking their heads, release boco grip, and most of the time, if their gills haven't been damaged ... they are good to go.

[13owhunter]

If possible, dont bring them in the boat at all and release at the side of the boat if they are still spunky.  I tell my friends that if they want a Pic they are bringing it home with few exceptions. I'll have to try the boga rope trick....

[Sk8man]

In addition to the boga method two things NOT to do: Don't bring them in the boat to the hot floor and don't hold them VERTICALLY with hands in their gill area.

[BreakingBass]

One trick I use to shorten picture time is using a GoPro camera.  It's set in ready to record mode and when I have a fish near the boat I hit the button so it starts to record.  I grab still shots from the video clip later at home.  I only keep 2-3 fish per season for myself, and find that leading them alongside the boat on the Bogo clip for a few minutes does the trick.  I get immense pleasure from seeing these fish revive, tug on the clip, and then dive deep back to where they came from.

[RH93]

If I'm going to release a fish, I wont even net it. Get it to the side of the boat, grab it with a set of lip grippers, unhook, then drag it until it starts getting spunky again. My goal is to not touch the fish if I want to release it and have it survive. Taking the fish out of the water is also not ideal. Obviously. 

 

The only fish I've had go belly up was a small king that was too small to keep. But that fish never popped the release on the rigger, and was dragged for at least 25 minutes. 

[HB2]

Bw carefull leaning over  the side of the boat . 

 

I caught a real nice pike in the mountains and netted it and pulled it in  and took hooks out in the bottom of the boat . Leaned over the side to revive it.  The floor was slippery  from its slime and my feet slipped out from under me and I fell overboard . I could hear my I'mbuddy in the boat right next to me  laughing while I was underwater . My boatmate grabbed my from behind by my belt and hauls me back into the boat like a carp . 

[john1947]

Anyone ever try attaching a short leader and sending the fish deep where it came from.(downrigger)

Seems to work

[mudflat]

https://seaqualizer.com/product/seaqualizer-descending-device/
 

I have a Seaqualizer ready, hook it to a down rigger and send them back down slowly.  I hope getting them back down to colder water helps revive them