Catch and release tactics?

[FLO1919]

Can anyone give me some tips on releasing steelhead when fishing out of my boat on Lake O? I have recently caught some nice chrome while out and they don't want to go down when I try to release them. Is this because their swim bladder is inflated or is it temp related? Can I deflate it with a syringe? I hate to kill fish I don't intend to eat and I can only eat so many.

[Boatino]

I should let my brother answer this but he came up with a rubber coated hook from Home Depot used to hang stuff on the wall and attach a 5-6 ft. piece of 1/4" line to it. Hook the fish under the gill plate but not the gill and lower it over the side. Resume trolling. As the fish revives he will swim upright. Give the line a jerk at that point and they'll usually swim away. It's worked for us for the past 2 years.

John

[S * K]

I also am up for ideas. I love trout fishing on the big O but not that big of fan keeping them and thats pretty much what ends up happening. I hang over the side for 15minutes and they look good and let them go and belly up they go. I can only had out so many pounds of fish to people.

[shadster]

A sad fact of life for these fish. They fight so hard they commit suicide.

[FLO1919]

This is why I am wondering if it is a swim bladder thing. I know when I have fished KY Lake on deep water drops for bass, we've had to "fizz em".

I enjoy fishing for fish on Lake O and I'm catching more each year. I don't want to stop fishing for them because I know I'm going to kill most of them that I catch. I get discouraged when I can't release a fish that I don't want to keep. It's not like I'm fighting them to death. I bring a few in green sometimes and they still dont want to swim. I hook them by the bottom lip with my gripper, drag em for a bit, they give me a few kicks like they are ready, then they float. Disappointing.

This is a cool video about "fizzing" www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing.../ho ... -bass.html

I think it is worth a try for deep water fish on Lake O. Any other thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

[shadster]

http://www.bassintips.com/fizzingbass.html

Thanks for sharing. I don't know if that is the condition the Salmonids experience or not. I know torpedoing lakers back into the water gives them a sudden burst of air for the bladder and they scurry back down to the depths.

What chance for a King caught on a 500/600 copper and another 50 yards or so of backing?

[Has Been]

Another Question answered.

[spoonfed-1]

FLO1919,

We succesfully released quite a few very large Steelhead a week ago Friday by unhooking them off the back of the boat. NO net, no handleling and nothing under the gill plates PLEASE. They will quite often turn on there side as they recover from the battle but give them a couple minutes and they will swim away. If not then it's time for a swing back through with the net and one for the box. As the surface water warms the survial rate will unfortunately decrease. Unfortunatley, not much you can do. No net and no handleing is best.

Very good question by the way.

Glen

[rolmops]

The best way to give them a chance to survive is by making the fight very short.The fish is not often worn out by it but has a huge milk acid build-up in the muscles causing muscle cramps and making it very painful for them to swim after a long fight.

[stoneyxc]

spoonfeds method works best for me, as long as they arent huge i release them off the back of the boat, use needle nose pliers and just grab the hook and roll it out. I caught a 24 inch atlantic this past weekend, beautiful fish, unfortunately he did not release my rigger, i had a bad release and i didnt notice him until i checked the rigger, i hate throwing back a fish that isnt going to make it but I dont want a ticket either.

[Has Been]

Spoonfed after the release & they are on their side , if there is a slight chop on the water, how do you keep sight of the fish with the whitecaps & the white belly cause for me when I do that , I loose sight of them pretty fast ,they blend in ?I have lost hats overboard and lost sight of them & lost them . Do you use binocs or somthing to keep track of them. Agreed ,the less handling the better. In the stream waters which are not nearly as warm as the surface of the lake now, I revive before release cause they somtimes need it . Just wondering how you handle that? Nice job on the big steelies !!!

[spoonfed-1]

Has Been,

Got to be smarter than the thing your working with. You could always reel in your two rods and take a minute or two out of your fishing day to watch the fish or you could start a circle after the release and have a rod man keep his eye on the fish. You will loose the fish for sure if you take your eyes off it in a chop while a constant eye is much more efficient. Personally I would tend to use my best judgement and assess the condition of the fish before the release if I was fishing in really choppy water. If he was in good shape, without serious bleeding or other visual damage I would release him and hope for the best based on experience.

Please remember saftey first.

As a side note in 45 years of fishing I can't remember loosing a hat. Probably did but I'll take them off in a stiff breeze.

Glen

[skipper19]

I have a live well with recirculating lake water going in it from the pump. I almost always have it filled before hand at least quarter to half full and if a fish will not "come to" I have it in the live well with the water filling and dumping from the pump. After a while the fish will be swimming around in the circular shape of the well and then all I do is lift him out and put him back in the lake. Always swim away. I suppose you could make due with the cooler and use a bilge pump or raw water wash down to do the same. Leave the plug out of the cooler and let it replenish.

Mark

[Has Been]

I have lost a hat or two , more than a few pliers ,& sunglasses reaching over the back of the boat releasing fish. Lost my share of lures that way when they break off when the fish thrashes around also. Never thought of keeping an eye on the fish got to remember that . with all those lines in the water ,especialy the 10 colors & 600 ft of copper on boards going 3 knots , how small of a circle can you make to get back on the fish when you see him floating 200 yards back , you know to make sure or pick him up? When you cant see them anymore , I guess they made it.

[skipper19]

Look for the seagulls coming to peck out the fishes eyes...then you know where it is

[spoonfed-1]

LOL. Your a piece of work Hasbeen.

I won't comment on this subject anymore as I believe you are unteachable.

Just a waste of my lousy typing skills.

As far as losing stuff I'd suggest avoiding that practice if you have that much trouble doing it.

Good luck out there.

Glen

[TOP SECRET]

I have tried unhooking the fish while still in the water and haven't had much luck. I'm just not very good at it! My high gunnels don't help either and when I open the "tuna door" I always feel like it's a bit unsafe. I do have to agree with Has Been a bit in that I've lost quite a few pairs of pliers and sunglasses as well!

I've begun to net every fish and then unhook them in the boat. I'm sure the net puts some stress on them, but on small fish if I'm not careful I have torn their jaws in the past trying to unhook them in the water.

Nick

[ray koziatek]

If your gonna release at back of boat wack it over the head with a club so it dont move all over and rip its lips..... ok just kiddin...im lucky enuf to be able to bring them alongside of boat and reach them and i use 20 lb line most of the time for the big boys so i can get em in as fast as possable..99% swim away unharmed maybe a little sore. But them draggers ant got much of a chance seems like 99% of the time they get every hook on your spoon in them...With time and experiance you will be releasing fish with a good succes rate too.

[ray koziatek]

One more thing how many times have ya heard "lost at back of boat"??

try letting out a spinny at the back of the boat what does it do .............. it goes down and is sucked to boat in back draft ...thats why i hate bringing a fish to the back of boat to net or release. the fish is tired from the fight and drag but when it hits the "draft" of the boat it shoots forward gets a little slack and gives that famous rigger wire wrap dive or puts the hooks in the net for a clean release pluss the net guy (most important roll of landing a fish) is reaching off ballance .....Ive found bringing them up the side of the boat keeps steady pressure on them easier to keep their heads up and one swipe of the net with a well ballanced net guy gets the fish and lure 99% of the time . ya gotta learn to read the fish as to what side of the moulth its hooked and bring it to the side that keeps the hook closest to the boat so the fish pulls away and not under the boat (more choas)...ok enuf tips for one night

Ps ok just for the rod man when that fish hits the draft and shoots forward you get a tad slack in the rod think its in the net and relaxe as the fish has its way....then the net guy starts hollaring head up head up....................ahh too late....

[Has Been]

On the side won't work on my boat . It's an I/O and I set it up so the riggers& rods are on the back corners and out downs 30 " up on sides.Diver boards in front of that. Back of boat is wide open for fighting & landing fish. I find behind transom they are out of the current & easier to unhook in the water. They have these dehookers in FLA. that are a long piece of wire w/ a handle on it bent at the endabout 3' long. If they made one for trebles , all it would take would be a push pull & it would be over. And yes Spoony , I am a piece of work . Perfection created in the Lords own hand . I have allways been know to ask the tough questions when I hear what don't add up & will continue to do so which doesn't endear me with some. . Unteachable? Right back at ya.

[kremer01]

What didn't add up?

Glen told you exactly what he did and answered your question.

I was on the boat and we successfully released many large fish off the back of the boat without a net. We watched each of them to make sure they survived before we got out of sight. One out of about 13-14 fish got 3 trebles in him, we boated it got the hook out then torpedoed it back in. It swam away strong because we did not screw around and play it out. Got the hooks out fast then got it back in asap.

The nice thing about prefishing is you don't have to really worry about boating them. You can play them alot tougher and get 'em to the boat and back in the water quick so they will live to fight again another day. We only had a couple that even rolled a little that we had to watch.

[fishon]

A quick fight always helps, have the camera and needle nose ready to go. Don't touch the gills if its going back in the lake, or try to hold the gill plate. Tharshing around in the boat is not good either. One hand under the belly, one around the tail, off the side of the boat torpedoing head first about a 45 degree angle. This i would say works about 95 percent of the time. Great with lakers, kings even on warm days. This has worked well over the years, If the fish is bleeding from the gills its probably to late. (happens alot on wire or leadcore with weight) Gill it put it on ice and give it to some one at the cleaning station if it is legal size. Someone might apperciate it. If is hot out and the water is warm on top, and leadcore is doing good.you may want to replace a downrigger (stacker) at that level with a long lead 20 lb test is alot better for the fish. Every one year old king or steelie could be 30 lbs plus fish in four years! just my two cents.

[ray koziatek]

hmm i have a IO,with 4 riggers and two dypsys out and bring em to the side ..put yer time in "has been" it took me 2 trips to lake ontario before i figured it out. straight inboards and outboards can get ya a little closer to the back for a better net job,,its the new guys like yourself "We" try to help . Hang in there and keep trying and like i said with a little practice you and other newer fishermen will be releasing fish with very good sucess rates ..

[GAMBLER]

hmm i have a IO,with 4 riggers and two dypsys out and bring em to the side ..put yer time in "has been" it took me 2 trips to lake ontario before i figured it out. straight inboards and outboards can get ya a little closer to the back for a better net job,,its the new guys like yourself "We" try to help . Hang in there and keep trying and like i said with a little practice you and other newer fishermen will be releasing fish with very good sucess rates ..

If you were a little taller Ray, you could land them in the back!

[Has Been]

From my corner rigger to me out is 30" with 2 rod holders in there w/ more in front of that . Why risk getting in the cables? Won't work for me & why should it. What I do works just fine for me. Question. Do all dead fish float. Seen them during fall& spring steam season bouncing down the bottom. Seen them on the bottom in shallow water in the lake. Circled fish for a while in calm waterw/ 80 degree surface temps as they "catch their breath" and seen them disaper. Does that mean they made it . Torpedoed fish bach & watched them weakly swim away. .I question if they survive. Watch released stuggling fish in a slight chop & you loose track of them fast. been there done that many times . Ain't my first rodeo. Know there will be mortality with the sport but not going to kid myself that it isn't there w/ steelheads being the most vulnerable & thats my question . My guess is once it's overboard that most boats don't turn around much. For the record, started LO trolling in 1978 & spent a good part of my life out there. Your welcome Ray for the guys like me who paved the way through trial & error so that you new guys can build on our hard work . Kind of like I want things better for my kids than I had.