Releasing fish

[Captain Mr. Mike]

I’m new to Salmon fishing and would like to know how to properly release fish with out injuring them. 

[hawkeye625]

Get a fish type grip and 6ft piece of rope and drag them behind boat until they revive . That way you can pull the ones that dont revive back in for table fair. Works really well.

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[hawkeye625]

Like this

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[reel retirement]

I tried doing that for the first tie this year and it works great!

[reeleyz]

Good topic.

I think a lot of fish gets wasted. I can’t see people actually eating a full rack of trout/salmon. It is good for advertising and that’s about it.


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[UNREEL]

You can’t beat a Boga Grip. Very well made and has an accurate scale built in 

[whaler1]

You can’t beat a Boga Grip. Very well made and has an accurate scale built in 

X2


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[freebird18]

Same principal applies to releasing Stealhead in rivers. Let them get water thru gills for several minutes. Released a lot of SH that lived to fight another day.

[kempie]

I leave them in the net along the boat and remove the hook while they are in the net. get a quick picture if you want and then revive over the side. handle as little as possible.

[Sk8man]

As much as possible I try not to net, handle, or otherwise touch them and use needle nose pliers to grip the single hooks I use and a quick twist of the wrist usually releases them safely without taking them out of the water if I can. It is another reason I stopped using trebles on my spoons a long time ago only on flies and sticks. Unfortunately the method isn't real practical with the small trebles on the sticks.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Sk8man

[GAMBLER]

Boga grips are a great tool when used properly. There have been studies done showing injuries to fish when held vertically on a Boga. When Large trout, pike and musky are held vertically, their internal organs slide down and can be damaged. It can also damage their spine. There was a big write up in the DEC regulations a couple years ago about it.


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[whaler1]

Beauty of the Boga (or similar products) is when you pull the fish in with the net you grab it by the jaw and pull it out of the net. The alternative is putting your hand inside the fishes Gill plate and pulling it out of the net.
Seen a lot more blood spilled utilizing the conventional method.
Do agree totally regarding proper care for any fish that is going to be released.


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[Chuck Smth]

We boated (and released) a nice king this year that had been caught before, so thanks to whoever released it before we caught it. 

 

Chuck

[Scalloper 1]

On 7/17/2021 at 9:17 AM, reeleyz said:

Good topic.

I think a lot of fish gets wasted. I can’t see people actually eating a full rack of trout/salmon. It is good for advertising and that’s about it.


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I have thought the same thing for years. We were on a charter a couple of years ago. My buddy landed a med king and told the mate to let it go. The Capt nearly fell overboard.

[Scalloper 1]

On 7/17/2021 at 6:24 PM, whaler1 said:

Beauty of the Boga (or similar products) is when you pull the fish in with the net you grab it by the jaw and pull it out of the net. The alternative is putting your hand inside the fishes Gill plate and pulling it out of the net.
Seen a lot more blood spilled utilizing the conventional method.
Do agree totally regarding proper care for any fish that is going to be released.


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I dont think holding a heavy fish from the bottom jaw is a good idea at all. Grab the tail tightly and cradle under the head/gill area. Not putting fingers in the gills. Use the boga to pull the fish through the water maybe but dont hold the fish up by the jaw.

[laketrout6]

I agree with SK9man.    I don't ever net one unless it's for the cooler, just do as he said. I don't ever remember one released this way come floating up dead or dying. Saves cleaning up the floor of blood/slime too.

[ErieBuck]

I didn’t even bring a cooler for my trip this week and have been trying to catch and release all fish alive…. Somebody on here posted the technique of hooking the fish with a lip grabber and towing behind the boat with a paracord, 10ft or so, in the motor wash until the fish revives…. Guess what,,,, it works incredibly. Thank you for this tip!!!

Caught several 20lb+ salmon, netted, Posed for pictures, etc, hooked up to lip grabber then towed behind the boat for 5 min or so. Fish starts swimming on its own after a few minutes and you can tell when it’s ready. Pull in, Unhook, and it swims down to the abyss! I Don’t like to kill unless I eat!

Works extremely well with Kings. Steelhead are a little more difficult but still works


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[ErieBuck]

I didn’t even bring a cooler for my trip this week and have been trying to catch and release all fish alive…. Somebody on here posted the technique of hooking the fish with a lip grabber and towing behind the boat with a paracord, 10ft or so, in the motor wash until the fish revives…. Guess what,,,, it works incredibly. Thank you for this tip!!!

Caught several 20lb+ salmon, netted, Posed for pictures, etc, hooked up to lip grabber then towed behind the boat for 5 min or so. Fish starts swimming on its own after a few minutes and you can tell when it’s ready. Pull in, Unhook, and it swims down to the abyss! I Don’t like to kill unless I eat!

Works extremely well with Kings. Steelhead are a little more difficult but still works


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Caught over 20 fish today, 12 mature big salmon and many on long lines which can be completely exhausting/lethal for the fish. When I hooked them behind the boat to revive, I got to see that beautiful creature up close in its habitat as it came back to life, unhooked and swam away. Really cool.
Just be sure to hook the salmon on the area between their tongue and jawbone with lip grabber.


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