Large fish need special care and handling when practicing catch and release.
Many anglers who fish practice catch-and-release rather than keeping their catch. This allows fish to continue growing and gives other anglers a chance to catch them.
If you decide to release your fish, follow these tips and consider your bait's depth to help ensure fish keep swimming after release.
- Wet your hands before handling the fish.
- Keep it out of the water for a short period of time.
- Unhook it, snap a quick photo and let it go.
- If you hold the fish by its mouth, you should also support it horizontally underneath its body.
- Have pliers or forceps ready in case you need a tool to get a tough hook out quickly and gently.
- Release the fish gently back into the water – don’t toss it. This will limit impact to the fish.
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Responsible catch-and-release fishing can help ensure continued quality fishing opportunities.
Anglers can boost the odds of fish surviving catch and release by using methods that avoid internal damage caused by hooks, stress and being pulled from deep water.
- Fish hooked in the mouth almost always survive. Set the hook quickly to avoid hooking a fish deeply. Jigs, circle hooks and active baits like crankbaits are more likely to hook a fish in the mouth.
- Don’t angle for fish in very deep water, unless you plan to keep what you catch. Fizzing of fish, or the act of inserting a needle into a fish intended to deflate the gas bladder, caught from deep water can do more harm than good and is not legal.
- Have pliers ready that work well for taking hooks out. Cutting the line and leaving the hook in the fish is also a good option.
- Quickly land a fish to minimize a fish's time out of water.
- Handle the fish firmly but carefully. Wet your hands before touching a fish to prevent removal of their protective slime coating. Rubberized nets help, too.
- Unhook and release the fish while it is still in the water, if possible, and support its weight with both hands or with a net when removed from the water. Never lift them vertically from the water.
- Do not place fish you plan to release on a stringer or in a live well.
- Revive a fish by cradling it under the belly and gently moving it forward in the water until it swims away.
- Do not release a fish that can be legally kept if it is bleeding heavily or can't right itself.