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Posts: 3
| I had a ~30 inch fish die on me last night. I feel terrible about it and I'm trying to figure out exactly what happened. I'm pretty new to muskie fishing so I thought I would ask some people with more experience so I can learn better for the future.
Details:
Fish hit a bulldawg and had one treble in the mouth. Short fight and the fish was very healthy in the net - no blood. One hook was stuck in the roof of the mouth, another penetrated in between two of the gill arches (but was very tight to the gill arches), and the last one was free. Spent about 40 seconds trying to grab the fish by the gill plate with a lindy glove so I may have poked the gills a bit - hard to get a feel with this bulky glove.
Switched to a lighter glove and quickly cut all three hooks. Only the gill hook was left (so the other two hook pieces fell somewhere in the mouth - couldn't find them). Pulled the gill hook out with a little effort and put the fish back in the water. Head was out of the water for 30 seconds or so.
Then I saw the fish pumping out spurts of blood in the water. Skipped photos/measuring but did look for the missing hook pieces a couple times which I thought may have been causing the bleeding - probably should've kept the fish in the water the entire time here. Bleeding stopped after a couple minutes and I worked with the fish for two hours till dark to no avail. Really sucks.
I'm trying to figure out what caused all the bleeding. I'm thinking it was either
1) The gill hook I pulled out
Would make sense but I would've thought that I would've seen some blood after landing the fish. Hook was very tight to the gill arches but definitely underneath them. Maybe I'm supposed to leave a hook piece when I think it might be in the gills.
2) Poking around with the lindy glove
Didn't put a ton of pressure but it's a bulky glove and hard to get under the gill plate of a small fish. Not sure if I could have damaged the gills enough to cause that much bleeding. Maybe I should use a lighter glove on a gill plate hold.
3) The free hook pieces
Maybe I need to be more careful about free hook pieces in a fish's mouth. Didn't think they would cause a ton of damage without pressure but I'm not sure.
Would love to hear your thoughts. |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Hard to say, but probably the hook point that penetrated. Fish do die and there's little anyone can do about it. Kudos for doing the best you could! |
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Posts: 3
| Thanks for the reply. That's my guess as well and I understand that fish will die as part of fishing.
To phrase the question a little differently, I'm wondering what more experienced anglers would do in these situations.
As far as cutting hooks, I'm usually fishing alone so I would prefer to cut hooks without thinking about it for my own safety. Do people worry much about hook pieces falling into the fish's throat when cutting hooks? I would try to cut as few hooks as possible if I thought the hook pieces could cause some damage.
Would people consider leaving the gill hook piece in the fish?
And do people use the Lindy glove when grabbing a fish by the gill plate? Maybe only bigger fish. I would like to avoid getting hooked if I can help it.
Wondering what most people tend to do.
Edited by bigwillmc 10/2/2020 1:28 PM
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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | Don't beat yourself up to badly over it. IMO you went above and beyond what many would do.
Like Steve said, it happens sometimes.
Most have had a fish die on them at some point. |
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Posts: 17
| Sorry to hear that. I know it's gut wrenching, but don't let it deter you from the sport. I stopped using bulky gloves a long time ago. The best I have found are these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FKRH6VK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_ti... They are thin and stretchy, but have enough rubber around the fingers and palm to prevent cuts and they have stopped hooks, too. If there are eagles on the lake you were fishing and the musky didn't sink, they will most likely grab him and eat him. I see them do this with floating pike all the time. |
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Posts: 1392
Location: Brighton CO. | Sometime they just die! Any time we hook a fish there's a chance they won't survive. |
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Posts: 255
| I've yelled, "you stupid fish" a number of times when they do the exact opposite they "should". Apparently they don't like being hooked in the face, back, etc. You can't control the whole process. Sometimes it goes very well. Sometimes terrible. We don't do it on purpose, but preparation and practice helps. Have a good fall bite. |
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Posts: 1265
Location: E. Tenn | chuckski - 10/2/2020 8:27 PM
Sometime they just die! Any time we hook a fish there's a chance they won't survive.
This...once I had one just up and die in the net, and it was hooked in the roof of the mouth, and no other injuries... Sometimes $h*t just happens.
You did your best, don't beat yourself up.
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Posts: 716
| Fish hooked in the lower throat area are the highest risk for a good release. There are a lot of large blood vessels and the heart is also in that area. Beyond that strive to move efficiently. Don't be afraid to dip the head back in the water and give it "a breath" if it is taking a while to get the hooks out. All that said if its hooked near the juncture of the gill v and where it joins the lower jaw and bleeds an overly large amount it will usually not make it.
Fortunately they don't get hooks there often. I glad your trying to break it down and see if you can improve as it is something we should all strive for...a great catch AND strong release. |
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Posts: 552
Location: WI | I’m sure getting hooked in the mouth and dragged into a net is a stressful situation. Stress sometimes leads to bad outcomes. Perhaps karma will reward your efforts at some point later on. |
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Posts: 20218
Location: oswego, il | These things happen. I have had fish die on me with no real explanation, not even any blood. I had one just tail sink to the abyss, another just lay sideways motionless and another died in the net by the time I grabbed pliers. None had tough battles, none hooked with more than one treble and none deep. No blood, no explanation as to why. |
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Posts: 724
Location: Southern W.Va. | Sounds to me like you done all you could, like others have said, s#$t happens. Sometimes they just die despite all you do. |
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Posts: 8781
| That happened to me on a 43"er that hit about 20 feet from the boat. I thought I was snagged until I saw the fish. The water wasn't hot, fish came off in the net, no blood, no time out of the water. It finally swam off after about 10 minutes, but I'm pretty sure that fish was done for. Nothing I could have done except not throwing that cast at that spot on that day. |
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Posts: 1291
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin | I think bturg hit it on the button. The "very small" heart is below the tongue at the "V" of the gills. Hit it with a hook and it is a dead fish regardless of size. Had a client catch a two-footer that was dead before he got it to the boat. Nothing to do to prevent other than not fishing! In 64 years of catching muskies, I've only seen it happen a few times. Forget about it and keep fishing! |
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Posts: 72
| This is the exact reason I think musky should get tagged like a deer. No reason that fish couldn't have been kept. We ate one once that died similar to that. It was descent. This is back when the legal size was 32" and it was a smaller legal fish. Nobody I know of keeps a musky anymore but I would like to if this happened........good thing I suck at catching them! |
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Posts: 8
| The brain is located just behind the eyes a bit and in a cavity above the roof of the mouth. It rarely happens, as their brain is quite small, but the hook must have penetrated and hit either the brain or nerves extending from the brain. |
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Killed muskie... what went wrong?