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Posts: 8848
| With temperatures hovering up in the 90's and no relief in sight, water temperatures are going to be up past that critical 80 degree mark for the near future...
Ideally the thing to do is just not fish for muskies, but we know people are going to fish anyway. Guides have to make a living, people plan trips months in advance.
We've beaten the topic to death talking about using the proper tools, water releases, not having the fish out of the water too long or fighting the fish too long, but what about the actual release?
Many people think it's best to just hold the fish upright and let it regain its strength, let it swim off on its own. Some people think you should push the fish down into deeper, cooler, and presumably more oxygenated water. Still others will swear that the best way to revive a fish is in the livewell, where you can re-oxygenate (is that a word?) the fish in a place where it feels more secure and doesn't feel like it needs to get away as soon as it has the strength to move.
Some people put ice in the livewell with the fish.
Some leave it in the net for a while.
What do YOU do? WHY?
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| Fish for other species | |
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Posts: 8848
| ok fishwater
suppose you're jigging for walleyes and you hook a 45 incher that takes you forever to get in the boat becauswe youre using your walleye gear...
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| In these conditions where a fish may recover slowly and not swim off agressively, I think THE most important thing to do is to stay in the area where you released the fish for at least 15 to 30 min to make darn sure that fish stays upright and down. I have seen more than once where a fish may have appeared fine when released and then went belly up a few minutes later and the guy releasing it is long gone. A fish that's having some trouble staying upright may need to be held nursed for 5-15 minutes to make sure it's re-gained it's balance.
I prefer holding the fish by the tail with it's body upright and head slightly downward. Just hold gently, no rocking, back and forth etc. I don't think keeping it in the net helps - if the fish can't stay upright you need to hold it. If the fish can stay upright on it's own I let go and just watch nearby - thus the net's not needed in this case either.
One time I had a medium-sized fish that I could not get to stay upright after about 10 min of holding in the water. I put it in the livewell for about 30 min and it recovered nicely and swam off strong. I doubt you could put a big fish in a well - you just have to be patient and committed to getting that fish recovered by holding it - maybe 15-30 min or longer. If you give up that fish dies for sure. | |
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| don the scuba gear
get in the water
swim it down to better oxygenated water and cooler temps.
or just fish for bass/walleye and hope for the best | |
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| In that situation, I'd hold the fish by the tail, head pointed down and when s/he took off - wish her luck. Not much more to do.
I really doubt putting a fish in the live well will reduce the stress. Taking a fish out of it's environment and putting it in a box is not going to help.
Who cleans their livewell? I'm sure theres plent of ripe bacteria in mine as I rarely fill them.
Let it get back to it's own environment asap. The fish will know better than us what it needs. | |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | i will try to net it quick, get the hooks out, get some pics in the water and hold her until she's
ready to go. i did have a musky once that i released in ok condition and 5 minutes later she was back
on the surface shaking hear head and acting strange. anyone know why it was doing this? | |
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Posts: 5874
| I clean my livewell often, with bleach, for several reasons.
#1. I don't want to spread invasive species from one lake to another.
#2. I don't want that bacteria to kill any walleyes when I fish eye tournies
#3. I hate a nasty livewell. Pheeee-eew!
I have seen fish revive in the livewell, so if it's big enough, and deep enough, and you have a good recirc system, I recommend that way. Put that fish in a cool dark place, and it works.
I do know some who will torpedo the fish down so that it gets below the top layer of warmest water, and with reportedly good results. Lake St Claire Guides do this alot. I've seen it on Pewaukee Lake.
Remember, these are fish. We put large, extremely sharp objects into them. Never is it optimum for a fish to be caught. Fish will die, not matter how careful we are. It's still just a fish. I'll not lose any sleep if one goes belly up on me. As long as I do everything I can, short of not fishing for them, I'm ok. | |
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| Every season this subject gets beat into the ground and we always learn the same thing. There have not been any studies that provide real statistical evidence of higher mortality in hot water. Certainly in hot water if people make mistakes or are still learning how to quickly remove hooks and get fish back into the water the fish is at higher risk. But I have been at meetings where the IL and IN DNR both told us there was no evidence of higher mortality in high water temps. One of the biologists told us the mortality is higher than we think all year long, we just see the fish more worn out after battle in hot water. They said when we battle them in any water temp they have a rather high rate of mortality. Stocking also has very low survival rates (not including predation), as low as 50%. With that in mind, maybe we should just quit fishing for them altogether? What is a low enough rate of mortality that it is acceptable to fish for them? This time of year the thermoclynes are often very defined and the fish can't go below them due to low disolved oxygen so they are going to be in warm water before you catch them anyway. What they need after a battle since cold water isn't available is a good supply oxygen that they can get from your livewell. | |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | With water temps in the high 70's where I fish and guide I will water release all fish. If that huge fish comes to a client and they would like a picture it will be a decision reached after the I explain the harm that could cause the fish.
If a picture is going to be taken it would only be a minute the fish is out of the water.
Once a fish is hooked the fight should be short and the fish should be netted or not netted. But the fish should always be kept in the water while you remove the hooks when possible. I like to just reach down with a long nose pliers or knipex and remove the hooks while the fish is boatside without a net and shake them off. I have noticed the differance in the release recovery, the water released fish swim off strong fast and the fish that come out of the water for a quick photo take longer to swim off.
If you have to fish, release them without even touching them. Pictures are great but when it comes to hurting a fish for a picture, that memory will not be the one you were looking for.
Over the years of fishing I have found that poor handling of fish is the major mortality factor I have seen. The fish I see dropped in the boat , wrapped up in small cloth nets for 10 to 15 minutes, pulled in the boat and beat up while moving the hooks, even ripping out the hooks because they don't have extra hooks for the HOT LURE....etc. Stuff like that kill more fish than experianced fishermen fishing in upper 70 degree water temps.
I was just on a vacation and all the well known guides were out with clients every day. We fished at night and the temps were pushing 80, I am sure the day time temps were even higher.
All the fish we caught released very fast. The wind was rippin and 3 to 4 ft waves almost every day we fished.
Flat calm hot days vs windy choppy water. I think the windy oxygenated water help the fish and the fishing when the water temps are high.
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| Ciscoes floating dead past you on a regular basis on Mille lacs RIGHT NOW if you go up there,,,suckers washing up dead on City lakes we only see this in July & August,,,,,Football players dying in training camp at the pro and Col level some years, its not uncommon for them to lose 5-7 lbs in a single practice,,which would be the equiv to a muskie fight,,,,,Im sure paramedics will confirm a higher rate of death in the elderly during hot months,,,,,,And I can CONFIRM this,,,Working for Best buy Refrigerators die at a higher rate in july and august and I have the overtime check stubs to prove it,,All these seperate items animal,human,mechanical all effected by heat stress,,,why would we assume muskies would be the exception?????? | |
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Posts: 8848
| As a precaution, I'm going to take the hooks off all my baits from now on  | |
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Posts: 194
| Here we go again- I, personally appreciate these repeat threads on this or any other controversial topic regarding Muskies. I could care less how many times this particular topic comes up. The more discussion on this topic IMO, the better. These threads are needed to help educate newer Muskie hunters to the techniques employed, especially release techniques. Not everyone reading these threads has the time to search the whole site for info like this. Some might not even know this is a topic worth looking up. The information contained might just help form opinions of folks who are newer to the sport. Who are you anyways? Post your name next time, or better yet, don't respond with so much negativity. The subject was well defined before you looked at the thread. If you don't like the subject, don't read the thread. Or, if you have an opinion, just give it to us. Sarchasm and bad attitudes never helped anyone.
Thanks to all of the other responders. I continue to learn from your experiences. Steve | |
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| you really want to see. try michigan sports man forum musky charter report. large fish hanging on bogas in 90 degree weather 80 degree water temps. so sad to see after vhs has killed fish and the dis-respect still carries on. | |
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Posts: 384
Location: Eagle River, Alaska | So who would like to design the study to see the effect of high water temps on delayed mortality......how many muskies will be sacrificed to make sure we have a large enough number and should all strains of muskie be tested. There are studies on other fish which show high mortality when caught in water temps approaching the upper range of the fishes tolerance....it has to do with stress. Just recently read a study done by the American Fisheries Organization which showed increased delayed mortality of smallmouth bass when kept in a livewell during tournaments....largemouth bass fared much better.....smallmouth we just more stressed by the situation.
In Montana during the early 2000's during several low water years the Upper Missouri was completely closed for up to 2 months due to the low water, high temp and the stress it put on the rainbow trout.....even when released in the water the mortality rate was extremely high.....although the Osprey population exploded due to all the available trout on the river. Two years ago the Beaverhead was closed the entire season due to low water and high temps....both of these actions caused extreme financial distress to guides and inconvenience to people who had planned vacations and trips, BUT it was the right thing to do for the fishing resource.
Right now on and around the Kenai peninsula in Alaska the entire sportfishing and commercial take of sockeye salmon has been completely halted due to a low number of fish returning to the Kenai River. This has cost thousands of jobs in the guiding and commercial fishing industry and a tremendous blow to cities on the Kenai peninsula since the sockeye fishing brings in thousands of tourists. As it turned out the fish appear to be arriving but just very late....still the action was taken in the best LONGTERM interest of the fishery. Too much of the time people want their cake and eat it too...we have already screwed the heck of most native fisheries in this country due to what is politically correct for the public. Unfortunately, what is in the best interest of fisherman is generally not based on science or the needs of the fishery.
If this water temp we are talking about is at the upper range of what musky can survive in then additional stress....being caught period (whether it is released or not) will create great stress on the fish to recover. BUT, if no one in the state DFG's are concerned about it what the heck, they are the professionals which should be takiing the lead here.
Brian | |
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Posts: 2323
Location: SE, WI. | Fishing in S.e. Wisconsin I've been doing this with muskie for years. Reach down with the hook cutters or pliers and water release the fish. DO NOT NET FISH. DO NOT TAKE FISH OUT OF THE WATER. I DON'T EVEN MEASURE THE FISH UNDER 46". Estimate the lenght and let it LIVE. If a client needs a picture let him hold the tail with a still quick pic. or video the catch. I still try to teach the new oncoming guides to do this. Who cares about the picture. You know in your mind you caught the fish and accomplished your goal. And don't for get a safe glove while water release. I use the berkley glove!!!...JIM | |
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| we go over this over and over..i guess it is probably good to put up for the new guys in the sport that might not have seen this topic before...in my book when surface temps are over 80 for a very long extended period of time you probably shouldn't be out there fishing for them ....if you have to be out there, 2 things I think are just plain common sense not to do....overplaying the fish and having it out of the water too long...what is overplaying it? well any fight that lasts more than even 1 minute is overplayed. we have 80lb line and heavy rods....don't exhaust the fish, get them in the net asap. don't use light tackle. period.
get them unhooked and leave them in the water in the net while this goes on. if you have to have a pic, have your stuff ready before pulling it out of the net, pull it out, one or 2 quick pics, none of that "lets pose from every angle" crap I see from time to time.
get it back in the water and get some O2 running over it's gills...one thing i do is move my hands in a circular motion behind the gills to get some current going over the gils..seems to work
simple things like those mentioned above can help but with most temps in the southern half of the musky range over 80 for weeks now do you really have to fish for them? if you do, just do it right...be prepared, and smart about what you are doing on the water...good luck.
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Posts: 20269
Location: oswego, il | I really want to know from happy hooker what I need to be doing with my refrigerator during this hot weather. Hooker, can you help us out? | |
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| Todd
July and August unplug it,,,If I lived in Chi with all those pizza places Id NEVER cook a meal regardless if its 100 + or - | |
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| Water temps hit 84 degrees in Walker Bay..please consider not fishing until temps drop, even quick handling now will likely translate into a dead fish. | |
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| Thats right Dan, Go to the university ogf Mn. Water study from Minnetonka.. Warmer water holds less oxygen p/mill... Let 'er cool down... Or go way north....Don't break the toy!!!Wayne Klemz Waaynes World Guide Service | |
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Delayed mortality