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Posts: 16
| I was out Sunday and caught two nice healthy fish (38 and 40 ") for my first multi-fish day. I have 4 total for this season (and lifetime) with this being my first season. The two I caught this weekend caused me some problems. After playing both fish out to where I thought I could net them saftly, both fish did a violent "death-type" roll in the net after I lifted them into the boat. The roll cause the fish and hook to become helplessly entagled in the net. It took me a lot of time and care to get the fish free. Both fish injured themselves on the hooks and split their fins (both appeared to be ok after they were turned back to the water and gently revived). I need advice on how I should be handling these fish. Should I not boat them with a net, should I not use a net, is a cradle better? In the past, I have lifted the fish into the boat but I no longer do that after having read too many horror stories of guys getting hooked by the same lure that is attached to an angry fish. I would appreciate any advice offered.
Chief |
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Posts: 147
Location: Leech Lake, Walker, MN. | I use my net as a live well release tool. Leave the fish in the water, in the net. Remove or cut the hooks while the fish remains in the water. If you are having trouble unhooking the fish get it back down into the water for a while. Many times the fish will unhook itself as the bait catches on the netting.
Good luck, Murph |
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Posts: 3910
| Boy do I have an opinion on this topic...
First, get a high quality, rubber coated musky net. So big that you can capture a full grown golden retriever in it. So big that people laugh at you when you are at the boat landing. Big Bird big.
Second, get the right tools, including needle nosed pliers, channel locks, jaw spreaders and a high quality mini-bolt cutter. Don't bother with normal side cutters, they won't cut 3X strong musky hooks, get the mini bolts.
Third, get gloves. You can go cheap like me and get a $10 pair of fireplace gloves, or spend the bucks to get those cool Lindy(?) fish handling gloves from Rollie and Helens (and Gander). You must have gloves because the fish will get tangled up even in the good nets. In a proper net, the tangles won't be so bad to unravel, and the fish has room to safely relax while you are working. But your hands will be in harms way, there's no way to avoid it even if you are cutting hooks, so to be safe you gotta have gloves.
Now, I'm kind of a newbie compared to many on the board, and many folks I highly respect don't bother with all the stuff I described above. But I'll never again get badly hooked, that's for sure. |
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Posts: 1185
Location: Wishin I Was Fishin' | You two couldn't have wrote it better. Although I don't use gloves, and I got a hook through my middle finger knuckle on my recent big girl. I didn't feel it, as I was so pumped up. Gloves are a good idea, but I won't use them. I'll take the pain over the cumbersome.
Check out http://jomusky.tripod.com/crtools.html for some more release tool tips and pictures. |
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Posts: 16
| Once again, thanks for all the outstanding advice. I've got a pretty good arsenal of gear ready to go (long needle nose plyers, channel locks, and gloves). The mini bolt cutters are on order. I now realize I need a new net. The one I have been using was given to me by a friend. It is a very large net he used for steelhead and salmon. Problem is the netting is made of nylon and is brutal to the fish. Very snag prone in relation to the hoks and the fish's fins, mouth gills, etc. After reading the posts and suggestions, I quickly put the net away with no future plans on using it. One other question, how do you determine when to remove a hook and when to cut them off using a bolt cutter? Does leaving a portion of the hook embedded in a fish harm the fish in any way? And again, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
Air Force Chief |
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Posts: 124
Location: Rice Lake,WI | I usually cut most of my hooks just for pure speed in release.
If they don't come out easy-CUT em'. I try to pick the little pieces out
but bottomline it;s better than a whole treble in their gullet! Leavr those fish in the net over the side of your boat like was mentioned. They tend to relax if you keep their head underwater as you cut or remove hooks as the only time she's coming out of the water is for some quick photos of her with both hands holding fish. One holding jaw with thumb in the notch and the other hand supporting that big belly. Horizontal is much
better for the fish than a vertical hold as her weight is being supported by you instead of her face head and gills! By the way no need to "play" fish out to net them. Pound that hookset and powerhouse them tothe boat for the net job. the faster the better. If you are having a tough time than try heavier line like 80 -100 lb Power-Pro. Goodluck and I hope this
helps!
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| net the fish, leave it in the water and then grab whatever you can see of the lure with a gloved hand and hold on as tight as you can - it's the hooks that will get you - very rarely the teeth
remove/cut hooks - usually the pieces embedded in the fish come out very easily once the hooks are cut - and toss the lure once it is clear
now you've got the fish in the net, it has neither been touched nor come out of the water yet, and you are ready to take pictures
this does not work with smaller lures that can be inhaled, like spinners (but they make for easier releases in most cases anyways, in my experience), but is great with cranks and jerks - just make sure you have your release tools laid out and within reach of where you plan on bringing fish to the boat |
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