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Catch and Release Tips
Land fish quickly
Handle fish as little as possible and avoid holding with dry hands to prevent removal of protective slime coating.
Don't let fish bounce on the boat deck, carpet or on shoreline rocks and gravel.
When using a landing net, soft knotless nylon or rubber nets are better that hard, knotted nylon.
Grasp most species of fish by the lower
jaw and keep fish in the water if possible. Hold them
vertically and support
large fish with a hand under the belly.
Grasp toothy fish across the back of the
head, with fingers and thumb holding gill plates closed.
Watch out for
sharp edges.
If you must hold a fish by putting your hand through the gill opening, avoid touching delicate gill filaments.
REMOVE HOOKS QUICKLY
Don't keep a fish out of water longer than you can hold your breath.
Use long-nosed pliers or a de-hooking tool to remove deeply embedded hooks. If this fails, cut the line a few inches above the hook and leave it in the fish.
If you are using bait or lures that are frequently swallowed and deep hooking is likely to be a problem, use barbless hooks. Unhooking your catch with barbless hooks is faster, easier and healthier for the fish.
IF YOU PLAN TO KEEP YOUR FISH
In cool weather, keep fish on a stringer, in a fish basket or in a livewell.
When water temperatures are above 70 degrees, put fish directly on ice to keep them fresh.
If you use a livewell, fill it early in the day.
Turn on the recirculating aerator to begin building oxygen levels before you put fish in.
Run aerators continuously. Fish in
livewells use oxygen faster than a timer-operated aerator
can provide. If your
aerator must run on a timer, set it to run as frequently
as possible. Distribute fish between live well
compartments.
When water temperatures are above 80
degrees, recirculate water continuously instead of
pumping in hot lake
water. Add ice and salt. One eight-pound block of ice
cools a 25-30 gallon livewell for about three hours.
Adjust
the amount of ice according to the size of your livewill.
Block ice is preferred because it melts slower. Store
extra
ice to use later in the day. Water frozen in plastic milk
jugs make this convenient.
Add 1/3 cup of non-iodized salt for every
five gallons of water. Measure your livewill volume then
pre-measure
salt. Keep it in zip-lock bags for use during the day.
Twice a day, drain half of the livewell,
refill with fresh water and add half the required amount
of ice and salt with
each water change.
If your boat cannot recirculate water in the livewell, run the flow-through aeration continuously.