catch and release

fishalot · Post by **fishalot** » Wed Sep 22, 2004 2:28 pm

To all fellow anglers:

Releasing your caught bass insures that the next time out on the water, you'll catch bass again. Ever went to a spot and had great bass fishing and for "some reason" it never was the same again? Not even a bite or two anymore? Just one single bass angler can render an area barren of bass in a single month, and that includes making the place a bust even for himself!
Good to great bass fishing can be had all over the place in every body of water if the vast majority of us bass fishin' hobbyists release our caught bass every time - that's every time we catch one. In fact, every study ever made shows that bass populatons actually increase, that's right, more bass!, when we catch and release. Remember, not releasing even one bass means that's one less fish in the population in the water to breed and multiply.

Another very important note - it has become very clear that "levering" the mouth of a bass wide open when it is lipped and landed does minute damage to the jaw structure and cartiledge. This can actually cause the bass to die a week to a month later. The ability to use it's suction action becomes affected and they feed less effectively. It does not matter what size the bass is, but it is even more dangerous to larger fish. Bass with partly injured mouth hinges end up eating less, or more acurately, successfully catching prey, end up starving and dying. After lipping a bass, to land it and lift it from the water to admire it, remember to change the habit of forcing (wrenching) the bass's mouth wide open - this is unnatural to the jaw mechanism of a bass (this kind of stress never occurs to a bass naturally) - simply lift the bass straight up vertically from the water (no matter what size the bass is) and just let it hang vertically from your hand. Never wrench the mouth of the bass open, like anglers have been "taught" to do by glossy photos in magazines and in fishing videos. Remember not to keep the bass out of the water too long; it is stressful to fish to be completely 100% out of water. Fish will actually die a day or two later. Ample studies also show that bass also become conditioned to no longer go after recognizable artificial lure types after being caught once or twice - but this also is a response to not being lifted out of the water after being caught. Instinct prevails - these fish will avoid re-enacting stressful and possibly fatal episodes of being trapped, caught and preyed upon by a predator. This is essentially what a bass experiences when it is hooked, landed (trapped by a larger predator) and, even more seriously, removed from the water completely. Try to remember that just because a bass swims away after releasing it doesn't mean that it will survive. Every little thing you do after you've hooked and landed a bass will affect this outcome. Never yank a bass from the surface of the water - this, as in the case of salmon being lifted by the tail, has been already proven to do ultimately (and sometimes immediate) fatal damage to the backbone and the fine bones of the fish. Try to keep the experience of being caught (that great bass you just caught)to a bare minimum, do not make hard hooksets anymore (this is now considered completely unecessary) and your bass fishing will be of better quality and consistency. Good fishing to all!

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