“Fish Abuse” What’s the standard?

[Mossypumpkin]

For me personally, if 1 out of every 100 big fish I catch dies and I could have prevented it, it’s too many. Without the fish, we are all on a forum right now chatting about hitting a stupid little white ball into a hole with a flag in it. 

[dirtyrat]

9 hours ago, Ceaser said:

Handling trophy size bass “properly” is subjective. Also, after losing or missing countless big fish, I understand doing whatever you got to do to get the fish landed. In the heat of the moment after landing a big one I’m always laughing full of adrenaline and well kinda goofy. I think most People are concerned with taking care of the big fish they just caught but man, hindsight is 20/20. Easy to judge from the outside looking in but when your the one handling the fish and trying to keep it together some things can go sideways. I know I usually mess something up but do the best I can. But first and foremost I’m getting that fish in the boat however I have to. I’d rather get yelled at for boat flipping than carry the depression of losing a big fish for 2 weeks cuz I didn’t want to feed her some carpet. 

So it's all about you. Selfish, dude.

[dirtyrat]

How you treat another life, any life, says a lot about your character. If you can minimize stress and potential damage, why not. If you use your own ego as a defense, well ...

[Jace D]

6 hours ago, dirtyrat said:

How you treat another life, any life, says a lot about your character. If you can minimize stress and potential damage, why not. If you use your own ego as a defense, well ...

I guess one could follow this idea to its logical conclusion and make a pretty solid argument that we shouldn’t try to catch fish at all. I mean, just hooking a fish and reeling it in is pretty stressful to the fish, is it not? And let’s be real, as a sport fisherman, you’re not even doing it for food or survival, you’re doing it for fun. What does that say about your character? I don’t think it says anything particularly bad but you can see where the idea leads.

But I think this is the whole point of this thread right? Where is the line drawn? What is considered real abuse and what is just part of the game?
I don’t think Caesar was trying to say that his intention is to harm the fish, but the whole point of fishing is to catch the fish. I think that’s his point. I think we should all try the best that we can to take care of the fish while still using reason and common sense and anyone who feels that they need to go that extra mile and be very particular about their fish care, more power to them. But, I think we could do better as a community to be a little more sensible and just a tad less critical in this area. Especially in cases where: 1) The guy you’re criticizing is fishing a lake that you don’t and will never fish and 2) The guy isn’t overtly hurting the fish. 

Let me ask this as well, if you eat tuna, salmon, trout or any other game fish, don’t you think it’s a bit hypocritical to criticize a guy for supposedly mistreating a fish because it’s your preferred game fish? Just a thought.

Everyone has had really great input so far but I do want to encourage everyone to keep it civil. We should be able to discuss the subject without attacking anyone personally. 

 

 

[Ceaser]

13 hours ago, dirtyrat said:

How you treat another life, any life, says a lot about your character. If you can minimize stress and potential damage, why not. If you use your own ego as a defense, well ...

Merry Christmas  

[swimbaitrookie]

15 hours ago, Queue said:

I'll hit fish with 300-320 volts at up to 8-10 amps, net them with a nylon net (sometimes 3-4 at a time), lay them on a measuring board/scale, cut fins off and/or notch fins for up to a minute at a time out of water if the fish is uncooperative and haven't killed one yet to my knowledge.....and I'll get hundreds of fish a night.  No reports of "fish kills" or "floaters" yet.  Been doing this for 14 years...

Pure comedic genius right here.  Thank you for sharing 

[xxlbass]

On 12/21/2020 at 5:57 PM, 253caster said:

I wonder what the mortality rates are for the giant bass that get swung into people's boat and crash into their consoles and onto the boat deck. Especially the big girls that are exhausted from the spawn. I get that sometimes you have to make the choice between losing the fish or grabbing the net, but is it really necessary to fling EVERY fish past your camera??

true story

[168 Rookie]

49 minutes ago, Ceaser said:

Merry Christmas  

^^^High road. Kudos, brother.

[253caster]

8 hours ago, Jace D said:

Let me ask this as well, if you eat tuna, salmon, trout or any other game fish, don’t you think it’s a bit hypocritical to criticize a guy for supposedly mistreating a fish because it’s your preferred game fish? Just a thought.

My opinion on this is those fish are being targeted mostly for harvest(obviously not every situation), so treating them delicate isn't as necessary than a fish that your targeting with the intent to release. In my state it's illegal to even lift a salmon or steelhead out of water if you are not retaining it. I don't think we need to go that far with bass, but I do think the community could learn a thing or two about fish handling from the anadromous guys. 

Edited December 23, 2020 by 253caster

[bassbass]

Some great points. As others may have said. If you are so worried about the way someone holds a bass or other things like this, then this may not be the right sport for you, neither is eating a nice veal chop.....

In general "most" of us care about the fish and try to do the best we can. Yes we all have seen some Aholes doing stuff but there are always some bad eggs in the carton and what you think is bad may not be bad to others.

Not sure you can compare trout to trophy bass, that is like comparing a little girl dancer to a boxer. To different types of fishing and fish. There was a couple times fishing in trout stocked lakes when I got a hit and came up with trout lips stuck in the hooks of the swimbait.

The internet and videos are a great thing but remember it can also be a very bad thing.

 

 

[xxlbass]

17 hours ago, Mossypumpkin said:

For me personally, if 1 out of every 100 big fish I catch dies and I could have prevented it, it’s too many. Without the fish, we are all on a forum right now chatting about hitting a stupid little white ball into a hole with a flag in it. 

lol....yeah white ball chasing isn't as forgiving as bass fishing in my case 

[FishDr]

I was reluctant to wade into this, so to speak, but since it's something that I think about and talk to people about a fair bit, I thought I'd share some of my perspectives.

• In my experience, fish of different species can take different amounts of handling and stress. Some fish are super-sensitive (such as trout or gizzard shad), some are moderately tolerant (I'd put bass and stripers in this category), and some are very hardy (such as carp and catfish).  What type of fish you have matters - some can take handling a lot better than others.
• Regardless of the type of fish you have, when you catch it, handle it, and otherwise keep it out of the water, it is going to experience some level of stress - it's just like someone taking your head and holding it, against your will, under the water - stress is going to happen.
• The longer you have a fish out of the water and the more you let it bounce around, the greater the stress.  The tricky part is knowing just how much stress is too much, and that's going to depend on a whole bunch of factors, such as how warm the water is, where the fish was hooked, how long it took to land it, what condition the fish was in before you hooked it, what season it is (pre-spawn, post-spawn, etc.).  Trying to figure that all out to know when you can or cannot keep a fish out a little longer for a picture or measurement is enough to drive a professional fisheries biologist nuts, not to mention an angler.
• There are definitely ways to try to minimize the stress and potential damage done to fish while handling them - wet hands, wet measuring boards, keeping them in the water in a net until you've got things ready.  But I also realize that sometimes you're not going to have everything you need - there have been times when I've caught memorable fish and I don't have a net, I don't have my measuring board out, my camera is at the bottom of the bag, etc.  In those situations, I try to do the best I can, and, sometimes, I give up on getting the perfect shot or all the measurements because, in my mind, the fish has had enough.  I caught my PB brown trout this summer in a river I knew was on the edge of being too warm so when I landed the fish, I took a couple of quick pictures (and not very good ones) and then quickly released the fish - I never took the time to get a measuring tape out to see just how big he was.
• Here's what I think really matters - how do other people perceive your efforts?  If you are obviously showing that you care about the health of the fish you just caught and you work quickly and efficiently to measure/photograph and release it, or you quickly and humanely kill it for the table, then I think you've got a leg to stand on.  If you are seen to treat the fish poorly (I've watched people kick fish up the bank, drop the repeatedly, walk around with them for 5 minutes showing anyone and everyone their catch before trying to release them), then people will notice and that gives anglers a bad name.  If enough people notice, or, if you happen to post video online where lots of people can notice, then the animal welfare and animal rights types have more ammunition to use against anglers.  Do you really want to give them more?  If they get enough, then the restrictions will come and I, for one, sure as hell don't want that to happen.

[Volfan]

What he said ^^. It’s a blood sport. We drag fish around by their faces. Some faster, some slower. As we do that it behooves us to keep them alive and healthy. Conditions, budget, season, emotional state, and moon phase all play into that. Do the best you can with what you got.

[ricardo]

The fish in my water are wayyyy more aggressive then me, this dude always busts my chops for skunking 

(not my pic peta)

[MA Frog Man]

Everyone can be as preachy as they want but at the end of the day we try to trick an animal into eating what it thinks is it's next meal and instead we stick a 3/0 treble into the side of its face or in its throat and winch it thru the water using the same drag settings some guys use for tuna. If you then try to tell someone else that they are mishandling a fish once its out of the water, you probably need to take a look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself is this the right hobby. If your anyone is that worried about the well being of the fish, the answer is simple, don't fish for them.

Edited December 24, 2020 by MA Frog Man