“Fish Abuse” What’s the standard?

[CG_Fishes]

Bass fishermen are some of the WORST at fish handling. From fliipping fish onto rocks, sand, carpet even grass, to holding them horizontally by the jaw or holding them out of the water for minutes at a time. Fish care is not about your convenience, sorry. Personally I never flip my fish onto the bank or boat, I either net them or grab them. Once I have the fish I unhook it and keep it in the water for at least a minute while I get my scale and board ready. I usually wet my board before laying the fish on it, once I get my board pics I put the fish back in the water, put the board away and get the scale ready. Again, get scale pics, put the fish back in the water before taking pics holding it up. At any point in time my fish aren't out of the water for more than 30 seconds to a minute. Practicing proper fish care is not going to hurt the sport, instead it should make it even better. Especially if tournament guys finally start practicing good proper care instead of using cull tags and double fisting fish like trophies. Anything that you can reasonably do to prevent stressing the fish should be done, don't be lazy

[merkexpress]

Hell... they eat them where I live... 

Not that I catch A LOT of big fish, but I do my best to get the fish released as quick as possible. There have been plenty of times where I’m on my hand and knees holdings my buddies fish while he’s prepping the board and scales! 

Edited December 22, 2020 by merkexpress

[Loudsplashbassn_]

29 minutes ago, 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??

I Wondered the same after watching a bunch of ig vids of a guy who's known For throwing big baits who CONSTANTLY boat flips big fish for them to thrash and bang into everything in the boat ..pretty big douche move and poor sportsmanship if you ask me .

[Alex Burton]

2 minutes ago, Loudsplashbassn_ said:

I Wondered the same after watching a bunch of ig vids of a guy who's known For throwing big baits who CONSTANTLY boat flips big fish for them to thrash and bang into everything in the boat ..pretty big douche move and poor sportsmanship if you ask me .

I often wonder how many fish would of survived if people made simple changes like not pressing them on the carpet of the boat when they are unhooked or putting them back in the water a minute earlier.

[bassbass]

I see everyones point and I also see things on IG that I would not do but they just want a post and followers.

But.....I also think you are all missing the point of this topic.

If "we" the bass fisherman keep doing and saying "if you do this and do that it hurts the fish". What do you think organizations like PETA whould try to do against this sport. What until the first of the year with the President change, you are going to see alot my rules and regulations so let's not give anymore reasons to attack what we love to do....

Bass are very tuff fish, just use common sense and you should be good.

[Jace D]

2 hours ago, dirtyrat said:

I'm not convinced. Have you tracked your large bass after your catch and handling to ensure that you didn't damage them? I don't mean just watching them swim away. I mean what condition are they in an hour later, a day later, three weeks later. Instead of relying on amateur and anecdotal opinions of what fish can endure, let's hear from a fish biologist. Anyone out there with scientific evidence one way or the other? 

Well, tracking is probably not the right term but, between my brother and I, we have caught several fish multiple times, sometimes years apart. The fish have been undamaged and healthy. I have pictures to confirm this. You can call it anecdotal, and that’s fair, but it’s not without evidence. 

Again, I want to be clear, whatever guys want to do to go that extra mile to take care of their fish is great and I’m totally for it. What I think I’m trying to address is the extreme level of vitriol that I see (mostly from very inexperienced anglers who have little to zero experience with big fish) toward anyone who holds a fish by the jaw or puts a fish down on a boat deck for example.  The extreme examples where a fish is being obviously abused are just that, obvious. They should be completely avoided. But I think the evidence from decades of catch and release bass fishing has shown that these fish, if not negligently abused, are pretty hardy and will be ok for years to come. 
 

Keep the responses coming guys. I’m enjoying the input from everyone. 

[Jace D]

2 hours ago, 207klasher said:

https://www.bassmaster.com/conservation-news/what-s-proper-way-hold-hawg

Short summary:

two-handed it the best way. Longer out of the water = longer recovery time.

Nice. Great article. Thanks for posting!

[rwp]

I don't think I released mine properly.

Sarcasm, of course. All animals should be treated with as much respect as possible.

[Loudsplashbassn_]

4 hours ago, bassbass said:

I see everyones point and I also see things on IG that I would not do but they just want a post and followers.

But.....I also think you are all missing the point of this topic.

If "we" the bass fisherman keep doing and saying "if you do this and do that it hurts the fish". What do you think organizations like PETA whould try to do against this sport. What until the first of the year with the President change, you are going to see alot my rules and regulations so let's not give anymore reasons to attack what we love to do....

Bass are very tuff fish, just use common sense and you should be good.

Yea but the person im refereeing too is a pretty big figure in the Swimbait world i guess you could say .so i don't think they need many more followers but hell what do i know everyone wants to be "instafamous" these days

[WaterWolf44]

9 hours ago, danthefisherman said:

I tried holding my breath a few times as I handled and unhooked my catch to see what it was like to be yanked from the water. Holding my breath that long was unpleasant enough even without having to fight against a line and being flipped onto rocks or rough carpet for a photoshoot. Since then I've always tried to give fish as many "breathing breaks" as possible. A fish gripper or net are great tools to accomplish this and free you up to get situated for measurements and photos.

Whether a bass can handle more abuse or not, they should all be treated with respect. At the very least, extra precaution minimizes the discomfort that your catch experiences and maybe they'll be more willing to bite again later on down the road. At best, extra precaution preserves fisheries and the trophy fish that are so hard to come by.

Then again, I don't catch big fish and probably shouldn't be one to talk 

I do that with my pike. I keep the net in the water with the fish still in it get my camera ready unhook the fish and send her on her way. Pike are generally more succeptable to mortality brcause they thrash more. This guarantees they will get bigger in the future which is the ultimate goal

[Ceaser]

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. 

[Bass the east]

I always try my best to handle my fish with care, but ish goes wrong every so often. Fish get dropped, fish hit the dirt. Heck I still think about this one 6lber that was flailing like a 5 year old with a temper tantrum, I know I dislocated her jaw trying to keep from dropping her. A dislocated jaw means that that fish most likely died. (Bothers me to this day). I try to come up with ways to avoid this stuff for next time but ish happens. The problem is lack of experience or knowledge about proper fish care. I think the people over acting on social media about fish care is good. Even when you try your BEST ish can go wrong. Never mind the people who just don’t know any better. Tell a guy to put the fish back after 30 seconds means he might put it back after 2 minutes instead of 5 like he normally would. I’m all for proper fish care. I am also all for eating them, but I don’t like anywhere in between. 

[Niki814]

I mainly fish from the bank. I try an net/grab my fish when possible. Soon as I get my hands on the fish I unhook them an hook them up to the donkey leash an get them back in the water. I get my board un rolled an wet an then my camera ready. I snap a pic or 2 an let them go on. 

Edited December 22, 2020 by Niki814

[carsonp860]

I think (Most) trout fisherman give a great example of how we should treat our fish, regardless of species. If you catch a true trophy, the worst thing you can do is kill it inadvertantly. Similar to what @StriperAddict was saying, it's probably a solid idea to let the fish catch their breath after being dragged around. While I'm sure some airtime and a few pictures won't directly kill them in the long run, it never hurts to treat the fish with a little bit of care.

[Queue]

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...