# catch and release question...important!



## brandonbtbt (Jul 21, 2009)

today i caught my first big bass of the year... it went 5.5 pounds and was 21 inches long... after i got a few quick pictures taken i went to release it and saw blood on my hands... apparently i hooked its gills bad enough to cause it to bleed....... i gently put the bass in the water but it didnt swim off right away... at first when i let it go it just sat there and kinda went lopsided in the water.... i actually hopped in the water waist deep and rubbed the fish's back for a minute or 2 until it slowly swam off..... i went back about 30 minutes later and didnt see it floating of anything so im hoping it lived...

my question is do you all think it will survive??? it wasnt bleeding profusely but i saw blood on the grass when i went back after a change of pants and boots..... i release every fish i catch except crappie every now and then... i felt bad for this fish cause it was a big one in a medium sized pond and i want it to be able to spawn here in the next few weeks!

any help would be appreciated!


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## fishingredhawk (Apr 14, 2004)

It's hard to say. If it was gill-hooked and struggled to revive, it may not have survived. However, losing a fish is just part of the sport. It happens now and then, and there isn't much you can do other than handle them properly and put them back in a timely manner. I will say, you should avoid handling them as much as possible (stroking its back is never a good idea as you can remove their protective slime)

Sounds like a great catch, congratulations! Don't worry about the fish. If it was 5.5lbs, it has spawned many times already and has passed those good genes along.


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## RockyRiverRay (Jan 14, 2009)

brandonbtbt said:


> today i caught my first big bass of the year... it went 5.5 pounds and was 21 inches long... after i got a few quick pictures taken i went to release it and saw blood on my hands... apparently i hooked its gills bad enough to cause it to bleed....... i gently put the bass in the water but it didnt swim off right away... at first when i let it go it just sat there and kinda went lopsided in the water.... i actually hopped in the water waist deep and rubbed the fish's back for a minute or 2 until it slowly swam off..... i went back about 30 minutes later and didnt see it floating of anything so im hoping it lived...
> 
> my question is do you all think it will survive??? it wasnt bleeding profusely but i saw blood on the grass when i went back after a change of pants and boots..... i release every fish i catch except crappie every now and then... i felt bad for this fish cause it was a big one in a medium sized pond and i want it to be able to spawn here in the next few weeks!
> 
> any help would be appreciated!



You jumped into the 40 degree water waist deep to save a bass?!?! hope you had waders or something man!!! your crazy  


LMFAO!!


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## sploosh56 (Dec 31, 2008)

It's a tough call. I think because the water is still cold that it did ok, simply because there is a higher concentration of dissolved oxygen in cooler water vs. warm water. If it was in the hot summer months I would be willing to bet that it did not survive. 

I've caught more than my share of bass that have had the same issue that you described. I only had one die on me that way, or that I know of. I fish that spot quite often and never see any floating so they must be fine.

Next time you have a bass go lopsided on you just make sure your hands are wet and hold the fish in its natural swimming position. Rocking a fish back and forth create more stress and does not allow the gills to function properly.

I'm glad to see that you released it though. There's a lot of people who would have kept it and ate it. CPR all the way man! Nice catch!


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## brandonbtbt (Jul 21, 2009)

lol... actually its a shallow abandoned pond where the odnr used to raise saugeyes.... its open for public fishing but not too many people know of all the huge bass and crappies in there..... i've been fishing it since i was 5 years old and its less than a mile from my house... so in some way i feel like it's my obligation to release all the fish and conserve the ponds great fishing since theres no creeks or anything flowing into it and it's never stocked.... 

i'd rather have wet pants and socks knowing i released a fish most would hang on their wall... 

the guy before you made a good point when he said that 5.5 pound bass has spawned many times, so him dying wouldn't be the end of the world...

heres a picture of it below...


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## markfish (Nov 22, 2007)

well when you removed the hook dident you notice were the hook was,many fish bleed a BIT I THINK THE WATER BEING THAT COLD CLOTTED HIR UP QUICKLEY,SHE WILL BE FINE GREAT JOB,


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## JignPig Guide (Aug 3, 2007)

Nice fish man. And a 5.5-pound bass is a nice sized bass for Ohio, or anywhere else for that matter.
She'll probably be ok, (let's hope). It's good to hear about other anglers who care about the sport as much as you.
A 5.5-pound Ohio bass can be anywhere between 9 to 12 years old, depending on habitat and food source. So this bass has spawned many times over the past several years.


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## fishingwithjohnnyjohnson (Jan 2, 2010)

KUDOS for the catch and KUDOS for the release. The important thing is you are actually thinking about the fish first. Catch n Release is vital to out sport and you showing a bass you caught and then releasing it speaks volumes of your ethics in fishing. If we can convince those who like to look at their fish and talk about their fish while it's out of the water for minutes--and minutes is all it takes to kill a fish, to release their fish immediately, it will improve our fisheries immensely. The COLD water was on your side and you shouldn't worry too much about that fish--you did what you were supposed to do and I thank you for that. I made it out to Darby last Saturday--wife got a 2lb smallie and I got a massive 1lb largemouth. Creek was high and dirty and as you found out...SO FRICKEN COLD I COULDN'T FEEL MY FEET!! Good luck and fish on!


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## brandonbtbt (Jul 21, 2009)

alright good deal then.... i've always been a firm believer in cpr.... the daily limit for largemouth at salt fork is 5 with a 15" minimum size..... if someone really keeps five 15" bass a day for a month think of how devastating that is for the gene pool!!!!!! granted salt fork is a very large lake but if you have a bunch of fisherman doing that every it could cause problems...... salt fork also has big flathead catfish and huge muskies so im guessing very few baby bass actually grow up to be a big one... 

i know its a legal right to keep fish but i believe you shouldnt be able to keep any bass over 20"... thats just my opinion though....


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## Tokugawa (Apr 29, 2008)

brandonbtbt said:


> lol... actually its a shallow abandoned pond where the odnr used to raise saugeyes.... its open for public fishing but not too many people know of all the huge bass and crappies in there..... i've been fishing it since i was 5 years old and its less than a mile from my house... so in some way i feel like it's my obligation to release all the fish and conserve the ponds great fishing since theres no creeks or anything flowing into it and it's never stocked....
> 
> i'd rather have wet pants and socks knowing i released a fish most would hang on their wall...
> 
> ...


GOOD JOB! 

I wish more anglers were like you.


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## Rybo (Jul 23, 2009)

Man Brandon, I had to look at your spot/fish to make sure it wasn't the fish I caught last year when the EXACT thig happened to me. Mine was 21.25", 4.88lbs, bleeding quite a bit from the gills, and floating lopsided quite a bit. I swam it a bit, and when I released it it kind of swam, but I'd see it's underbelly every now and again out in front of me. This went in for 10 minutes, then it disappeared into the dark (it was night.) I headed back out the next day before work, and ran around the spot i had caught it 8 hours earlier looking for a body. Nothing found in any of the banks (small pond), so I figured I was good. I was sick over it for a night though. 
Hell, FishingRedHawk replied to my post in pretty much the same fashion! Guys a machine on the water and in the forums!
At any rate, good job man. Like another poster said, the fact that you care so much about the species far outweighs the fact that you will inevitably harm a handful.
Ryan


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

brandon, you won't get better advice on this forum than the advice given here. Fishingredhawk and JignPig Guide are two of the finest big bass hunters out there. If you walk away with a thumbs up from them, you've done just fine.

I will reiterate what others have said. Thanks for giving a damn about the fish you catch and doing what you can to keep the quality of the fishery up.

Also, welcome to OGF.


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## Wolfhook120 (Oct 17, 2007)

I'll add a thanks for the release! Congrats, that's a nice catch for sure.


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## josh617 (Jan 28, 2005)

Like many have already said the fish probably survived with the help of the cool water temps. Just because a fish is hooked in the gills doesnt automatically give it a death sentence. i have caught 3 or 4 before that had been gill hooked before and had someone rip a gill and fish survived to be caught another day. I even caught a fish that has had its guts hanging out of its belly, largies are pretty tough, smallies on the other hand are a whole other story.


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