fishing creeks today 4/6, pulled up a trout 1" under and had a hell of a time getting the jig head out. Finally did with some good needle-noses, but may not ALWAYS be so lucky. Got me thinking, what does one do in a situation where a fish probably won’t make it, but is under size? The big guys aren’t as fragile. I hate unnecessary dead fish, and it seems wrong to just toss a dead fish out…
thoughts?
keep it and hope you don’t get caught?
Cut the leader and release the fish… Hopefully the jig head will rust out or work its way out on its own. One dead trout is not worth the risk of a ticket to me.
2007 Scout 221 150 Yamaha 4 stroke
They will write you a ticket , minimum 110 dollars. It wasn’t worth it to me.
Invest your money in a dehooker
Bring a grill…lol
Seriously too small is too small even if it is gonna die,dont keep it.
Throw it back, a crab will eat it.
Appreciate all the good input. Just ordered a good hook remover and some strong wire cutters, for those hard to reach hooks
As long as you’re not using stainless hooks it’ll rust out in no time.
You can do a lot of damage to the fish sometimes trying to get a hook out. Let the salt take care of it.
quote:
Throw it back, a crab will eat it.
^^^Mother Nature doesn’t waste anything. The fish will be a useful part of the ecosystem alive or dead.
Iain Pelto
Sea Hunt Triton 160 w/ 90 ETEC “JB3”
Native Manta Ray 14
As Pitcher said, You do more harm then good trying to play doctor. Try using a bronze khale hook. Next best to the circle and it will rust out quickly.
Capt. Tim Deckard
Daily Charters -> http://BeaufortCastawayCharter.com
Tail wrap a sailfish a couple of years ago and he drown. Felt really bad about it. I have had smoke sail fish in the keys and it was good I think, beer was consumed with, but I thought the best thing to do is let him go back to the blue to get recycled into the food chain. Whats a man to do?
Polar 23CC