Properly Remove a Fishing Hook— Catch and release tips.

If you’re fishing catch and release, it’s important to know how to properly remove the hook so that the fish can swim to see another day, and fishing ethically is important to accomplish.

Knowing how to properly remove a hook without causing harm to the fish is fundamental for multiple reasons. While some might be fishing for food, sometimes you land a fish outside legal regulations, or maybe you’re just fishing for sport. It is in these situations that you will need these tools.

Hook Material

If a fish becomes gut-hooked, many fisheries biologists suggest cutting the line as close as possible to the hook and leaving the hook lodged in the fish to dissolve slowly. Gut hooking a fish happens when an angler has caught an undersized fish, and the hook is embedded deep down its throat. Cutting the line close to the hook and letting it remain in the fish keeps the fish out of the water for the shortest amount of time, and you aren’t tugging on a hook that is deeply lodged in the body of the fish, which could cause more damage.

The solution to this problem is using bronze or steel hooks which are made to be more dissolvable fish hooks than stainless steel, cadmium-plated, and nickel-plated hooks, which may take much longer to dissolve, especially in freshwater locations. Also, note that “dissolvable hooks” made from steel or bronze can still take weeks or months to break down.

Tools for Removal

Avoid ripping, tugging, and pulling when trying to unhook your catch. This motion causes harm to the fish and can damage its jaw, which hinders its ability to eat but can also rip the fish open. Needle nose pliers, forceps, or a dehooking tool helps with a smoother removal process when holding the fish in the water or inside a rubber landing net. Proper tools will reduce the time and handling of the fish.

Hook Design

Use a circle hook if you’re fishing with natural baits such as minnow, shrimp, or worms. A circle hook is a type of fishhook that is sharply curved back in a circular shape— it’s the most commonly shaped hook when you think of one. It has become widely used among anglers in recent years because the hook generally catches more fish and is rarely swal- lowed, leading to a better chance of survival after being released. Circle hooks are best for catch and release when fishing with live or natural baits because the hook’s shape helps prevent deeply hooked or gut-hooked fish.

Another helpful trick is to use lures with single hooks versus treble hooks. You can swap out the treble hooks on your lures with single hooks and crimp down the hook’s barb. This can be done by holding your pliers on the tip of the

Barotrauma— Descend, Don’t Deflate

By: KATHERINE M. CLEMENTS

Barotrauma is a pressure-related injury that commonly occurs when reeling up rockfish. Rockfish have a specialized gas-filled sac called a swim bladder that allows them to control buoyancy and maintain depth in the water column. Barotrauma occurs due to a rockfish’s inability to release expanding gasses in the swim bladder when reeled up and brought to the surface. Barotrauma injuries can cause the eyes, stomach, or vent to appear inflated or significantly blown up. Because swim bladders are designed to function at different depths and pressures depending on the rockfish species, the severity of barotrauma injuries varies among rockfish.

At depth, the gasses in the swim bladder are at equal pressure. When the fish is reeled up to the surface, the gasses expand and can cause the eyes to become bulged, cloudy, or crystallized and the stomach to protrude out of the mouth. Although one might suspect that the fish is dead- it’s not. Rockfish can be re-pressurized by returning the fish to the depth in which it was caught.

According to the CDFW, the most common reason for discarding a live rockfish is regulatory requirements such as exceeding a sub-bag or bag limit or catching a prohibited species. Yet, discarding can also occur when attempting to target other species after meeting the rockfish bag limit or when the rockfish is smaller or less desirable. Survival of released rockfish is critical as it provides future opportunities for that rockfish to grow and spawn. Survival is increased when the fish is returned to depth as soon as possible. When descending devices are utilized, survival rates are increased. This increase in survival is taken into account when developing recreational fishing regulations.

Venting, deflating, or “fizzing” refer to techniques that release excess gas within the swim bladder by inserting a hypo- hook. Holding the forceps parallel or straight with the hook causes the barb to bend back and down instead of weakening or breaking the hook. Barbless hooks are viewed as one of the best catch-andrelease or easy-release hooks.

While there has long been a debate about whether you’re hurting the fish during catch and release methods, minimizing your impact and handling the fish is an ethical practice that should be executed with every bite you catch.