Undersize Fish
Submitted by mbusby on Wed, 2013-01-30 15:25
So this discussion came up on the weekend ,
To start im not up for keeping undersize fish even sized fish i will release when i have enough for a feed , but in the process of releasing a couple of small herring and whiting and putting back in the ocean , I noticed they werent swimming off.
after a five minutes or so there still struggling and just washing around in tide.Rather than let these fish suffer i promptly killed them and used later for bait . So they did go back to the ocean so to speak but what do you do in this situation .
I dont wanna start a huge argument but should i leave them to suffer and the birds swoop at or can i use them for bait?
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sIttiNG AT woRK ,
tHINKing OF fISHIng
Likc
Posts: 363
Date Joined: 09/08/09
No size limits on those
No size limits on those (except KGW), so there is nothing illegal on what you did. But probably better catch care for your fish would increase the chance of the fish swimming off. Remove the hook carefully and release the fish into the deep water asap, don’t just throw it on the water edge, even a healthy fish can struggle to get through the wash. Not saying, that you did that, sometimes the release is just not possible or successful.
scottnot
Posts: 47
Date Joined: 21/01/13
size limit
i do agree with that post Likc and if you carnt get the hook out with out doing damage to the fish if you do put it back to even cut the line if you have too and the hooks will rust out of the mouth
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
you did the best you could
all of us on this site have no doubt encountered situations where it is just not possible to release the fish and watch it swim of in a healthy manner, we all do the best we can in the circumstances we find ourselfs in.
scottnot
Posts: 47
Date Joined: 21/01/13
agree
i do really agree with that coment
meglondon
merdel12
Posts: 306
Date Joined: 19/07/12
in augusta we were getting
in augusta we were getting hundreds of kgs that were just to small around 26-27cm.....we threw every one back but watched 10 or so float away upside down after swallowing the hook...knew theyd would die but couldnt keep em....most were picked up by birds :( 1cm under
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18330
Date Joined: 11/03/08
in the case of the fish
in the case of the fish swallowing the hook like that you should just cut the line as the hook will rust out. might not save every fish you return but they would have a better chance of surviving than pulling the hook out
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together