Although I try to practice Catch and Release - I recently had fish that had the hook so deeply embedded I couldn’t get it out. If I had left the hook in - would he have survived?
In this situation, it would have been best to just cut the line as close to the hook as you could get.
More than likely the fish would have been fine. Many fish have been caught and when they were cleaned rusty hooks were discovered in their throat, or stomach.
Sometimes the hooks will dissolve over time. Even if they don’t the fish has a much better chance of surviving if you leave the hook in. Don’t pull on the line to see how deeply the hook is embedded, this only does more damage to the fish. Handle the fish as gently as possible so you don’t cause more stress for the fish. You may have to brace it in the water when you get ready to release it, this allows it more time to readjust. Handle the fish as little as possible, when you release it you want it to have the best chance at survival.
The exception in this case would be if you could tell there was severe damage to the internal organs of the fish. This is usually fairly obvious, in this case I keep the fish and clean it and it goes into the freezer as long as it is legal length. If it isn’t I go ahead and release it and let nature take it’s course.
Anyone that practices catch and release, dreads the gut hook. Sometimes it can’t be helped so we do whatever we can to ensure the fish survives once we release it.
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