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Thread: Old wives tail about gill-hooking a fish

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  1. #1

    Default Old wives tail about gill-hooking a fish

    Is it just an old wives' tale that if you gill-hook a fish, it is guaranteed to die?

    Blog post. I accidentily gill-hooked a bass (details at the link), and it seemed to survive. Are bass super tough, or did I just not hook him badly enough? I always get really freaked out when I gill-hook them because I hate to kill a growing fish.
    All men are equal before fish.

    -Herbert Hoover

    Spare Time for Fish

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Palm Bay, Florida/Rock River Wyoming, USA
    Posts
    284

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    Gill hooked fish have the odds stacked against them but like any injury it's all in how bad it really is and the species of fish coupled with the water conditions at the time. We had a bullhead last for years in a farm pond with a 22 caliber pellet lodged deep in it's skull. Fellow up the road caught it, shot it, found it alive when he got home that night and released it in a small pond to be harvested later. Turns out it lived for years. Other fish aren't nearly so hardy.
    Good Fishing,

    Chuck S (der Aulte Jaeger)

    "I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved"

    http://fishing-folks.blogspot.com/

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Lakeland, FL USA
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    2,186

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    In my experience, gill hooked fish don't survive long, even if they appear to be okay when released. The gills are red because they are blood rich with the blood vessels close enough to the surface to allow oxygen in through the thin membrane. If a gill is ripped or damaged, the fish usually loses too much blood to survive long. If the damage is very minor, they may make it, but I suspect that many more deep-hooked fish die after we release them than we think.

    Jim Smith

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Ontario Canada
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    I caught a pike with a portion of a gill literally hanging out from under it's gill plate. It had obviously been that way for some time.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
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    SE Iowa
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    I agree the odds are not great for survival.. but coincidently, I also caught a pike in the same condition as Tig.. Obvious old injury, fine and feeding. I just had a thought - this was also in Ontario.. I'll bet it was the same fish.
    "Flyfishing is not a religion. You can make up your own rules as you go.".. Jim Hatch.. 2/27/'06

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Ontario Canada
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    Good call Hidehunter - there is only one pike in Ontario but we keep that a secret

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