Hey jsmartt,


In a different post you mentioned that you release all the fish you catch nowadays. That's cool. I release most of the fish I catch, but keep a few for food sometimes.

Anyway, I'm wondering are panfish are among the fish you release? The reason I'm asking is because you might have a better technique than mine. If so, I'd like to try it.

What I do is I dunk my hand into the water just before grabbing the fish. This on the belief that my wet hand will strip off less of the fish's protective slime. Then as fast as possible I unhook the fish and lower it back into the water.

Panfish are so energetic that I've never tried grabbing the hook with forceps while the fish is still thrashing in the water next to my canoe. I sometimes carry a landing net, but I've wondered if the netting actually strips off more of a fish's slime than a hand grip does.

What's your thinking on this?

My deal is, I like to release all dinky fish AND all the really big ones. But not release them to suffer a lingering death by infection. Maybe panfish aren't as susceptible to skin infections as the smooth-skinned fish like trout, but I wonder.


Joe

"Better small than not at all."