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Squeezing fish for the pic

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Paul Arden
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Squeezing fish for the pic

#1

Post by Paul Arden »

Hi guys,

More and more I’m seeing anglers holding fish by squeezing them underneath close to the belly. I think this is to show more fish and possibly hide the fingers. This looks very bad for the fish to me - is it as bad as it looks?

I’ve always taught that if you are going to hold a fish then to it cradle it gently and with wet hands. Not squeeze the hell out of it.

Also if it’s a trout I don’t want to see it out the water for any more than three seconds! It should be unhooked while in the water (the only reasons for not being able to do this is either your net is too small and/or you’re not fishing barbless). And any photo of the release IMO should be while the fish is being lifted from the submerged net and back to the water. Three seconds air-time maximum.

But anyway the big problem I’m seeing right now is this squeeze grip. What do you think?

Cheers, Paul

PS Snakehead can live out the water for three days so this is one fish that’s not in such a hurry!
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Lasse Karlsson
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Re: Squeezing fish for the pic

#2

Post by Lasse Karlsson »

Hate the squeeze, Hate the hastag #keepemwet and then the angler is holding the fish high above water/ground, etc.

So in short I agree here 🙂

If you have to take the fish out of water, hold your breath! (apperantly not applicable to snakehead 🤣)

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Paul Arden
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Re: Squeezing fish for the pic

#3

Post by Paul Arden »

“Keepemwet” sounds pretty crass to me. Another thing I don’t like is small nets with even smaller net bags. I always fit the largest soft net I can find, which turns the net into a cage while I get organised.

I’ve seen so many bad practises such as netting a fish, bringing it into the boat to unhook, spending a minute unhooking it and then expecting it to swim away afterwards. Much better to net the fish in a large cage net, keep it over the side in the water, and unhook the fish in the water.

Cheers, Paul
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Lasse Karlsson
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Re: Squeezing fish for the pic

#4

Post by Lasse Karlsson »

Actually I like the #keepemwet movement, it's just that so many using the hashtag hasen't read the guidelines it seems, or have No clue as to what it means....

And yeah, you got me using nets again after Gacka 😊

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Lasse
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Will
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Re: Squeezing fish for the pic

#5

Post by Will »

A real slap in the face for me was reading some research on steelhead which showed that, irrespective of future survival of the fish that was handled, taking the fish out of the water even only briefly results in a massive reduction in egg viability (from memory something like a 50% reduction). So in that instance, “keep ‘em wet” really means “submerged”.

Not sure if this is applicable to Atlantics but for me from now on, any pics of salmon need to be of the fish in the net in the water...

...although for me at tHe moment, chance would be a fine thing...
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Re: Squeezing fish for the pic

#6

Post by t.z. »

Mount a go-pro to your net and film the catch and the release if you wish. I think there's enough of these idiotic selfies. They all look the effing same.
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Paul Arden
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Re: Squeezing fish for the pic

#7

Post by Paul Arden »

The problem I have with that research is fish do jump out the water naturally. Salmon are quite famous for it in fact!

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Re: Squeezing fish for the pic

#8

Post by Lasse Karlsson »

Jumping out of the water rarely causes trauma for them, getting squeezed while being out of the water is another thing....

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Re: Squeezing fish for the pic

#9

Post by Will »

Yep, there’s jumping out of the water, and then there’s being held out of the water for 30 seconds. I also suspect that this gets more critical the nearer to spawning time. Another reason for not fishing on redds and for well managed closed seasons.

Note we’re only talking about steelhead and maybe salmon here. I think different species respond in different ways.

Carp for instance seem to be able to take prolonged handling/time out of water.
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Re: Squeezing fish for the pic

#10

Post by Paul Arden »

I remember reading a C&R study somewhere, I can't remember where and I can't remember the exact numbers - sorry. But the gist of it was 20s out the water had a high mortality and 40s was more than 50% mortality. This was for trout. That's why I think trout should never be boated of lifted out the water to unhook and if you are going to take a photo then 3 seconds max of air time - that's more than enough time to lift the fish out of the net, turn around, and release the fish. Personally I like to look at the fish I've caught - some of them anyway - and a photograph or a still from a video is a great way to do this. In fact I would argue that digital cameras have been fantastic for C&R.

Other fish species are less sensitive for sure. Chuan had a Snakehead in the boot of his car many years ago when he used to eat them. And then he forgot about it... in Singapore where it's 34C! Christ knows how hot it was in the back of the car. Later, much later, when he remembered he opened the trunk of his car and it was still alive. If they can survive Chuan's car, or by all accounts three days in the jungle, then they can survive a few seconds in the boat.

Cheers, Paul
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