We keep having problems with many lakes and many species regarding hooking mortality. Mille Lacs summer walleye come to mind. Fizzing is one way we keep hearing about but I’m just not in favor of it as the likelihood of inducing further injury is high.
A fish descender seems like a much more functional option.
https://www.sportfishingmag.com/fish-descender-devices-release-fishing#page-11
It it by far one of the best solutions for releasing a fish brought from deep water. Unfortunately the water temperature change can also have an equal effect on the fish. This is something you can’t correct.
Fizzing can work in the right condition if you do it correctly. Fish caught in Mille lacs do not need to be fizzed, ever. The lake simply isn’t deep enough. The hooking mortality issue out there is specifically related to using live bait when the water is warm.
The hooking mortality issue out there is specifically related to using live bait when the water is warm.
I suspect stressing a fish and releasing them in warm surface temps is detrimental to their survival and increases hooking mortality. I’ve caught fish and despite an hour of attempting to get them to go back to 25′ of water they just didn’t make it. I suspect if I could have put them back down to 25′ (cooler water and increased pressure) they would have had a better chance.
Also per the literature 28′ is one atmosphere of pressure. So ML and other lakes we are pulling fish out of 20’+ is close to that one atmosphere of pressure on their bodies.
The best solution of all is to not catch them at all. That’s not debatable.
Quick fighting and quick handling is the next best thing.
Upsize your terminal tackle so you have a shorter fight and get them back in the water as quickly as possible. I opt for actually tossing the fish head first into the water because they shoot down faster than any contraption you can come up with.
The hooking mortality issue out there is specifically related to using live bait when the water is warm.
It has nothing to do with using live bait. It’s about the techniques used to present live bait. The whole feed the fish line on a live bait rig is nothing but a old tactic to make sure the fish makes it to the live well. Back in the day fish weren’t ever released so it didn’t matter how deep the fish is hooked. Same goes for bobber fishing. When done correctly you should almost never need a pliers.
How long does it take a walleye to inhale a leech? About a half second, no need to wait a minute like most do.
I personally think trolling lead and cranks in 34ft and dragging a fish to the surface at 2mph is far harder on the fish.
Lol BG, throwing the fish back head first is not helping anything.
Show them respect, handle them carefully and gently set them back in the water. There’s no way a swan drive from 4ft off the water helps the fish lol.
Irreparable internal damage can be done by bringing certain fish up from depth due to pressure. By clipping a fish to these devices with major internal damage (which is hard to detect), the fish pops off at depths and dies down there versus floating dead on the surface…same outcome, more feel goods…not saying it’s a bad idea, it could save fish without internal damage. I just feel that’s an oversight in the process.
Maybe we should hybridize trout with Walleye…(insert tongue into cheek)
Hooking mortality on Mille Lacs is related to depth and water Temp it does not matter that much which technique is used. Basically US and Canadian studies show catching walleyes and crappies at 30 ft kills almost 50% of them. Method did not matter Some Canadian studies tracked released walleyes from deep water for 4 weeks and the death rate is 90% The reason for death is called baratrauma. In humans we call it the bends. Gord Pyzer retired Fisheries Biologist has written about it in In-Fisherman and other magazines. In Alaska they no longer allow catch and release on the deep reef fish as they all die. You keep your 2 rockfish and cannot continue fishing for them. There is studies being started on using desender to release fish at depth.
Mwal
I’m gonna lol when the dnr implements this as mandatory for releasing fish
Lol BG, throwing the fish back head first is not helping anything.
Show them respect, handle them carefully and gently set them back in the water. There’s no way a swan drive from 4ft off the water helps the fish lol.
Prove to me a head first toss in the water harms the fish. Please do.
Gut hooked fish increases hooking mortality as does warmer water temps and barotrauma below certain depths and yes dragging fish behind too long doesn’t do them much good either.
Perhaps another factor increasing hooking mortality is bringing them in the boat and dropping them on the floor and they flop around for a minute or two while find your phone and then turn it on and then switch it to camera mode and then hand the phone off while you finally pick the fish up for the photo shoot.
Do ya think? 
the fish pops off at depths and dies down there versus floating dead on the surface…same outcome, more feel goods…
May be just “more feel goods”. But the way I look at it, we know not using a descender results in 90% mortality. Maybe it’s just “feel goods” or maybe the mortality would drop to 70%. I don’t know any more than the literature I read.
I’m sorry but… 
B05AA2BA-4E5D-44C1-A777-E257C1D33999.png
Burrrrrnnnnnnnnn 
Thinking the same thing. Hope that one went in the livewell 
Prove to me a head first toss in the water harms the fish. Please do.
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Prove that a fish naturally face plants into the water from 4-6 feet above the surface. There’s no proving any of it, unless we take up scuba diving maybe? How can you be so sure throwing them head first helps?
If someone 20x your size picks you up, would you rather be set down nicely or tossed head first?
Prove that a fish naturally face plants into the water from 4-6 feet above the surface. There’s no proving any of it, unless we take up scuba diving maybe? How can you be so sure throwing them head first helps?
If someone 20x your size picks you up, would you rather be set down nicely or tossed head first?
Well, you certainly have a way with words. I’ll give you that.
I can play your game.
Apparently wrestling a fish by hand in boiling hot water for 15 minutes is a whole lot more humane than gently releasing a fish from slightly above the water to gain a head start.
Well, you certainly have a way with words. I’ll give you that.
I can play your game.
Apparently wrestling a fish by hand in boiling hot water for 15 minutes is a whole lot more humane than gently releasing a fish from slightly above the water to gain a head start.
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Wrestling? Boiling hot? 15 minutes? At least I was realistic! 
Agree to disagree?
All I hope is that everyone does the best they can for the fish if they intend to release it.
The fact is sometimes they don’t make it, it’s an unfortunate reality of fishing. We can and should avoid deep water (for certain species), and certain techniques but people are going to fish where they want and how they want.
I’m sorry but…
Yes, I’m laughing too…at myself. 
I have learned that one key to happiness in life is to laugh at yourself, because you’re with yourself all the time. I spend a lot of time laughing at myself. 
Thinking the same thing. Hope that one went in the livewell
I have no idea whether that fish went in a livewell, I didn’t catch it. I was browsing walleyes on the interweb and that pic “caught my eye”…pun intended.
Frankly, that’s the last thing I’d want to see come up on the end of my line. Being the Walleyestudent, I added to my profile for educational purposes, something you don’t want to do. Think about small saugers repeatedly being pulled from a scour hole. 
How do they figure the percentage for hooking mortality?
Think about small saugers repeatedly being pulled from a scour hole.
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Its sure sickening watching that. All day 80 boats over the top and ripping fish out from so deep
On Mille Lacs barbless single hook with no fishing more than one mile from shore starting June 1.
Plenty of shallow fish to pick on well into July.
No live or dead bait all open water.
Weigh a milk crate down and attach a rope to the center on top to defend the fish and one to the lip and keep it slack on the decent. When it reaches the bottom release tension on the tight rope while pulling on the other.
It has nothing to do with using live bait. It’s about the techniques used to present live bait. The whole feed the fish line on a live bait rig is nothing but a old tactic to make sure the fish makes it to the live well. Back in the day fish weren’t ever released so it didn’t matter how deep the fish is hooked. Same goes for bobber fishing. When done correctly you should almost never need a pliers.
How long does it take a walleye to inhale a leech? About a half second, no need to wait a minute like most do.
I personally think trolling lead and cranks in 34ft and dragging a fish to the surface at 2mph is far harder on the fish.
I should have clarified the use of live bait when referring to this specific lake. Lindy rigging and slip bobbering are the two primary methods I was talking about and they are both used regularly on Mille Lacs. So yes, your examples of letting them inhale a leech from a lindy rig or slip bobber is agreeable and I see it happen out there a lot. Scientific studies not only done by the DNR but also by other large lake agencies have shown that the use of live bait in the warm summer months increases mortality by up to 60%. That’s why they were considering banning live bait a few years ago because it would make such a big difference in the mortality quota (but then the bobber anglers and bait shops all complained so they reversed that rule).
On Mille Lacs barbless single hook with no fishing more than one mile from shore starting June 1.
Plenty of shallow fish to pick on well into July.
No live or dead bait all open water.
NO!!! not more worthless regulations. Enough is enough already!
The best way to reduce this is to not pull fish from so deep 
Jeez…I’m just gonna keep fishing and not worrying about. It always has and always will be an outcome of fishing. There are way bigger factors of fish mortality then baratrauma.
I’ll just do my part by being a horrible fisherman so I don’t catch as many as others…hence less mortality.
Well, lot’s to debate about. Although I know the species is different but in Alaska if you are fishing halibut (I know they don’t have an air bladder) All of the charters use circle hooks, I think it’s law because of all the small ones you catch, survival is crucial. It takes a bit to get used to them but they work well, you can often feel yourself pulling the hook out of their gullet and it will rotate and corner hook the fish in the mouth. You have to learn to reel with a steady pull and not “set the hook” as well the fish has to be going away from you. I had one charter that actually did not allow you to control the rod, it sat in a rod holder and if you got a bite you simply reeled. Today I fish catfish on the river using circle hooks, they work fabulous. Have started using them on Mille Lacs for bobber fishing. No more gut hooked fish, admittedly miss more fish but the ones I get are hooked squarely in the corner and the hook is quite easy to remove. There is a knack but once you figure it out they work pretty good.
I hear ya David. I switched to primarily all circle hooks. I still use octopus hooks in a few select situations.
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