During the past couple weeks I’ve had a number of discussions with folks regarding the practice of single hook sucker rigging and improper use of quickstrike rigs. Most of us dedicated musky fishermen are aware of this dangerous practice but I’m amazed at the amount of anglers who still persist in this tactic. I hate to paint with a broad brush but it seems most common among people who only fish muskies in the fall during what they consider “musky season”. Sadly there are still some guides who insist on telling clients that a fish released with a hook buried in its guts will be fine as long as they cut the leader as short as possible and then let the fish swim away. Hard to believe that such “logic” still exists out there but I can assure you it does. Here’s a copy of some factual evidence produced by Wisconsin DNR fisheries supervisor Terry Margineau about an actual study that was conducted while analyzing delayed mortality in muskies that were gut hooked with single hook rigs.
Effects of a Single-hook Live Bait Angling Technique on Muskellunge Survival
Terry L. Margenau
Use of live bait is a popular method to fish muskellunge during fall months. However, muskellunge anglers have expressed concern that certain live bait techniques may cause muskellunge mortality to be unacceptably high. This study monitored the survival of adult muskellunge (31.5 to 42.3 in) for a period up to one year after being angled using a single-hook live bait rig where muskellunge were allowed to swallow the bait prior to hook set. Over a two-year period a total of 40 muskellunge (20 fish/year) were field transferred into a 1-acre lined hatchery pond in early September. After allowing muskellunge several weeks to acclimate to the hatchery pond, angling was initiated using live suckers (approximately 12 in) with a 10/0 single hook attached to the suckers snout and suspended from a bobber. A total of 22 muskellunge were hooked with the single-hook rig. Hooked fish were landed as quickly as possible, inspected for hooking location and injury, and released after cutting the leader. Average time from a strike until hook set averaged 17 minutes. Play-time (hook set to landing) averaged less than one minute, and handling time averaged approximately 5 minutes. Immediate mortality (first 24 h after hooking) of muskellunge was zero. Short-term delayed mortality (24 h until ice formation; approximately 45 d) was 22%. Cumulative mortality (hooking until one year) was 83%. Results from this study have several implications for management agencies and anglers. First, all fish hooked appeared healthy after being caught and released, thus leading an angler to believe that the release was successful. Second, delayed and long-term mortality appeared related to the extent of internal damage suffered from the hook. Finally, while mortality to one year is unacceptable for fisheries that rely upon successful release, not all fish perished. Those fish surviving to one year maintained good relative weight values and appeared externally healthy.
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I’ve found in my experience it’s very difficult to argue with people who still practice this technique. My best success in discussions has been to explain as calmly as I can how badly this method hurts the fish and offer suggestions on how to properly use quickstrike rigs. For those who insist on keeping a fish whether for the wall or the grill I can only suggest to them that a single hook rig does not make a choice between a legal size fish (they like to call them “keepers”) and a sublegal fish. Frankly I’d be in favor of adopting a regulation similar to the one in Illinois that requires the use of quickstrike rigs on any livebait over a given size. I believe Illinois regs require this on bait over 8″. Of course a quickstrike can be misused too but hopefully better education will get more fishermen to think about the effects of their careless use of equipment that can kill without discrimination.