Summer Fishing C&R

[Gator]

I know that the topic of catch & release during the Summer months can cause controversy with many of the folks on this forum. I have noticed when you bring a fish up from 30 fow when the WT is 80+ and the AT is 90+ that the fish has a body temperature ( from touch only) that feels very hot. My thoughts are- would it be advantageous to give the fish a quick dip in the cooler? Not sure if it needs to be super cold ,but a TD of around 40 degrees.I feel like lowering the body temp would help to get them back to the depth they need for survival. Could be completely wrong here and was curious of the thoughts here. Not looking to start trouble here. Just want to know your thoughts. HAAAA, SWIM RANK!!!

[Deleted]

Gator, gotta remember, just because the surface temp is 80 degrees, doesn't mean it is 80 at 30 feet....just torpedo the fish back in the water to get them back thru the first 8 foot or so and headed in the right direction.....if it gets 80 degrees @ 30', none of us have any business fishing and releasing.......

[Gator]

Bigun2, to be clear, I meant when the surface temp was 80. Pretty sure if the temps at 30' below the surface were at 80 we'd be.....

I always torpedo the fish. Usually it is during the cold months when I release a fish though. Prefer to keep them when survival is jeopardized.

[Deleted]

Gator, I know you meant  surface temp,    I just didn't do a very good job trying to explain what I meant...... a lot of times if the surface temp is 80, at 30' it will be in the mid 60's (which is fine to release if you want to) ( I think?).....especially early summer....and can be mid summer sometimes....just depends on the weather.......don't put to much into surface temp as it has little to do with down below.....where the fish swim rank!!!!! 


oh, and gator......don't think I didn't notice you went invisible on us.   


just to be clear....i'm not for or against summer time fishing, it's up to each to decide what they think is best.......it does take some of the smaller fish out of the lake......is it detrimental to the fishery......could be........until the biologist figure out what they want ?.....more vs bigger....I'm lost

[Gator]

May 20, 2014 20:25:06 GMT -5 @bigun2 said:

oh, and gator......don't think I didn't notice you went invisible on us.    

Not invisible....under the radar is more like it.

[mwardncsu]

This is always a good topic to revisit as we come into summer, due to new folks coming into the sport and not understanding the potential impacts and the variables that come into play.

There are various studies on the effects of C&R across water temp, and you can certainly argue lots of the specifics regarding the techniques used in the data collection, the equivalence of the location in the study to SML, etc. However, I believe it is clear that C&R mortality increases with water temperature and there is a much higher impact in the peak-summer than cooler parts of the year.

SML is different than some lakes in the fact that we hold cool water with sufficient oxygenation through most of year which allows for better survivability of striper in warm months. And yes, 10-15 ft down from the surface things get in the cooler temps in which they are happy.

However, when trolling artificial baits / umbrella rigs in that top 20' of water, and dragging the fish through the surface layers of the water for 100 yards or so to the boat, the stress on the fish is almost certainly terminal. Responsible fishing with those techniques with surface temps in the 80s or higher should result in harvesting the fish, catching your limit or less and calling it a day.

On the other end of the spectrum, often the fish will retreat to deeper water - however, yanking a fish from 50-70' up and releasing it can be just as traumatic - if you are targeting them >40', my recommendation is to not release.

Size also comes into play - the small, sub-5 lb or so fish, release a lot better than the larger ones - I'll more likley release some number of small fish, but anything in the slot or larger probably needs to be kept.

Now, as the saying goes, those who live in glass houses should not throw stones - I'm not going to sit here and say I follow the above with 100% consistency. It's hard to get up at 4, head out to catch bait, hit a school, catch a couple and then call it a day, especially if you've driven up from a couple hours away, etc. I get that. I've seen smaller fish caught & released in decent numbers and they were kicking hard and strong - these were caught in the top 15-20' of water that was warm itself. However, I also saw 1st hand last year a fair number of fish floating on the surface in a creek that had been released - several of which I know came from our own boat - they seemed to release OK at the time, but when we came back a few hours later there they were floating - these were fish in the 10-15 lb range. Really made an impression and changed my views & how I personally will fish during warm months this year and in the future......

[Gator]

Mward, I really appreciate your opinion. What about those of us that live on the edge and bump tree tops at 30+ feet with u-rigs? Ha, asking you a u-rig question. LOL. Granted, I'm not throwing them back unless they are under 22-23"s. I see summer months as a opportunity to fill MY freezer. Much like, filling my freezer with Elk and Deer meat in the fall. Maybe one day I will do the bait thing and then I can worry about those BIG fish many of you talk about.

[mwardncsu]

Catching them at 30' means dragging them for a good ways in 20' or less - so they get experience the hot water for too long in my opinion.

If you're going to c&r in the summer you need to minimize the fight by using sufficient heavy gear and not "playing" the fish - up and out and back in.......

[Deleted]

Thanks for your input mike.  Just want to add, nothing wrong with keeping some fish to eat. Big rush when you get in them good. If they are deep, if you release, for goodness sake, don't kill 20 to keep 2....

[Deleted]

This is where this board shines. Makes me proud to be a member.

[craddockcreek]

Are there any types of techniques or tackle that could be prohibited during the hotest part of the year that would make catching those fish that are not likely to survive (which might be all stripers) or at least those that the fishery wants to protect (presumably bigger fish) more difficult?   I don't know enough to speak intellegently as to what those things would be, but based on what I was reading, perhaps limit the use planner boards (or no more than x number) since the fish are drug through warm water, U-rigs, stingers, or limit the size of live bait.  Trying to think of ways that folks could still fish, but to make it much harder so that fewer fish, or at least fewer of the big fish, are caught given that even if they are released they are not likely to survive.  Kind of like a bow or muzzelloader season for deer, or banning trebel hooks for trout.  

[piper]

I dont think outlawing a particular item will make . People are still going to be people and push through rules and regulations. We have overworked people at dgif already. I think bottom line it comes down to us and being informed. As Yam has put it, this board has been instrumental in that. I had no clue about the fish dying. Now that Im informed I can make the personal decision based on what I know and what I know to be right. I still am in the group that dont think things are as dire as others. Sure maybe the fish are harder or fewer right now but I think thats the ebb and flow of anything.

Why arent other things being looked at like water quality and what can be helped with that? That in itself brings its own stress and death rates..moreso than fisherman.

[BentRod]

Urigs definitely are a summertime killer more than people think. Once you've dragged a fish 100+ft through 80+deg water, it is dead. A lot of the floaters you do see are urig fish I believe bc of the manner in which they're brought in.

We're definitely killing a lot of fish through catch and release in late July and August on bait too. I have no doubt. People that think they're all living during summer release because they don't see them floating are honestly just ignorant and misinformed. I had some eye opening experiences on this myself. If you don't believe me, go to TN or somewhere where you can find shallow warm water that still holds stripers. You will see floaters everywhere if the water is over 75. On SML, they mostly sink because they're in deeper water. Once the water hits 75 here and stays 75, I don't want to see another big fish until fall. I'm ok with catching and releasing fish 5-6lbs and under because they appear to be able to tolerate it, but if they get much bigger, I get nervous that I'm killing a bunch of fish.

[mwardncsu]

May 22, 2014 10:22:51 GMT -5 craddockcreek said:

Are there any types of techniques or tackle that could be prohibited during the hotest part of the year that would make catching those fish that are not likely to survive (which might be all stripers) or at least those that the fishery wants to protect (presumably bigger fish) more difficult?   

I think this largely needs to come down to angler behavior - I'm not sure regulating any specific tackle is the best route for various reasons. We've talked about the downsides of artificals/trolling/u-rigs in the summer as it results in dragging the fish in the upper layers of the water column for a much more extended time and it is something that has to be considered - likewise, the same goes for the # of rods/baits fished in the water that ups the chance for additional catches.

Another thing that can be done - and I know at least one guide that has already put this into place due to temps - is suspend the use of larger shad, in an attempt to reduce the potential for catching larger fish in the hotter water. It won't totally eliminate the chance of a larger fish, but it will cut it down some.

Another options i can think of to still fish, but cut down on the potential for numbers (and maybe size), is to shift to jigging during the peak summer months. I know some guys that can put as many in the boat jigging as the rest of us live-baiting with 6 or 8 rods, but for most of us, this will reduce catch rates

[Deleted]

one more..... catch your limit and stop. This is the time of year the fish start to school up big and in deeper water....you can catch (kill) huge numbers of fish. I know how hard it is to stop when you get in them really, really good in the summer months, but it has to be done. One of my favorite spots in july and august is a 40 minute boat ride each way from my dock. I go, keep whatever our limit is and quit.....and yeah, i've made that trip many times to fish 15-20 minutes and have our limit and quit..... if you catch 30 and keep 2, you may as well throw the other 28 up on the bank, they aren't going to make it.