Feeling Bummed Out

[ghost]

Caught a bass earlier this evening, using the Ned Rig. I saw my line was slack even though I pulled in some slack. So I set the hook and didn't feel the bass till it took off. A nice 2+ lber.

 

I noticed the bass swallowed the Ned Rig, did my best to take out the gut hook. It was a bit dark and thought it wasn't deeply hooked. Well, I was wrong. I put the bass in the water and it just kept coming up.

 

I felt so bad, I so hate accidentally killing a bass. Another fisherman saw what happened and offered to take the bass and make a meal.  I said ok, cuz that Bass wasn't going to make it.

 

Ned Rig works with the exposed hook, but now I know a chance for a gut hook is much higher with this rig, since it's a small worm and small jig.

 

Rest in peace the bass I caught,  it was not my intention to kill you. Yeah, I'm bumming out.

[Bluebasser86]

Pinch the barb down if you're concerned about it. Also learn how to unhook a deeply hooked bass properly and it should be very easy to remove that little hook from their gullet. I fish a Ned a lot and actually have very little problem with deeply hooking fish. 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/12981-how-do-i-remove-a-hook-a-bass-has-swallowed/page-2

[Catch and Grease]

Its not a big deal, bass fishing is a blood sport and its bound to happen to everyone. Just get better at removing the hooks, and if your really that worried pinch down your barbs.

[WIGuide]

Don't feel too bad, you didn't decimate the population, you didn't ruin fishing for years to come, and you probably did less damage than mother nature does on a daily basis! 

[buzzed bait]

at least someone took it home to eat it.... it's not that big of a deal though on a small scale, you tried.

[visagelaid]

Bob Lusk was talking about how its good for some fisheries to take out those 10-15 inch bass.  Apparently the smaller bass make it more difficult for the larger bass to eat enough to grow later in life, or something to that effect.  Anyway, you shouldnt feel too bad.  At least it didnt go to waste.

[Team9nine]

Can happen no matter what bait you use. A certain small percentage of every fish we catch will simply not make it for a variety of reasons. I can tell you that I've been fishing MF/Ned for over 3 years and have caught thousands of bass with the setup and have never had one swallow the bait, and can only ever remember one fish that didn't make it because of the way it was hooked. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

-T9

[HoosierHawgs]

I've only had one fish ever die on me, fishing a 1.5 squarebill. I'm fixing to go barbless because of it, as well as a hook injury my father sustained. I was pretty ticked it died, so ill definitely be going barbless.

[lectricbassman]

Dont beat yourself up over it, the fish made a meal for someone and it didnt go to waste. Last night i put a 3/0 hook though a fishs head, long ways! It was a dink so there was no keeping it, threw it back in the water and it swam off. That fish is dead today for sure, it happens. All we can do is take the best care we can but its still a blood sport in the end.

[jbarlowgd]

Had something similar happen during a tournament last Saturday while fishing a drop shot in some fast current. Little bass hit it and I didn't even know until he all but swallowed the hook. I cut the hook and got it out but he must have been out of the water too long or something because he died soon after.

 

I spent the rest of the day not feeling good about it and I made sure that the rest of the fish we caught went in to the live well quickly and survived.

[MFBAB]

This is a circular argument to me. 

 

If people are that concerned about the welfare of the fish, just leave them alone, IMO.

 

Not trying to pick a fight, but this is like a vegetarian who wears leather telling me about cruelty to animals   There's no credibility there. 

 

I'm a lifetime hunter and fisherman, and I don't believe in cruelty to animals, and I don't believe in wasting what you kill (not harvest) either. 

Having said that, on some level, even C&R fishing is a little cruel. 

 

This is just a sport to us, it is life and death to them. 

 

They should be handled with care, but as I said before, at some point how is it better to catch the fish, stress it, put it through trauma, get your pic, or worse, take it somewhere and weigh it, and then let it go, and you get to feel like a prince for doing it, but a lot of them still die later, especially in summer.

If you do this for very long, whatever your intentions, you will kill some fish.  By continuuing to do it at all, you are saying you're OK with the collateral damage.   

You are justifying it, as all of us humans do. 

 

My bass fishing is well over 90% C&R, not so much on the panfish, but I do C&R more than I keep even with them. 

There is nothing wrong with keeping a few bass within the limits as they are set.

C&R works, but it can be overdone, and it is causing smaller fish in MANY lakes and ponds across the country. 

This is well documented. 

In fertilized ponds especially, there are recommended take-out per acre rates, this ruins a lot of private ponds, people don't take them out and they overpopulate and become stunted. 

 

As stated, mash the barb or fish moving baits, they don't take them down as deeply. 

 

And again, I'm not trying to start anything here, just throwing some perspective out there.  We've all got out opinions and we all justify the things we do, however good or bad they are.  It is human nature. 

[HoosierHawgs]

This is a circular argument to me.

If people are that concerned about the welfare of the fish, just leave them alone, IMO.

Not trying to pick a fight, but this is like a vegetarian who wears leather telling me about cruelty to animals There's no credibility there.

I'm a lifetime hunter and fisherman, and I don't believe in cruelty to animals, and I don't believe in wasting what you kill (not harvest) either.

Having said that, on some level, even C&R fishing is a little cruel.

This is just a sport to us, it is life and death to them.

They should be handled with care, but as I said before, at some point how is it better to catch the fish, stress it, put it through trauma, get your pic, or worse, take it somewhere and weigh it, and then let it go, and you get to feel like a prince for doing it, but a lot of them still die later, especially in summer.

If you do this for very long, whatever your intentions, you will kill some fish. By continuuing to do it at all, you are saying you're OK with the collateral damage.

You are justifying it, as all of us humans do.

My bass fishing is well over 90% C&R, not so much on the panfish, but I do C&R more than I keep even with them.

There is nothing wrong with keeping a few bass within the limits as they are set.

C&R works, but it can be overdone, and it is causing smaller fish in MANY lakes and ponds across the country.

This is well documented.

In fertilized ponds especially, there are recommended take-out per acre rates, this ruins a lot of private ponds, people don't take them out and they overpopulate and become stunted.

As stated, mash the barb or fish moving baits, they don't take them down as deeply.

And again, I'm not trying to start anything here, just throwing some perspective out there. We've all got out opinions and we all justify the things we do, however good or bad they are. It is human nature.

Yes, but this isn't necessarily some tiny fish that died. It could have been a good one. Bob Lusk said, and I quote "When you catch a 3+ fish, you treat it like a woman on a first date, because that fish had to overcome tremendous odds to get to where it is, and it has a chance of making it to double digits." C & R isn't cruel if you do it right. Hold tue fish right, don't drag him all over the place, and remove hooks swiftly and with minimal damage, and your fish is less stressed, and generally apt to survive. I'll bet more survive than you think.

[MFBAB]

I think the survival rates vary by season, summer being the worst. 

The studies I've seen have been on tourney fishing. 

 

I have confidence that the overwhelmoing majority of fish released at boatside (or bank) will survive in most conditions. 

They might be bleeding, they might get dropped on the ground or boat deck and flop around some (tourneys, other than MLF, disgust me in this regard), but they will mostly survive if released immediately. 

The question is, if we were second on the food chain and there was a species who liked to catch and release us for fun, and we didn't know if we were going to live through it until they let us go, would we be cool with it?

 

I guess what I'm saying about cruelty is this:

Everyones definition is going to be different.  I saw a recent survey that showed a pretty high %, I want to say close to 60%,  don't think waterboarding is torture.  But I bet people who have been waterboarded might disagree, and I don't think 100% of that 60% would want to find out first hand. 

 

Don't fool yourself, while it is a lot of fum for us, getting caught is a life and death struggle for a fish, and on whatever level they feel things, they are traumatized by it. 

If you're doing this, you're signing off on that. 

It's not complicated. 

 

I try not to kill them, but I understand that what I'm doing is almost definitely not OK with them either, ya know? 

[OntarioFishingGuy]

Go barbless. It makes it easier on the fish (and yourself).

[MrE1979]

Well said MFBAB. My 2 cents... It didn't go to waste someone had a good meal. Now if you were just killing them for fun that would be different.

[SirSnookalot]

I have no intention of harming any fish, but it happens and I don't give a second thought.  As I've always said if was that intent on not harming a fish, I wouldn't fish at all.  What may be ironic is placing one species preservation over another, which is totally self serving.  This is a bass site and people want to catch bass, fishermen of other species may not care.  Case in point using a bait fish to catch a game fish, is not that baitfish entitled to it's life?  In the wild predatory fish do eat bait fish, by the same token some of those predatory fish we target are eaten by other predatory fish.  Unless I'm catching a species on the brink of extinction, I don't take it too much to heart.

[Lund Explorer]

I found a place where every fish I catch is released unharmed.  It's located on my computer screen.

 

Perhaps there are some people who would be better off limiting their fishing to the same venue.

[aceman387]

My wife was born and raised in the city (Chicago) The first time i took her fishing she gut hooked a small bass and started crying in the boat when it didn't survive. This was back a few years ago. Since then she has attended some women of the outdoor events and last year she shot three deer with her bow and shotgun.I jokingly remind her how she has matured into a lethal hunter...LoL.

[jbarlowgd]

Ha, yeah I guess you guys are right. The one I killed didn't stop me from throwing the dropshot the rest of the day. Ended up catching a 4 on it in the afternoon.

[Rachel Davis]

It happens. Thats good that you even care, most people don't seem to. It bothers me as well but it happens. Keep your head up! 

[Jar11591]

Gut hooked fish are usually the result of user error. If you set the hook right when the fish hits your bait, odds of it swallowing anything is very minimal. It just takes concentration and paying a little more attention. I honestly can't remember the last time I hooked a bass too deep to remove the hook. That being said, your situation happens to everyone from time to time, and yeah its kind of a bummer. But the only way to completely eliminate that from happening is to give up fishing altogether and that's not going to happen. 

[Paul Roberts]

Don't go barbless with a jig. Many baits hold fish just fine barbless. But jigs aren't one of them -in any weight or configuration -in my experience.

 

As to killing a fish... it happens. Good that you care but realize that, as an angler, you are acting as a predator and that you must come to your own reconciliation with that.

[MIbassyaker]

You can always try to assuage the guilt of killing a fish by making a small donation to a conservation fund.

[RoLo]

You can always try to assuage the guilt of killing a fish by making a small donation to a conservation fund.

 

There you go.

For that matter, a large donation would work just as well.

[Shanes7614]

Yes, but this isn't necessarily some tiny fish that died. It could have been a good one. Bob Lusk said, and I quote "When you catch a 3+ fish, you treat it like a woman on a first date, because that fish had to overcome tremendous odds to get to where it is, and it has a chance of making it to double digits." C & R isn't cruel if you do it right. Hold tue fish right, don't drag him all over the place, and remove hooks swiftly and with minimal damage, and your fish is less stressed, and generally apt to survive. I'll bet more survive than you think.

What differentiates the potential of this tiny fish making it to trophy size as compared to the 3lb fish?

Chances of fish making it to double digits Also depends on strain of bass and location.