Bittersweet Catch

[QUIENYO]

Man, I was pounding the cover all afternoon and right at sun down finally got the bite I was looking for. Set the hook and the fight was on. My little half ounce Jig and craw trailer finally paid off. Once I got the LM in my hand I saw that she ate the Jig. I repeatedly stuck my hand in this fatty's mouth trying as best I could to extricate the hook. It took so long that I put the fish back in the water to keep it alive.

After a few long sweeping motions with my rod, the LM showed some signs of life. I got her out and again furiously attempted to free her of the hook before she died. I finally looked at her gills from the outside and saw my hook was firmly planted through one of her gills. After some hard work with my pliers on the outside, I finally freed the hook.

Thinking she was good to go, I tossed her out into the pond with the hope she would swim away. No luck, she just drifted out farther, doing a slow death roll and resting belly up. I got my shoes wet trying to get to her with my rod. I hoped I could pull her through the water and help revive her. Again, no luck. I just couldn't reach her.

I am pretty upset that she seemed to die so easily. She was the largest LM I had caught from this pond. A healthy 3.5 pounder, and now she is dead. What happened? I can't imagine she died from being out of the water too long, I've had other fish out much longer. I've never hooked a LM so deep that the hook goes through the gills. Is there any immediate action drill or other procedure that needs to be taken when a LM is hooked through the gills?

Needless to say, from now on when a fish eats a hook, the first thing I plan on doing is checking the gills.

[Bassn Blvd]

It sucks when something dies from our actions, but sht happens. The gills are a vital part of a fish and more than likely the damaged gill is what killed her. Sometimes it's easier to cut the line and pull the hook out through the gill but you have to be very carefull. Don't let her death get you down- you will unintentionaly kill plenty more fish before your fishing career ends. She will become fish food, turtle food, bird food, insect food, etc for those less fortunate creatures that have a hard time gathering their own food.

[QUIENYO]

Thanks. I guess I was just a little surprised how fragile a seemingly healthy LM is. Totally OK with the dead fish though. I'm not planning on losing any sleep. To be honest, if it wasn't a golf course pond, I would have gutted and cleaned her and had a fish fry.

[North Ga Hillbilly]

Their gills are real weak points, like BBlvd said. They die from time to time, such is life, next time, if they seem like a lost cause, throw en on ice and either eat em, of find someone that would. Im not a fan of bass, but alot of folks love em

NGaHB

[SirSnookalot]

That happens with fish that inhale baits like a bass. It's going to happen and that's just the way it is. As said, don't take it too hard, the fish becomes part of the food chain, something is going to eat it.

[OkobojiEagle]

If your intentions were to release your catch... file the barbs away. Less damage and stress.

oe

[Deadeye-1]

I had a simular incendent to yours. Fishing in a pond where we were not allowed to keep any. Caught and released her (about 3-4 lber) and then noticed later that she was floating. Went back and used the rod to grab her and drag her back to the shore. Worked her by the tail for quite awhile and thought she had revived. Left her go, only to see her shortly back on top.

I didn't want to leave her floating dead like that and I wasn't allowed to remove any fish from the property. So I tossed her into a brush row for the 'coons and critters to eat. Haunted me for years. I actually thought I might be bass cursed because of it, as I started having trouble catching anything. I even put two nice 3 lbers back into the pond that I caught somewhere else and transferred there.

Stuff like that can mess with your head. I've come to realize that sometimes a fish will die (I had a small one die on me the other day) and sometimes there is not much you can do about it. Return it back to the source to be food for the others that need it or take it home for yourself or others.

[Mountain Angler]

I hate to hear that man stuff happens and the gills is what killed her, there will be bigger ones in there no worries man

[NBR]

It happens to all of us at one time or another. I use only hooks with the barbs pressed down to help this. Sometimes you can go in through the gills and get the hook free with little damage. I think In-Fisherman has a how to on their web page.

[d3bf48]

I feel ya. Had a weird day myself. First, I see some white trash dudes pull out a huge snapping turtle with thier catfish gear. They sat their tormenting it for a while before trying to cut it's head off. An hour later I see someone hit a goose with their car while it was crossing the street. And finally, I had a huge smallmouth on that somehow broke my 8lb test. I think I had a bad knot but couldn't believe it. Hopefully it can toss the hook or survive with it in it's mouth.

[Traveler2586]

I am pretty upset that she seemed to die so easily.

Like the others are telling you above, don't let it get to you. This time of year she may have been weak from spawning before you caught her. I've seen a clean gill hook stop bleeding after the fish was placed in the live well. But like they say sometimes stuff happens.

Most of the time I am not that attached to the lure (pardon the pun) and will cut the hook to have a clean wound. I use a cheep pair of dual cutters, they have a flat jaw out the front, and wire cutters out the top, and they will flatten a barb. If you want a charge, land a bass with a barb-less hook.

[Bluebasser86]

If you're more worried about the bass than the bait just keep wire cutters in the boat and cut the hook next time. Even an expensive jig is $5 or so, it can takes years for a bass to grow to it's full potential.

[Hyrule Bass]

sometimes all the reviving in the world wont work to save a fish. i did manage to revive a small white perch this weekend i caught. i threw her back in and for whatever reason she just floated. i grabbed the net and worked her around in that a minute and she took off happy with her other white perch friends that watched me revive her....