Catch & Release Works

[Eskimo]

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Do you have any amazing catch & release stores to share?

Last month I was fishing for perch on a very well known and heavily fished New Jersey reservoir when the tiny lure was hit by a stocky sixteen-inch Largemouth Bass with a distinctive ulcerating tumor between his right eye and mouth. I managed to land the fat boy on a light rod and proceeded to take some selfies with him.

When I went to pull the hook I noticed he was hooked in a precarious spot where the gill meets the bottom of his mouth. I probably should have cut the line, but I reasoned it was a small hook and popped out the hook.

I was startled when his mouth was suddenly filled with blood. When I placed the fish back in the water, he swam away but there was so much blood the water looked like someone just dumped a can of fruit punch in the lake.

I felt horrible that the bass was released in such poor shape. I never want to kill a bass, but if you stick hooks in enough fish, you're going to make a few bad releases.

The next week I was fishing for perch in the exact same spot and to my surprise the I caught the same bass again! It was easily identifiable by the tumor on his face. This time the bass had somebody else's heavy-duty snelled line and a snap-swivel protruding from his esophagus.

I was amazed. In one weeks time, this bass was:
*caught by me
*released bleeding profusely
*recovered enough to be caught again by someone else
*this time he was gut hooked
* caught for a third time by me again!
* released

I learned a few things from this experience.
1) Bass can recover from a hook injury if you get them right back into the water.
2) The fishing pressure on this reservoir is intense.

Think about it. If that bass is getting caught three times in one week - how many times has that bass been caught this year? How times in a fish's life is he caught and released before a bad release or some selfish jackhole kills him?


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Here is a picture of the bass. Noticed the tumor and the snell with the snap-and-swivel. The small hook in his upper lip is mine.