Yeah… just a gentle reminder…

Let’s keep those fish swiming.

With some practice and experience, all the questions and answers will become second nature so that you are simply “doing” as much as thinking about what you are doing. And when you finally slip your hand over that big fat bonefish, the feeling of accomplishment is great. After taking a few thousand bonefish myself over many years, I still don’t take any part of the pursuit for granted.

via “Close to the Bone” | MidCurrent.

This photo was in a post about bonefishing written by good ole’ Chico.  I’m glad (and I bet Aaron is glad) that when it came time to select a photo of Chico with a bonefish they picked this one… the fish in the water, the release likely to be a good one, the fish probably surviving.

(This post was originally posted on Nov. 9, 2009.  I’m recycling it for my “Good C&R Week”.

After my bonefish vs. sharks (and cudas) post I put it up on a couple message boards and folks… well… they weren’t fans.

One guy even went so far as to suggest that pretty much any landed fish was going to die, specifically saltwater fish and in particular bonefish.  So, I had to go and find some more information.

The news was pretty positive.  Basically, if you limit your handling of the fish and limit the fish’s exposure to air, they are going to do well.  The good folks at Carlton University, again, had the goods.

In one study, out of 12 fish caught and tagged with gastric implanted acoustic transmitters one was killed quickly, one transmitter was found two days later and the 10 remaining  tags were still swimming around (in their bonefish hosts) at least 13 days later.

Here’s the study.

Ah… well… that’s nice to know.

Here are the conclusions reached as it pertains to how anglers, guides and fisheries management folks could help improve the survival rates of bonefish post-release.

Conclusion

The results of our study suggest that there are opportunities for anglers, guides, resource managers and conservationists to enhance the sustainability of recreational bonefish angling. …(1) Our first recommendation would be for anglers to land fish as quickly as possible and to minimize air exposure during the hook removal and release phase. A cooler or live-well aboard boats may provide an appropriate holding unit to minimize air exposure for this procedure. In fact, we recommend allowing all captured fish to recover for 2–3 min in a cooler or live-well prior to release. Fish that are returned to the water without losing their equilibrium should be better able to avoid predators and resume normal activities more rapidly. Because the likelihood that a bonefish will survive after release is substantially reduced in regions where sharks are abundant, distracting a shark by splashing may be helpful, but will not prevent all predation. (2) We also recommend, that when sharks are in the immediate vicinity of release, anglers hold their bonefish in a cooler or live-well and transport it to an alternate release location. This action may not be possible for anglers that are wading. If sharks are present and the likelihood that a shark will attack either angled or released fish is high, we encourage anglers and guides to relocate to an alternate location. If a captured bonefish is bleeding, we recommend that it be held in a live-well/cooler for 2 min to allow clotting before release or moved to an area with complex cover such as mangroves. The conservation of bonefish will depend upon anglers using strategies to release fish in good condition, such that they can avoid predators.  Educational material related to proper fish handling needs to be  disseminated to stakeholders around the globe that are involved in catch-and-release bonefish angling, or management of these fisheries resources.

I think in a subsequent study the idea of releasing the fish near mangroves turned out not to be effective as bones seem to head to deeper water (where lemon sharks are known to lurk), not the mangroves.

One of the researchers, Dr. Cooke.

I didn’t start out too good.  The first success I had was with a guide that either didn’t know, or didn’t practice good C&R. The results were lots of grip & grin shots with the fish out of the water for way, way too long.

Since then, I’ve read, I’ve listened and I’ve learned. The general math looks like this… (- air exposure) + (- handling) = Good Release

Here’s me putting that into practice…

A nice shot from Cameron at FIBFest II with Andros South

Ok… so, not everyone has a professional photographer as totally awesome as Cameron hanging out with you all day, so, here are others.

Tom Larimer took this pic.

A pic I took down in Belize

Another pic from Belize with El Pescador.

A DIY Bone from Grand Bahama.

Here are some examples of pictures of bonefish that were also pretty good for the bonefish.

Minimize Air Exposure.  Minimize Handling.

Here's Aaron himself. The fish is in the water. That's good.

Another good pic from Aaron, this one underwater. Underwater cameras are coming WAY down in price. Pick one up.

A nice fish and not a lot of air exposure. A+

Three pretty good examples of getting the picture and doing so in a way that the fish is less likely to get munched upon.

Alright, I told Aaron Adams that I’d make this week’s posts all about handling bonefish correctly… so… that’s what I’m going to do.  Monday to Friday will be dedicated to showing fish being handled and released well.

As far as the catching part goes, just fish as heavy a tippet as you can and have enough drag to make progress in getting the fish in.  Don’t overplay the fish… that’s a pretty easy concept.

In terms of the release portion of the issue goes you just have to be aware that every little bit longer you keep the fish out of the water increases the likelihood that it will get munched on when it is released.  These aren’t trout.  Just because it swims away doesn’t mean everything is OK.  If it swims away, but is tired… well… the odds that a cuda or shark will eat it go up a fair bit.

Here’s Dr. Adams…

Flatswalker muses on C&R.  Truth seems to be that most folks aren’t doing it right.  Look around the web and see the number of grip and grin photos.  I have some from my first trip before I knew any better and now I try really hard to make sure the fish I catch have a fighting chance.

For the longest time I’ve lauded fly fishing for it’s low-impact on the species we chase in our silly little obsession. On the face of it there’s something to such a notion: fly fishing is often catch-and-release, the mechanics of it usually prevent gut-hooking fish, and (frankly) we often catch far less fish than other techniques, which limits the impact further.

Read the Flatswalker story here Flatswalker.

Um… you are doing it wrong…

Before I knew better

You are doing it right…

Good on ya.

What info do you need?  Bonefish & Tarpon Trust has it all.  Check out their C&R page.

Aaron Adams… Director of Operations for BTT… yeah, the guy knows bonefish.  He put this together, which is just a joy to watch.

If you want that bonefish you just caught to survive, it is a really good idea to leave the fish in the water.  There is ample evidence to support that.  If you’ve sniffed around at the fringes of catch and release for bonefish the studies and best practices are pretty easy to find.

Many anglers were first exposed to bonefish, permit or tarpon in fly fishing magazines.  I know I was personally inspired to find my first bonefish by an article I read and the pictures I saw.  Inspiration is good.

The Bonefish & Tarpon Trust is hoping the inspiration can be done with the fish in the water.  Basically, they are hoping that magazines will start showing fish in the water to help anglers model this good behavior.

Here’s the full text of their letter to the fishing media asking them to use photos that support the best practices in catch and release fishing for bonefish, tarpon and permit.

Sounds good.

Support BTT

Today was a good day.  The weatherman dropped the ball on this one though.  Partly Cloudy would imply some clouds… not all clouds.  That’s what I had today with Captain Perry out of McLeans Town on the East End of Grand Bahama.

Captain Perry

Captain Perry was great.  He knew where the fish were, he knew what to throw and how it should be retrieved.  He didn’t get (too) frustrated when I cast on top of the fish for the 6th time or lead the fish by 10′ for the 7th time.

I was/am impressed with Captain Perry’s conservation ethic.  He knows how bad air exposure/handling are for the fish and whenever possible he avoided taking them out of the water or handling them.  He’s a good steward of the natural wonderland that is Grand Bahama.  You should be glad he’s out  there.

That bone is going to be just fine.

Conditions were not ideal.  The clouds made it really tough to spot fish.  Capt. Perry had it dialed though, and was routinely putting me on fish.  I botched a fair number of those opportunities and it took us a while to get the skunk off the boat, but once that happened, the fun began.

Day 2 Skunk Breaker

I love waterproof digital cameras.

A good time was had, despite the weather.  We used a magic/secret fly that Perry uses to get the skunk off and for the first several fish.  We then switched over  to a pink #4 Gotcha and again, it was money.  I fished almost the entire time with the TFO Clouser 8 wt. and TFO Large Arbor Reel.  I’m in love with both of them.

With Perry you fish hard, 8-3:30.  So, after being dropped back at the dock (he’ll pick you up in Freeport if you want, I wanted to drive out there) I hit a small flat I had remembered from my last trip.  The light was fading when I got there, but there were a few tailing fish.  I spooked a couple, but didn’t rush things.  A while later the tails popped up again.  I made  a good cast and quickly came tight on a bonefish.  Then, as it started it’s run, it just came off.  Bummer.

Still, 12 fish to hand on a cloudy, windy, cool day is good fishing in my book.  I highly recommend Captain Perry.  He’s a good guide and a good guy.

Another Grand Bahama Bone

Here's looking at you.

A great day.

Being on the water also meant I got to miss continuing coverage of the disaster in Haiti.  The little bit of the news I did catch nearly brought me to tears.  The CNN anchorwoman actually started crying.  Luckily, the answer to global calamities is to go fishing.

A note on fuel… gas was about $4.50 when I was there, meaning a little over $100 of the day’s guide fee went to gas to get us out to the dumb fish.  It was painful for me to pay as much as I did, but the Captain is worth it and, just so you know,  I paid full price for the trip and am not getting anything in return for the positive report.