Ok, thanks ewest and esshup. Good information. That should help me. Was confused about the bright yellow gular area and thought that was male characteristic, but by the chart the males are more reddish orange and darker. That is what threw me a curve to begin with and made me think I was getting lots of males. So far, best I can tell, been catching females about 2 to 1 to males.

The only time I let them touch the ground is when they get away from me. Probably trying to handle them more gently than need be and they escape my grip. They were laying still on the ground so I snapped the picture. I try to remember to wet my hands before handling them and I like using one rubber mesh yellow glove on the hand I hold them with but sometimes it is hard to get it on while handling the rod and the fish. Getting better at it. The glove seems to allow me to have a better grip without squeezing the fish as hard. Especially if the hook is tough to get out.

Been mashing the barb down on the hook and that sure makes it easier to get the hook out of their mouth. I loose a fish off the hook once in a while because of it but I like the ease of hook removal so I don't have to pry around on the fishes mouth as much. Probably leave the barb on when I start catching them to eat.

Thanks again both of you for your help.


John

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