Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Sressing Bass

Was watching a Bill Dance show a couple of days ago, and he mentioned that playing a bass too long might build up Lactic acid in the fish and cause death. My question is what is too long. I personally haul them in and release as soon as possible, but I am curious if anyone knows how long is too long. Tnaks for this forum.

It partially depends on time of year and water temps - warm water catches are certainly more stressful on a bass than cold water. Also, the depth at which they are caught can have an impact. I try to get any LMB I catch in, hook out, and back into the water asap - longer they are out the higher the stress. I also try to only handle a bass with my hands being wet. One other note: many folks hold a large bass by its lower lip/jaw and hold it out placing all of the fishes weight on the jaw/head area. This is the wrong way to hold a fish and it can put undue stress on their head/jaw areas. Hold by the lower jaw with the weight of the fish hanging down as opposed to the side. At any rate, anytime a fish is caught they undergo some stress - reducing time the fish is on the line plus out of the water only helps in the fish survival rate.

thats pretty funny, every time I watch Bill he is over playing fish. He gets the fish get up to the boat and then lets it jump about 700 times right by the boat. It drives me crazy. I think Bill needs to get a net at the Wal-Mart.

Also, I agree with Tim K, be careful with the fishes jaw, most when dealing with a large bass. I try to keep large bass in the water at all times if possible. their weight can crush internal organs. All in all, bass are just about the toughest S.O.B.'s around. i shock them up, weigh, measure, move them from pond to pond and rarely kill one. But that does not mean you can just throw them around, as long as you handle them carefully you should not have any problems, just use common sense.

Shan - I am with you - not just Bill Dance but others I watch will play a bass way to long - makes you wonder how much damage is done by the TV guys to the fish. Land the damn BASS, put him back in the water, and catch another one!!!!!

i read an article recently that reported on the numbers of lmb surviving being caught and released. while no specific time on the line was mentioned, the piece stated that more than 1/3 of the bass caught died with-in a week due to stress. fighting and handling time was the determined cause of eventual death. haul-em in fast, gently unhook them, keep them in the water if possible and gently let them go. you will loose almost no bass that way.

Hey guys,

As a fish taxidermist I see some interesting things that make me wonder, and I also have learned a few things having bass in my pond that I occasionally catch and release.

First, I occasionally take a bass in that the bottom lip is broken in the center. I don't know why, but wonder if it isn't due to holding the bass by the lower lip and extending the fish out as someone previously mentioned puts alot of stress on the lower lip. I also see alot of mangled mandible bones and other healed up damage. I can only presume this comes from treble hooks or lures with 2 or 3 treble hooks which I think is overkill.

I used treble hooks only once in my pond and never again. With a lure that has a set of treble hooks I hooked some of the fish on the outside of the body and head or even the eye. I couldn't believe how much damage I was doing to the fish. I now use single hooks on all my fish.

jbrockey,

also consider the source of the information. I'll bet that data was collected on a large lake with tournament bass fishermen. what also needs to be considered is how much time the fish spent in the livewell, and what time of year the testing was done. I'll be willing to bet that most bass caught in small lakes and ponds that are released immediately survive much better.

speaking of holding fish in a live well, remember to circulate the water a great deal during summer months, adding some ice on extremely hot days is also a good idea but make sure that the ice does not melt directly into the water. the chlorine in tap water is enough to kill fish. Its ok to cool fish down as long as its done slowly and make sure that the live well is not 10 � F cooler than the lake water or you can temperature shock any new bass you catch. Another simple thing you can do is add a little salt to the water. Use non-ionized salt, about 1/2 of a normal Morton container for a standard live well should be enough. When fresh water fish are captured they get stressed. they begin to urinate a great deal, this urination reduces the amount of salt in the fish. the technical term is osmoregulation. "Osmoregulation involves a number of physiological processes that together maintain the proper internal salt-water balance in fishes." (from Fish Physiology by Robert Reinert)

Adding some salt to the water helps the fish maintain this necessary salt balance and can help the fish withstand higher ammonia levels. you wont find a fish hauling truck in this country that does not have salt in its tanks. keep than in mind the next time you have to keep fish in a tank, it will help

I fish regularly on my pond and often mark my fish when caught - my unscientific survey is in line with Shan - I don't see any signs of bass dying that I have caught. My guess would be the vast majority survive if handled properly - Cecil is correct in the treble hooks and their damage - barbless hooks are also helpful and reduce damage. The biggest threat I see is fishermen who use live bait which adds to the number of deeply swallowed hooks. They will also swallow plastic worm hooks but if the hook is left in the gullet, they typically survive just fine. Just using common sense in handling them is the best approach.

Academy has a god powder product to add to the live-well water that adds salt and takes out the Chlorine, but I cn not remember the name at this time. I have heard many comments about using minnows for fishing and the concerns about fish mortality. I have been using them in our tanks for quite a few years and with barbless single hooks have only had to leave a hook in two bass in about six or more years. And that is with straight hooks, not the cirlce hooks. So I was just wondering if any others have seen the same results. Hopefully those hooks rusted in a short period of time in hose two bass that were released. Maybe having a few fished hooked too deeply is not always bad so that it amkes us take out some of our bass... , because if you folks are like me they become like the family dogs and we are too protective.

you are right, harvesting a few bass is the right way to go. I would like to see a few more gut hooked bass in most of the lakes I manage. around here 90 % of the time there are too many bass in the lake. but on the other hand I would hate to see a nice 9 pounder with a gut hook, it just depends on which fish is getting the axe.