For about the last year I've been doing a somewhat unscientific experiment. Our pond guests are mostly close friends, relatives, and the grand kids and their friends. Most are pretty skilled in catching, unhooking, and releasing fish.
I have three cages at the end of my dock.
One is for growing special fish, mostly big LMB that need to be culled from the pond -- but, aren't ready for a dinner of big fish fillets until their Wr increases.
Another is a holding pen, mostly for bluegill, and also for any crappie that are pulled in. Sometimes a catfish or bass gets thrown in too if it will be for just a short time. The larger fish are destined for fresh fish dinners for us and guests. The smallest BG in this cage are designated as "lunch" for the cage described above. All cages are fed daily. Some of the bluegill overwintered in this intermediate cage, and are now near trophy size.
The third cage is the rehab area. It is for fish that have swallowed a hook, fish that are bleeding because of being hooked in the gills, or that have otherwise been injured when pulled out of the water.
I've been trained by Sunil in the fine art of using a "disgorger" to save fish from immediate death.
-- but, I'm still not the expert he is. Sunil is good enough at this to be a brain surgeon.
Any that have been deep hooked go into this rehab cage or get immediately filleted for dinner. If we cannot reasonably remove a hook from a fish we are not ready to eat, we use the commonly advised method of cutting the line several inches from the fish's mouth. They go into this 'purgatory" cage. Nearly all of them die within hours, most die within a few days. Same with bleeding fish that have had hooks impacted or removed from their gills. If any of the fish in this cage survive several days, they go in the holding cage.
I guess I could have saved all this rhetoric by just saying that about 80% of deeply hooked or bleeding fish don't make it. They become turtle or raccoon dinners. Close to 100% of lip-hooked fish live and become fat and lazy if put into two of my three cages.
Anyway, from my perspective, mishandled fish just don't seem to live to old age.
