Yes i do practice catch and release. That is all what i do. Knock on wood, i have not found any dead fish that i caught. I may not loose many fish when i catch and release because i hardly ever take the fish out of the water. I never let the fish touch the bank or the bottom of the boat. This takes the protective slime off the fish. When the fish is hooked in the throat i just cut the line. The acid in the fish stomach will digest the hook not harming the fish. i know this is true because i caught a bass in a tank and it broke my line. Them a day or 2 later i went fishing again and reel a bass in and it had the broken line and bait in its throat. ALso a barbless hook helps on not destroying a fishes mouth. I dont use treble hooks either. I only use them on lures. The main thing that helps a fish survive catch and release is to have the fish back and swimming on its own in less than 25 seconds. This gives the fish the less amount of stress. Something that sounds weird is that i feed my catfish shad once i get the hook out. I put a shad in their mouths and they suck them right in! I have fed as many as five 3inch shads to a 1 pound cat! They even burp when they are full! When they burp i have seem what the fish have been eaten. I usally see half digest perch come up. Anyway glad to be back!

Fight'n Texas aggie class of 09!