Since my primary goal for major predator pond fish are HSB, I have not focused on other species, which deserve consideration.

Angling mortality is a given in hot weather months regardless of the species.

I was reminded of this yesterday by Bill Cody’s post regarding fish handling of BG:
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000148

I recall ML’s 10#+ LMB that died after release.
He posted a photo of the dead bass, with a 5 wt fly rod.
I assume the LMB was victim of angling mortality.
For some reason the post was deleted but the photo remains on his website:
http://www.meadowlarkponds.com/LMB.htm

Fishing for striped bass on Lake Texoma in the summer months taught me painful lessons about angling mortality. When water temps were above 83F and air at ~100 degrees it’s time to stay off ponds or lakes…

HSB angling mortality has been discussed extensively on:
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=000341

There have been studies of LMB tournament angling mortality results published in various publications:

http://www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/exclusives/if2806_Science/



Despite air temperatures over 100 degrees, delayed mortality during tests when oxygen was added to livewells averaged only 7 percent, compared to 32 percent with intermittent aeration. Survival rages are much higher during tournaments held in cool weather.

Delayed Mortality of Tournament Caught Largemouth Bass

GENE GILLILAND (Oklahoma Fishery Research Laboratory, 500 E. Constellation, Norman, Oklahoma 73072)


http://www.oxyedge-chum.com/tournament_mortality_bass,_crappie_&_walleye.htm

It is my belief confirmed by the past years HSB experience, that angling mortality can be minimized by careful handling of summer time fish, using “lip gripper” boga grips, and by the usage of simple DIY O2 systems.

Would this scale be a decent value for someone on a budget?

http://www.berkley-fishing.com/prod.php?p=PURBGLGDS

The biggest difference I see is that the grip doesn't swivel.

I don't know if this has merit here but a few weeks back I was discussing moving Bg's that I was trapping from my home pond to the new pond to start the stocking effort. The fellow I was talking to is a fish farmer located in Dublin Texas. I was discussing buying some CC and Blue cat. When I told him I was transferring the BG's for bait fish he told me that I should add salt to the water that I transported them in. He said from his experience (50 yrs in the business he stated) that by handling the fish you remove the slick slim coating on them which protects them from a type of bacteria. He said that if you don't add the salt odds are you are going to loose the fish to the bacteria that will quickly devour them. perhaps the BIO guys have heard of this?

Rocky - I always throw a handful of rock salt into my Igloo Cooler live well - on the advice of Todd Overton.

Hey RT, sounds like you've been talking to Harrel Arms. If so, ask for one of his booklets titled "Everything I know about catching fish".

Salt is great for fish, however, I don't know if there's a special kind of salt to use.

Non-Iodized.

I find that a small amount of tetracycline in the live well helps with the survivability. I learned this from a bait man who catches his own creek chubs. It works wonders and can be found at most farm stores. I use a teaspoon in 300 gals of water in my holding tank. A dash in the livewell or transport tank. I also use salt.

This seems like a post destined for archives.

How much salt would it take to do any good in a pond, say per 1 million gallons. Could a salt lick be placed where the wave action would desolve it? How much would suspend, and how much would be lost in the bottom mud?

Bruce, I believe you were talking ppt naturally in your pond??

Here's the way it works...a fish's slime coat is its first line of defense against disease. When a fish is handled, the slime coat is compromised, unless the handler's hands are wet. If you feel slime on your hands after handling a fish, that fish's slime is compromised. A fish put into a live well or otherwise kept out of its native habitat will begin to slough its slime as a defense mechanism to ward off the "foreign objects" such as hands and live well walls, etc. Given enough time, the fish will regenerate its slime. Bacteria attacks while the fish is in its most weakened state.
Salt dehydrates the slime cells, keeping the fish from sloughing it into the water as it generates new slime. The salt removes water from the cells forming the slime, making it more "sticky" and less like to come off the fish. Salt also fights bacteria.
It's one of the few approved "chemicals" for use to prevent or treat diseases in fish.
I use three pounds of salt in 100 gallons of water. It's a cardinal rule for handling warmwater freshwater fish.
For those of you who have handled shad, especially as bait, remember what happens when you catch them in a cast net and put them into your bait well. The water foams up, the fish turn color and then they die. That's because shad are delicate and that slimy, gooey slime coat is easily taken off. It's just that with shad, you see the consequences quickly. With other fish as bluegill or bass or redear sunfish, etc., they don't show the results as fast. A mishandled fish as bass may not die for several days, after the slime coat was compromised. The cause of death may be a bacteria, but the bacteria is the second factor in line. As a matter of fact, the stressor is losing the slime, followed by bacterial infection and finalized with a fungal growth that finishes the fish.
An antibiotic in the water serves to eliminate external bacteria in the water, to put off its attack on a weakened fish.
So, salt in fresh water to handle fish is a good idea. It's not necessary in a pond environment, simply because the fish lives there and isn't confined.