On deeply-hooked (aka gut-hooked) fish.
I’ve heard lots of arguments for both sides, so tried to do a little digging. Not a lot of hard info out there, but did come across some….
Little disclaimer: This is an older fisheries research study from 2009 – and they specifically used bluegills in the study – but it has some pretty interesting info that I thought others might be curious to hear. Few excerpts below:
> “Research on a wide range of fish species has revealed that deep hooking is perhaps the single most important determinant of injury and post-release mortality in recreational fisheries. However, there is little information on the best option for dealing with deeply hooked fish that are to be released: should the line be cut or should the hook be removed?
> “…the highest mortality levels in fish for which the hook was removed (33% after 48 h and 44% after 10 days).
> “…for the line-cut treatment (8% after 48 h and 12.5% after 10 days).
> “After 48 h, 45.5% of the fish from the line-cut treatment group were able to expel the hook originally embedded in their esophagus, and at the end of the 10 day study, 71.4% had expelled the hook.
> “Even with the hook left in the esophagus, fish were able to feed although at lower rates than controls during the first 48 h of holding. By 10 days post-capture, there were no differences in feeding rates as evidenced by growth patterns among the treatment groups, nor were there differences in the hepatosomatic index.
> “Collectively, the findings from this study demonstrate that cutting the line is a more effective release method than removing the hook when fish are deeply hooked.
> “As such, angler education efforts should focus on disseminating this message to anglers as well as encouraging the use of gear and techniques that minimize incidences of deep hooking….
Interesting stuff – full scoop here. As with anything, I’m sure there are other studies out there, somewhere, that could say the opposite of the one above.
