Handling:
When that fish is taken out of the water, it is
always best to keep in mind that as long as
that fish is out of the water, it's slowly becoming more and more weak because it cannot
get the oxygen it needs through the air. It is
essential to the fish's life that it is photographed, tagged, etc., in a timely manner
and then put back into the water. On my trips,
when my client hooks up with a redfish, especially a bigger one, and is fighting it, I quickly
get the camera, tags, and Boga-Grip ready to
go so as soon as we land that fish. I get my
client a good photograph, let them tag it, and
get it back into the water in a timely manner.
Some fish fare better than others, but I always
tell my clients, “If it's not dripping water anymore, it's time to go back,” that may only be
a few minutes on some days. In the heat of
the summer, I try to unhook and get a picture
without taking the fish out of the water to
maximize its chance of survival.
The Fight:
Fighting the fish is one of the most fun parts
when catching redfish, but it’s also one of the
most important instances. Depending on how
hot the water is, a long fight with a redfish can
end up killing the fish by literally exhausting it
to death. In most redfish tournaments, you'll
find tournament anglers throwing nothing but
heavy-braided line. They want to get that fish
in as fast as
possible so
that it’s
healthy as can
be in the
livewell and
stays healthy
up until the
weigh-in.
Some of those heavy rods and braided line
can take the fun out of fighting the fish, so
some people prefer to throw extremely light
lines which extend the fight to a longer time
than that fish can take. I usually tell people a
good all-around line that I use to help keep
control of the fish and get him in a reasonable
amount of time which still gives a good fight
is some 17lb Stren Original.
“If it's not dripping
water anymore, it's
time to go back.”
44
April 2016 www.marshandbayou.com
Reviving:
Lures:
If you get hooked up to a big bull red or if
you just have some light line and can't control
the fish, you can still give that fish a chance by
reviving it the proper way. If you fight the fish
for awhile and he’s hardly moving and looking
like a wet paper bag coming through the
water, there’s a good chance if you toss him
back into the water, he'll just turn over and die
soon after. One of the best things to do with a
fish in that situation is to hold the fish right in
front of the tail in some good deep water until
he is kicking fiercely out of your hands to get
away. If the fish is just sitting there and barely
moving its gills without a strong movement in
its body, it isn't ready to be released.
Another thing that also makes a difference in
helping release a redfish in a healthy manner
is what it’s caught on. One thing that I’ve always felt is the safest in helping keeping the
fish healthy and one of the most efficient is a
soft plastic on an open jighead. Being that it’s
on just one hook and a soft plastic bait, it's
rare that that fish becomes tongue or gill
hooked causing it to bleed out. Some baits
that are extremely efficient in catching redfish,
but are not so efficient in keeping them from
bleeding is a good spoon and a hollow body
frog with double hooks. A spoon, for some
reason, always seems to hook a redfish in the
tongue causing it to bleed an extreme
amount, killing it quickly. Those hollow-bodied frogs are also great when it comes to
catching redfish, as well as being extremely
exciting, but they always seem to get sucked
into the back of the mouth and into the gills
by the redfish, then it is almost impossible to
get out with those big double hooks.
Hooks:
It may sound strange, but the type of hook really comes into play when you plan on releasing a redfish. We all love catching redfish on
topwaters, but those treble hooks can be
deadly if a topwater is swallowed by the fish.
One thing you can do is take off the treble
hooks and put on some single hooks that are
far more easy to dislodge from a redfish’s
mouth than those treble hooks. In the hottest
days of August, I'm a fan of circle hook flies;
that way, the fish gets hooked on the side of
the mouth, and the hook can easily be removed without too much strain on the fish.
Keep these tips in mind when releasing redfish, and hopefully they will allow us to continue to catch these awesome fish for
generations to come.