Rock ????

[RIng]

I seam to be getting into a loot of Rock fish up in the creeks . I am pinching my barbs down and being careful about releasing them . My ? is am I doing harm to there breading ?????

[sega]

DNR says you're not lol.


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[Huntrava]

I seam to be getting into a loot of Rock fish up in the creeks . I am pinching my barbs down and being careful about releasing them . My ? is am I doing harm to there breading ?????

Someone call the grammar police.

[J.A. Veil]

Someone call the grammar police.

The only harm to breading would be caused by an insufficient dip in egg wash before adding the bread crumbs and frying.

All kidding aside, fish can tolerate catch and release very well in cooler water. Catch-and-release anglers can be careful to minimize mortality.

1) Start by minimizing the amount of time a fish is out of water. I once heard another angler say that he began holding his breath when he lifted a fish from the water. By the time he needed to take his next breath, he tried to get the fish back in the water. That is an admirable goal, but often not practical. In any case, be mindful of the length of time you have the fish out of the water.

2) Stripers do not have sharp teeth. You can safely place your thumb inside a striper's mouth to hold it under control. (Don't try this with bluefish, pickerel, or flounder). I grab the leader and slide my hand down to the lure. I lay the rod down in the kayak. If the fish is large, I open the bail on the spinning reel to allow line to flow if the fish lunges (this helps avoid broken rod tips). Unless the fish is particularly long I shake the fish off the barbless hook and let it fall directly into the water without touching it. If the fish is large enough that I want to measure it or photograph it, I then "lip" the fish. I can swing it in the kayak and make my measurement. Try to have your measuring board and/or camera readily available. An additional 30 seconds of keeping the fish out of water could make a difference in its survival.

3) I carry a lip gripper tool, but rarely use it. If you catch a large fish (say >24"), the tool may help you control the fish inside the kayak so it does not thrash around and remove its slime layer while you are measuring it. But for controlling and unhooking smaller fish, you probably do not need the tool. The time spent in attaching the lip gripper adds to the stress felt by the fish. Just grab the leader or lure, then shake or "lip the fish" for a quick release.


One additional thought - a minor conservation challenge. Many Snaggedline members are relatively new to the sport. This may be the first season in which you are catching large numbers of fish. Beginners are rightfully excited about each fish they catch, and often are able to increase their personal bests multiple times. There is nothing wrong with bringing fish into your kayak for a measurement or a photo. I challenge you to develop your own size thresholds for which fish are brought into the kayaks. When you are just starting out, you may be thrilled to catch a fat 16" striper. You want to get a video or photos to show your friends. Great! But after you have caught 25 fish of that size, you don't need to photograph all of them. Protect the fish by doing a quick release in the water. The more fish you catch, the higher that size threshold will get. Maybe the next trip, you will release all the 16" fish and photograph a 19" fish.

March has been good to us this year. Enjoy the bounty and handle the fish carefully.

[D3NAL1]

The only harm to breading would be caused by an insufficient dip in egg wash before adding the bread crumbs and frying.

All kidding aside, fish can tolerate catch and release very well in cooler water. Catch-and-release anglers can be careful to minimize mortality.

1) Start by minimizing the amount of time a fish is out of water. I once heard another angler say that he began holding his breath when he lifted a fish from the water. By the time he needed to take his next breath, he tried to get the fish back in the water. That is an admirable goal, but often not practical. In any case, be mindful of the length of time you have the fish out of the water.

2) Stripers do not have sharp teeth. You can safely place your thumb inside a striper's mouth to hold it under control. (Don't try this with bluefish, pickerel, or flounder). I grab the leader and slide my hand down to the lure. I lay the rod down in the kayak. If the fish is large, I open the bail on the spinning reel to allow line to flow if the fish lunges (this helps avoid broken rod tips). Unless the fish is particularly long I shake the fish off the barbless hook and let it fall directly into the water without touching it. If the fish is large enough that I want to measure it or photograph it, I then "lip" the fish. I can swing it in the kayak and make my measurement. Try to have your measuring board and/or camera readily available. An additional 30 seconds of keeping the fish out of water could make a difference in its survival.

3) I carry a lip gripper tool, but rarely use it. If you catch a large fish (say >24"), the tool may help you control the fish inside the kayak so it does not thrash around and remove its slime layer while you are measuring it. But for controlling and unhooking smaller fish, you probably do not need the tool. The time spent in attaching the lip gripper adds to the stress felt by the fish. Just grab the leader or lure, then shake or "lip the fish" for a quick release.


One additional thought - a minor conservation challenge. Many Snaggedline members are relatively new to the sport. This may be the first season in which you are catching large numbers of fish. Beginners are rightfully excited about each fish they catch, and often are able to increase their personal bests multiple times. There is nothing wrong with bringing fish into your kayak for a measurement or a photo. I challenge you to develop your own size thresholds for which fish are brought into the kayaks. When you are just starting out, you may be thrilled to catch a fat 16" striper. You want to get a video or photos to show your friends. Great! But after you have caught 25 fish of that size, you don't need to photograph all of them. Protect the fish by doing a quick release in the water. The more fish you catch, the higher that size threshold will get. Maybe the next trip, you will release all the 16" fish and photograph a 19" fish.

March has been good to us this year. Enjoy the bounty and handle the fish carefully.

Very well said, i just dont target them until maybe the beginning of april. To me its not worth bothering them in the off season, go for cats!

[J.A. Veil]

3) I carry a lip gripper tool, but rarely use it. If you catch a large fish (say >24"), the tool may help you control the fish inside the kayak so it does not thrash around and remove its slime layer while you are measuring it. But for controlling and unhooking smaller fish, you probably do not need the tool. The time spent in attaching the lip gripper adds to the stress felt by the fish. Just grab the leader or lure, then shake or "lip the fish" for a quick release.


One additional thought - a minor conservation challenge. Many Snaggedline members are relatively new to the sport. This may be the first season in which you are catching large numbers of fish. Beginners are rightfully excited about each fish they catch, and often are able to increase their personal bests multiple times. There is nothing wrong with bringing fish into your kayak for a measurement or a photo. I challenge you to develop your own size thresholds for which fish are brought into the kayaks. When you are just starting out, you may be thrilled to catch a fat 16" striper. You want to get a video or photos to show your friends. Great! But after you have caught 25 fish of that size, you don't need to photograph all of them. Protect the fish by doing a quick release in the water. The more fish you catch, the higher that size threshold will get. Maybe the next trip, you will release all the 16" fish and photograph a 19" fish.

March has been good to us this year. Enjoy the bounty and handle the fish carefully.

About two hours after writing my post this morning, I had an on-the-water opportunity to put this advice into practice. I trolled for 1.5 hours and caught 12 stripers. All but two were under 20" and were shaken off the hook directly into the water. One of the earlier fish looked a bit larger. I lipped it and laid it quickly on the Hawg Trough for a measurement of 21.5". 15 minutes later I caught one that was much larger. I did use the lip gripper tool to control the fish and keep it from flopping around the floor. I got two photos of the fish on the Hawg Trough and let her go as quickly as possible. The fish measured about 29.5". See my post in the Maryland forum for details and photos.

[RIng]

thanks too all . Upon further investigation it seems to me that all fishing for rock fish in tributaries is closed till June . I find the laws very confusing . ?????

[J.A. Veil]

Check out this DNR page. Click on the links to the maps. That may help clarify where you can fish in catch and release mode.