Small Smallmouth Release Mortality - Tips?

Divad

Whitefish
I frequent a lake that right now has 6in smallies all over and they love a hotheaded leech for trout. Sometimes the smaller ones take it in the [rather undeveloped] tongue and the size 8 trout fly make it a pain when they’re tiny guys. I killed one today and felt bad.

Pliers were to no avail. Tried to push the fly back, couldn’t. Only saving grace was one of the mottled eagles swooped in and grabbed it as I was paddling over to retrieve.

To help on this not happening should I accept sizing up hooks? It’s a trout and Kokanee fishery too. Is there a tool maybe for this? I was thinking to file a V into my flat hook sharpener tip to use.
 
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Josh

Dead in the water
Staff member
Admin
Barbless is all you can do. Remember nature wastes nothing.
This is a legit point. I think many of us have seen raptors snatch fish that were maybe not going to make it after C&R mortality. I still work hard not to kill fish when I'm not keeping them, but it happens. And something will eat that fish and put it back into the ecosystem.

And I stress a lot less over bass than I would over trout or anadromous fish (though I still stress a little).
 

clarkman

average member
Forum Supporter
All good points. Like Yard Sale, I tend to think mostly along those lines. I don't stress about invasives like smallies. Sometimes I feel bad, but that's a little different. Something will eat it. I honestly rarely stress about trout either....steelhead? yeah....but then I rarely fish for them anyway these days because of the low numbers & when I do, it's typically on high stocking rivers.

I don't think anyone likes unnecessarily killing fish, but if you think about it in terms of the overall population, even a 5% kill rate (that would be really really high for bass) isn't going to put a dent in the population.

Bottom line though, I always crimp my barbs & fish larger hooks for the most part. Even then, I sometimes have to go digging, so a long set of hemo's is a good tool.
 
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dirty dog

Steelhead
I have caught a couple nice size coastal cutts that have taken my fly deep in their mouth where I could not get my fingers in there to push the hook back enough for a harmless release.
I used my hemostats to reach the hook and push it back.
Both fish were not hooked in the gills just the top of the mouth.
I smash my barbs down flat.
If fish get off not really a problem for me.
As for the little bass, to bad so sad if ya killed one, out of hundreds.
 

Stonedfish

Known Grizzler-hater of triploids, humpies & ND
Forum Supporter
Crawdads will eat what the birds don’t get first.
SF
 

clarkman

average member
Forum Supporter
Catch and release mortality just speeds up the circle a little.
I mean really, the more fish we accidentally kill via C&R, the more crawfish it'll feed, hence the larger the fish we get to accidentally kill will get due to more and larger prey items to consume. It's a win for everyone.
 

Buzzy

I prefer to call them strike indicators.
Forum Supporter
I have caught a couple nice size coastal cutts that have taken my fly deep in their mouth where I could not get my fingers in there to push the hook back enough for a harmless release.
I used my hemostats to reach the hook and push it back.
Both fish were not hooked in the gills just the top of the mouth.
I smash my barbs down flat.
If fish get off not really a problem for me.
As for the little bass, to bad so sad if ya killed one, out of hundreds.
Maybe I missed it in this thread; if I'm releasing a deeply hooked fish (trout) and I think the effort of getting the hook out will kill the fish I snip the leader.
 
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