TAKING CARE OF YOUR FISH AFTER THEY ARE CAUGHT

In the last segment I talked about the importance of maintaining your live well. Now, I want to talk about the physical handling of your fish. Fish are sensitive creatures and great care should be practiced while handling them! When you catch a fish, the first thing to do before handling the fish is to wet your hands. The fish have a protective coating or "slime" on their scales and skin to aid in fighting infections and deseases. By wetting your hands, this will help in keeping this slime from being removed! Care must be taken with lifting the fish. A fish that is too large to be properly supported in one hand, if held horizontially, needs to be supported at the tail or stomach area. If held vertically, holding by the lower jaw such as a Bass is an acceptable method. You can break the jaw of a fish if the body is not supported! When releasing the fish, just don't "THROW" it back in. Gently lower it back to the water and then release it. If the fish put up a stuggle before landing, take the time to hold the fish in the water and gently work it back and forth to help it recover it's strength and breathing! The fish should swim out of your hand(s) when ready to go!
If you happen to hook a fish deep in the mouth, use extreme caution in removing the hooks. The area around the gills is a super sensitive area and will bleed very easy. If you cann't get the hook out, it is better to cut the hook or the line before releasing the fish. The hook will disolve in a short time with little damage done to the fish! If all else fails, this should be a fish for the frying pan!
Careful handling of fish and a good release will help insure a better fishing experience in the future!