Beachcomber & Times Press

By Mark Sampson

I’m sure the guy meant well. After all, he looked like any other "Joe Fisherman" likely to be seen standing on the Rt.50 bridge on a hot summer afternoon. He really didn’t look like a jerk either, but as I sat in traffic waiting for the draw-span to close I watched him pull off a real jerk-like move.

I guess it’s good the bridge went down and traffic got moving when it did, otherwise I’d have likely gotten out of my truck and had a "discussion" with this fellow about his fishing ethics.

I’ve always enjoyed watching the bridge fishermen in action but when I saw this fellow bring a flounder over the rail and flap it down on the dry, hot pavement, I had to shut my eyes!

The little fish was obviously sub-legal and even from my truck I could hear the angler comment "darn, another throwback!" Then he picked the flounder up with a dry rag and proceeded to yank and tear at the hook which appeared to be set deep inside the fishes throat.

Finally, after what seemed like and eternity, the flounder was thrown back into the water. Or maybe I should say "thrown at" the water because the fellow had a definite downward swing going when he released the unfortunate flatfish.

Wow, I’ve seen anglers have more concern for the well being of oyster toads and eels than that guy had for a 14" flounder! But like I said, maybe he meant well, but the fellow just didn’t know that if he had cut the head off the little flounder it would have had about the same chance of surviving the ordeal he put it through that day.

Maybe he just didn’t know. Maybe a lot of folks don’t know that just because they see a fish swim away when they throw it into the water doesn’t mean it’s going to survive. Especially when fishermen are faced with catching a lot of throwbacks (like the bay flounder fishermen are now) it’s extremely important to handle and release fish gently and properly to prevent causing high moralities of undersized gamefish.

Fish might seem close being indestructible because whenever we throw them back they almost always swim away. But the truth of the matter is that these are delicate creatures designed to live their entire lives engulfed in and supported by water, not laying on cement, or flopping around in the bottom of a boat. Fish are also covered by layer of protective "slime" that is absolutely essential to their health. Grab a fish with dry hands, or much worse - a dry rag, and enough of this protective slime can be removed to actually kill the thing.

Most fishermen take a special pride in practicing catch-and-release. But if they don’t do it properly, their efforts can end up in vain and the fish itself as crab food.

One of the first rules of "the release" is whenever possible avoid bringing the fish out of the water. Certainly at times (like fishing from the bridge) this would prove impossible, but anglers fishing from a small boat or from a low bank often will have no problem.

If the fish must be handled anglers should wear wet gloves and avoid putting their hands or fingers in the gills. A marine biologist once told me that "wrapping a fish up in a dry rag is like issuing it a death sentence. Such handling removes so much of the important slime, that an otherwise healthy fish will die in a few days."

Hooks should be removed when possible, but not at the risk of killing the fishing process! Studies have shown that it’s better to leave a hook in a fish than it is to traumatize the critter by ripping and tearing it’s throat out. In the same respect, leaving a hook in a fish can lead to mortality down the road due to infections or other complications so all fishermen should, therefore, be equipped with the necessary tools needed to properly remove hooks fish. These tools would include needle nose pliers, for taking out hooks imbedded in external parts of the fish or just inside the mouth, a "J" shaped hook remover for jaw hooked fish, and a Deep Throat Dehooker for hooks imbedded in the throat or stomach.

Once fish are de-hooked, they should be returned to the water as soon as possible. If the fish seems weak, fishermen should gently revive their catch by pushing it back and forth in the water until it starts to kick on its own and swims away.

To properly release a fish requires only a few extra moments of a fisherman’s time, some simple tools, and a genuine concern for the future of the sport of fishing, and our marine resources.