Releasing Lake Trout

[SUPERTRAMP]

This past week I saw 4 Lake Trout floating belly up out of St Joe, It was befor the Tournament, on Thursday and Friday, all were legal fish, and the snobbery of people releasing these fish without reviving them distrubs me. If u dont want to catch Lake Trout, Then dont fish the bottom, dont run flashers and flys, dont run meat, if u do catch one revive it befor u just toss it back to die. The Trout have saved many a day for me, and even I don't target them as a rule, I would not release one with out attempting to revive it, and if it wouldnt revive I would put it in the box. Lets be more conservation minded than just throwing them away. Trout are not scrap fish they are a game fish, and are a valuable resource for the sport fishing community.

[danthebuilder]

I'm hijacking your threat to talk about other shady stuff. There was a guy last month catching skam off the pier. I saw him catch about 10 in about an hr's time. He gave them away to random people. The people were walking off the pier with fish & by the time they got to the end they were saying they didn't think about it and didn't know what to do with the fish. How to clean em etc & they were trying to give it away. Other people had other excuses and it was clear these fish were never gonna be cleaned. My cousin tried to revive a fish but it was too late. I know possession limits are 3 I believe for skam maybe 5. but this guy had 0 in his possession. Whats the law on this? Can you catch 400 & give them away on the spot? I'd be fine if he took his limit cleaned them & gave em away. OR gave them to another person fishing that you know would have taken care of it but random tourists on the pier. It was just sad. He probably felt good about giving away his fish & didn't know what was really going on.

[SUPERTRAMP]

Yeah I know what u mean why take them out of the water if u dont want them, the law states that u can posess 5, but not posessing them is no excuse for gluttony. Wish someone would have the stones to call them on their actions when they are committing crimes, and that what it is a bonafide statute crime, and the people he gave them to might have committed a crime by possesing the gamefish without a license. We have game laws to ensure we have a fishery in the future. Michigan should enact wanton waste laws like Alaska and put some teeth in the laws we have.

[flyman013]

When I catch a laker I don't want, I put it in the livewell with the aerator on for about five minutes ( I have a long livewell). Just put them in, reset the line and come back to him and he's ready to be released.

[coralee]

What is the best way to revive without a live well. I just try to hold them along side the boat till they swim away but if they die I keep them.

[BenLubbs]

Here is the issue I have with letting trout go. I can not think of a single trout i have caught that has not had a bloated swim bladder. After comming up from the bottom it is going to happen to every fish. If you release that fish without deflating its swim bladder it doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving. For this reason, unless a fish isnt legal it goes in the box.

[Eliminator]

Here is the issue I have with letting trout go. I can not think of a single trout i have caught that has not had a bloated swim bladder. After comming up from the bottom it is going to happen to every fish. If you release that fish without deflating its swim bladder it doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving. For this reason, unless a fish isnt legal it goes in the box.

I agree, twice I tried to release a fish and watched it float as we drove away, circled around and it was still there. If it's on the hook, it goes in the box.

[Killin' It]

I agree...

If it is of size... it goes in the box... no matter the speices of the fish

Exeptions to this rule is very small kings caught near shore early season..This is fish caught in the top 20 feet on highlines. IF THE WATER IS COLD And they are not hooked.

Steelhead in the winter in the river also can be released...

[SUPERTRAMP]

Here is the issue I have with letting trout go. I can not think of a single trout i have caught that has not had a bloated swim bladder. After comming up from the bottom it is going to happen to every fish. If you release that fish without deflating its swim bladder it doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving. For this reason, unless a fish isnt legal it goes in the box.

There is a syringe u can use to deflate the swim bladder and keep the fish alive. I guess its just the fact that I really hate to see a native Michigan fish disrespected by fish snobs.

[coralee]

I have caught trout up high and I wouldn't think they would bloat. Last year one came on a 3 color going over 3 mph on a orange crush looking for steelhead. Weird I know and I caught a few in the spring fishing in 20' of water and the ones I let go seemed full of energy and did not appear bloated. But most end up on the smoker.

Edited August 29, 2012 by coralee
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[Oakley]

I a going to try one of the release weights that the salt water guys use for reef fishing. I think these would work well for the lakers. Just let them back down to the depth they came from .

http://www.recfishwest.org.au/content/fish-release-weights-wa/

[Play Dough]

There is a syringe u can use to deflate the swim bladder and keep the fish alive. I guess its just the fact that I really hate to see a native Michigan fish disrespected by fish snobs.

I don't target trout and don't keep them unless I have a guest on board that wants to keep it. My yearly lake trout catch is half a dozen at the most...all incidental catch. They go back in the lake as quickly as possible with limited handling. I target salmon and only keep what I can use and rarely fish to a limit. Returning incidental catch to the lake hardly makes anyone a snob.

[SeaCatMich]

It is a little dated now (from 2001) but this document prepared by the Ontario Fisheries Ministry has a lot of good information about air bladders in various species of fish and the merits/problems with various techniques to release them successfully including "fizzing".

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@letsfish/documents/document/228130.pdf

[FsnMachine]

Last fishing trip I went on in the Gulf of Mexico. The deck hands would as required by law stick a syringe into the swim bladder before release.

My lake trout catches are all incidental and I do not target them. The last big one I kept a few weeks ago would not have survived as he took the spoon deep and bleed from the gills. He went to a fishing buddy who likes them on the smoker.