12-23-2010, 07:52 PM
I believe you and I had an exchange on the subject a year ago that possibly prompted your search. I also did the search thing then and did not come up with any studies that showed that increased trout C&R mortality is seen when ice fishing. A few items to consider.
1. While ice fishing, the water temperature is cool and uniform. This favors water oxygenation. One of the killers in C&R of trout caught in lakes during the summer is catching them in deep, cold water below the thermocline and dragging them to the warm, relatively unoxygenated water of the surface. It doesn't matter how lovingly you release some of these, you will lose many. The DWR goes so far as to suggest maybe not C&Ring some of these fish caught during the hottest time of the year. This is a problem you do not have to deal with during ice fishing! I am confident that the cutts I catch in Strawberry through the ice have a much greater survival than the ones that people are dredging up from the deeps in August, regardless of the method the August angler employs.
2. Protecting the slime layer is something that is important whether the fish is caught summer or winter. Quick releases are beneficial either way. It should be noted though that some pathogens like anchor worms are more active in WARMER temps, so there could be less risk of sickness in the colder water.
3. As a rule, it seems to be a rare occurrence to have a fish "swallow the hook" while ice fishing. (Yes, it can occasionally happen, but most of my fish are caught right in the snout). Most of these fish are much more easily released than a deep hooked summer fish.
4. Obviously, common sense holds true that the same good C&R technique applies whether in summer or winter!
5. Coldfooters question.; I see the redness you describe from two sources. I see those lesions in deep caught perch, crappies, bass etc caught from water over about 40-50 ft deep. The air bladder isn't the only thing that is hurting fish brought up from that deep. Barotrauma IS a genuine mortality factor in many species caught ice fishing.
As for the shallow caught white bass, I do not know for sure, but I would suspect that it is mechanical bruising. As luck would have it, I was one of the guys enjoying the bounty of PBH yesterday and harvested a few whites, along with perch, gills and crappies for an evening fish fry. The fish weren't put in the snow, but were put directly into my sled, and the ambient temperature was about 40 degrees, so any freezing was not possible. All of the harvested fish were red like you describe, which would indicate that it was due to something other than freezing.
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1. While ice fishing, the water temperature is cool and uniform. This favors water oxygenation. One of the killers in C&R of trout caught in lakes during the summer is catching them in deep, cold water below the thermocline and dragging them to the warm, relatively unoxygenated water of the surface. It doesn't matter how lovingly you release some of these, you will lose many. The DWR goes so far as to suggest maybe not C&Ring some of these fish caught during the hottest time of the year. This is a problem you do not have to deal with during ice fishing! I am confident that the cutts I catch in Strawberry through the ice have a much greater survival than the ones that people are dredging up from the deeps in August, regardless of the method the August angler employs.
2. Protecting the slime layer is something that is important whether the fish is caught summer or winter. Quick releases are beneficial either way. It should be noted though that some pathogens like anchor worms are more active in WARMER temps, so there could be less risk of sickness in the colder water.
3. As a rule, it seems to be a rare occurrence to have a fish "swallow the hook" while ice fishing. (Yes, it can occasionally happen, but most of my fish are caught right in the snout). Most of these fish are much more easily released than a deep hooked summer fish.
4. Obviously, common sense holds true that the same good C&R technique applies whether in summer or winter!
5. Coldfooters question.; I see the redness you describe from two sources. I see those lesions in deep caught perch, crappies, bass etc caught from water over about 40-50 ft deep. The air bladder isn't the only thing that is hurting fish brought up from that deep. Barotrauma IS a genuine mortality factor in many species caught ice fishing.
As for the shallow caught white bass, I do not know for sure, but I would suspect that it is mechanical bruising. As luck would have it, I was one of the guys enjoying the bounty of PBH yesterday and harvested a few whites, along with perch, gills and crappies for an evening fish fry. The fish weren't put in the snow, but were put directly into my sled, and the ambient temperature was about 40 degrees, so any freezing was not possible. All of the harvested fish were red like you describe, which would indicate that it was due to something other than freezing.
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