Accidentally Snagged Fish

[ozark trout fisher]

Yesterday when I was fishing at Montauk, I accidentally foul hooked a very nice trout. It was clear what had happened right from the beginning. I was rising the rod for another cast after this fish had rejected my fly, but I accidentally caught his tail with my San Juan. I wasn't sure whether I should try to get him in,(and risk wearing him out) to get the fly off of him or not. Finally I decided to just break him off before he built up too much lactic acid, but I couldn't help feeling bad about leaving that fly there. Did I do the right thing, or should I have gotten him in to unhook?

[King Fish]

Yesterday when I was fishing at Montauk, I accidentally foul hooked a very nice trout. It was clear what had happened right from the beginning. I was rising the rod for another cast after this fish had rejected my fly, but I accidentally caught his tail with my San Juan. I wasn't sure whether I should try to get him in,(and risk wearing him out) to get the fly off of him or not. Finally I decided to just break him off before he built up too much lactic acid, but I couldn't help feeling bad about leaving that fly there. Did I do the right thing, or should I have gotten him in to unhook?

That is a good question.. I've done that too and I'll assume most of us have,, I play them out and get them off as fast as I can.. sure is different when you foul hook-em in the tail..

PK

[timsfly]

I will break off a big fish if it is snagged, but if the fish is small enough to just reel in I'll

reel it in and a just remove the hook, but I always break the tippet if the fish seems to be to

big to just bring in quickly, I use barbless hooks so the hook hopefully will fall out soon.

I think you did the right thing, I see a lot of big fish snagged, landed, handled excessively and

photographed and then thrown back in the river, just to see them belly up a few minutes later, those

bigger fish just don't take that kind of treatment very well. I always try to remember a fish can hold its

breath no longer than I can, so a minute out of the water and a fish will be stressed pretty bad, two minutes

and it will be hard to revive, 3 minutes or more, it will probably die, even if it swims off. If you want to

catch em again you got to treat them well.

[eric1978]

I will break off a big fish if it is snagged, but if the fish is small enough to just reel in I'll

reel it in and a just remove the hook, but I always break the tippet if the fish seems to be to

big to just bring in quickly

That's basically my policy. Even if you leave a barbed hook in a fish, it will usually find its way loose eventually. Anything is better than fighting a foul-hooked big fish for 20 minutes. He's sure to die that way.

[fishgypsy]

I think breaking off was probably the ideal thing to do, most bronzed freshwater hooks tend to break down in a matter of days, so it may not impact the fish all that much.

I agree that playing the fish longer would definitely stress it. Does anyone know if low air temperatures affects survival of fish positively or negatively? My guess would be that air is air, and either way, when the fish is out of water it's going to suffer. But fish are also sensitive to changes in temperature, and I wonder if lower air temperatures benefitted survival when performing C&R. Just thinking (typing) out loud.

[eric1978]

But fish are also sensitive to changes in temperature, and I wonder if lower air temperatures benefitted survival when performing C&R.

Colder air and cloudy skies are probably easier on them than being pulled out of 60 degree spring water and baked in the August sun for a minute. Unless it's a fish worthy of a photo, I usually try to keep them in the water as much as possible, and even then have them out for only a matter of seconds. Sometimes C&R doesn't go as smoothly as you would like though, and anyone who denies ever having an embarrassing fish-handling moment is just a liar. All you can do is be gentle and quick, touch them as little as possible and hope for the best. Even the most expertly executed C&Rs will result in a few fish dying. Collateral damage I suppose.

[flyfishmaster]

I'm always good for atleast 5+ snagged fish on each trip to a stream. And I agree with Tim. I'll break off the bigger ones but I can usually get the smaler skating on top of he water with in 15 seconds. I will always land them in the net to help speed up the process of releasing them.

later,

FFM

[Gavin]

Depends on the fly...If its something I have a bunch of and its easy to tie. I'll break em off. If not and its hot...I'm gonna get my fly back.

[ness]

I'm gonna weigh the fly in the decision -- a little. I'm gonna take pretty darn good care of the fish first though. There's not too many flies I can't live without.

Alright, somebody mentioned pictures. You really gonna take a picture of a snagged fish? Are you gonna attach a disclaimer to it wherever it goes?

Tim: I've used your 'holding your breath' analogy before -- I think it's a good rule of thumb. It chaps my arse when I see folks kill, or darn-near kill, a fish by fumbling around for the picture, just to feed their ego.

(Pot stirred?)

[Flysmallie]

Depends on the fly...If its something I have a bunch of and its easy to tie. I'll break em off. If not and its hot...I'm gonna get my fly back.

That's funny. Thanks for the honesty Gavin.