i brought this up in another thread but does anyone vent the tog they are throwing back? is it necessary. it seems the bigger ones are getting a prolapse of their intestines. it seems to happen to the bigger fish more than the little guys. i used to breed alot of reptiles and it was pretty much a death sentence for them. are these fish automatic keepers or do they bounce back from this if vented or not

Good ?

Move this to the main board.

I can tell you with some certainly that these are tough frigging fish.

I remember reading release mortality was < 5 percent on blackfish (but I could be wrong.

Tautog (aka rirock Sr.) has been experimenting by reeling them slower in deep water (90-100ft) and I don't know he has seen a change in the number 'blown out'

I can tell you on cold Dec days we have come back to the dock to clean fish, got through most and found one in the cooler barely kicking, close to death, and we've put it in the crab holder overnight, and the thing was good as new. We also fish heavy tackle and very large (by most standards) hooks, so very few if any are gut/gill hooked... I have zero qualms about C&R smaller fish looking for a trophy after putting a few in the box. I don't feel the same about bait fishing bass....