Quote:
Originally Posted by afterhours
on that mortality rate....how were they caught? bait, fly, plug....
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They have tested bait and plugs. Gut hooked bait is the worse. But what really kills fish is temperature. As I recall (always iffy these days) when water temps are in the 70's almost half the fish you release probably die.
Watched a guy in the canal land a 25-30ish pound fish on a plug. He lipped that fish (plug and all) and unhooked it without ever taking it out of the water, then spent a few minutes reviving it even though it looked fresh enough to swim sooner. I was duly impressed.
Here is some stuff from another thread:
Here is a link with some data
http://www.acuteangling.com/Reference/C&RMortality.html
Here is a study (FW Striped Bass) that mentions temp effects. There is a better one somewhere that I can't find.
http://web.vims.edu/GreyLit/MDNR/ftm016?svr=www