Boga style scale and mortality ?

[numbskull]

Snook (and presumably Barramundi....a close relative) are indeed killed by suspension.

Bonefish are injured but did not die (at least in the 48hrs of the study).

Suspending them doesn't bother muskies much at all ...

"A growing number of musky fishermen believe that improper catch and release practice is the cause for the lack of their musky hunting success. Simply stated, they take the position that such things as: the "wrong type" of out-of-water holds; bleeding gills; and, incorrect netting techniques, etc., are killing a high percentage of released Muskies.

Although no previous study, to our knowledge, has ever examined the validity of these widely-held beliefs, we too, shared concern for the survival of released Muskies, especially after reviewing tables 3 and 4 of the CFMTP. For this reason, we made the decision to subject the study Muskies to a variety of popular and unpopular holds, netting practices, and release practices, etc. Considering that the catch and release participants of the study have caught and released in excess of 1,500 Muskies; and, for the most part, practice the "proper" release methods, it was determined that it was necessary to expose the Muskies of the study to the same type of conditions, practices and treatment that they would receive while in the control of inexperienced musky fishermen. Only then could we make confident determinations as to the affects of such treatment, practices and conditions on musky survivability. The first year results are in. in terms of the types of holds: horizontal vs. vertical vs. diagonal-- there was no affect on mortality. The same was true of netting and release practices. We had four study Muskies that bled from slightly to profusely from the gills and all survived more on that later. in addition, two others were hooked during battles in one eye. They also survived. At the time of their releases we "experts" would have bet that at least four of these Muskies would have died. But none of these Muskies died! The good news is that Muskies are much hardier than previously thought. in fact, 95.6% of the Muskies caught, radio-tagged and released for the study survived the open-water fishing season! Only two out of the forty-five Muskies of the study expired. Now, does this mean that we should abandon the cautious release methods that most have come to accept over the past few years? Absolutely not. But, these findings illustrate that we must be careful to label something as proper" or accept something as "fact" without appropriate supporting research data.

Incidentally, of the two Muskies that expired, only one died of angling related causes. As for the other musky, it was determined after much investigation, that it had reportedly met its demise in an otter trap! Strangely enough, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources indicates that this is not such an unusual occurrence. In fact, last year the DNR had recorded another musky, of twenty-two pounds, that also met its demise in an otter trap.

As we have revealed, the Chippewa Flowage Musky Study (CFMS) radio-telemetry proves that catch and release is a highly effective conservation practice with a 95.6% study survival rate. This fact, combined with the data of the 1979-1986 CFMTP, as well as record stocking levels since 1990, indicate that there are more Big 'Chip Muskies of all sizes, including more larger Muskies than ever before. The first year findings of the CFMS prove that catch and release is not only working, but it is exceeding some of the most optimistic of expectations concerning its' effectiveness. For example, before the study began, it was estimated by the majority of the biologists that we spoke with that we would observe a 35% mortality rate for Muskies that were caught and released. The fact that the mortality rate is much lower than ever before believed could have major implications for musky management practices and strategies. "

[numbskull]

Here is some info on LMB. Note that the first study quoted used lipping holds, much like a boga. They had minimal mortality at least short term (there is some info that an isthmus injury leads to slow starvation via ineffective feeding).


"A couple recently published studies* took a good look at how bass fared when held out of water (hypoxia) for extended periods of time, and the results might surprise you.
The first was a lab test comparing largemouth to smallmouth. Bass were physically exercised to simulate angling and then held by the jaw (“thumbed” just like most every angler does) for a randomly chosen amount of time up to 10 minutes out of the water and exposed to the air. Afterward, fish were placed back into a holding tank and observed and tested for some chemical parameter monitoring, then ultimately placed back into a raceway for 24 hours to observe for delayed mortality. Water temps ranged between 18-23 deg. C. (64-73 F) in this test. Largemouth recovered faster than smallmouth, as expected, but there were no documented mortality cases after 24 hours in either species.


In the other study, largemouth bass were caught from a lake and then held out of the water for varying amounts of time that ranged from 0 up to 15 minutes. Tests were conducted during two specific environmental time frames, once at 15 deg. C. (59 F) water temps and again at 21 deg. C. (70 F). Bass were also tested for various bodily (chemical) parameters and were then placed in a holding tank for 30 minutes of recovery/observation. During this time they were fitted with an external transmitter and then released back into the lake and tracked for 5 days. Fish held out of the water longer took longer to recover, as well as longer to leave their release area in the lake, but again, no delayed mortality occurred for any of the fish including those held out of the water for the maximum 15 minutes. "