Fish survivability

[LakeConjolaFish]

Hi,

You know the flatties that scoff the lure right down the gullet and the bream that bust you off, and take off with the lure in their mouth, well what do others think of the chances of surviving that these fish have?

Jim

[Craig_S]

Jim, I couldnt be a 100% sure to be honest.

But just as a story, 2 or 3 weeks ago I went out with Geoff P and he managed to bust off on a nice fish. Probably half hour or so later we went back past that spot and saw something shining in the water...which turned out to be the lure he had lost and which the fish had apparently managed to spit?

[LakeConjolaFish]

Craig,

Thats good news, its just one of those things that I think about, probably the Bambi syndrome as I get older .

I was snorkeling the day before yesterday and noted a spikey toad of around 2lb swimming aimlessly in 3' circles in about 4m of clear water, I dived down and found that it had a hook protruding from its mouth and a 1' or so of trace and a swivel. The swivel had got caught on a rock, so I pulled this off the snag, I couldn't get the hook out, so I bit the line as close as I could (mine you I was swimming and the toad was blowing itself up). The hook was fairly old and was starting to crumble. I have no doubt that the toad would live.

I have caught toads before that had mouths like pin cushions they had that many hooks sticking out of their mouths!

Jim

[Matt]

I seem to remember reading about hooked fish that make off with the hook/lure and their ability to get rid of the hooks in super quick time. Apparently they form an ulcer which forces the hook out pretty quick smart. Hooks also rust in salt water quicker than you would think, even the so called "stainless" ones!

Cheers
Matt

[LakeConjolaFish]

I've actually done some experiments with different hooks dangling from my jetty and was surprised at how long they lasted.

I think that the fish must hasten the rusting of the hook. Because by themselves hooks take a long time to dissolve.

Jim

[Matt]

Some form of chemical reaction with the fish perhaps? Maybe the fish excrete something onto the hook to assist in forcing it out that encourages rusting?

Cheers
Matt

[pw-bream]

According to "Bushy & Starlo's" book on bream on lures and flies if the barbs are flattened the bream will spit, shake or rub the hooks out in quick time and the lure can sometimes be seen floating in the water ready for collection a short time after it was lost.

[LakeConjolaFish]

Matt,

I definately agree, the fishes body must detect that a foriegn body is present and maybe the white blood cells etc hasten the hooks demise?

Jim

[LakeConjolaFish]

PW,

Have you ever fished with the barb flattened?

What was your hook up like?
And did you notice more fish shook the hook loose?

If you released them I bet that was easier!

Jim

[pw-bream]

I've only tried flattened barbs when bait fishing, I've only recently started seriously using lures for bream, and only soft plastics at that. I have seen so many fishing writers comment on the better hookup rate of barbless hooks compared to the tiny increase in lost fish that I think it must be better. I will try flattening my barbs from now on and see what happens. I feel confident that it won't hurt my results.

If I keep posting at this rate I'll soon be bigger than a fingerling.

[LakeConjolaFish]

I think that you change from Fingerling at 10 or 20 posts so you won't be long........it feels a bit dorky doesn't it "fingerling".

How'd you go with barbless hooks whilst bait fishing PW?


Jim

[ChrisN]

I was fishing with soft plastics off the local jetty with my friends and I was using only barbless hooks. I caught 12 choppers compared to 6 that my brother caught and 4 that my friend caught. I lost a couple as they shook the hook off as i was lifting them onto the jetty.

My hook up rate was definately increased and I could get the hook out 3 times quicker then normal. One point to remember is with fish that jump you should try and keep the tip low or in the water so they can't shake the hook free. Also keep the line tight.

ChrisN

Guys,
Barbless hooks are the way to go!!!
Hook ups increase and you rarely loose a fish because of it. Not only that, when you hook yourself, it comes out with ease and minimal damage!!!
Also, i think the hooks rust quicker because the fish rub it on rocks and the ground which removes the stainless coating on the hooks, which results in quick rusting.
My friend hooked a 2 kilo fish recently and said he could feel the fish rubbing the hook on the ground during the fight, trying to remove the hook from its mouth. Thats one of the cool things about fireline i guess!

Dave

[pw-bream]

They were fine, I used to use Mustad 9262C which are now marketed as a freshwater hook. They are a beak type hook and have a couple of baitholder slices on the back I used size 4.
I got lots of hookups on decent sized fish that would gently pick up the bait and move off slowly. All I had to do was pick up the rod and apply firm pressure and hey presto the fish was on all most every time. I don't recall having the hook come out, ever.
I did get rubbed off by some big dusky flathead though, the hooks are very short in the shank. This all took place in East Gippsland on the "Big Three rivers". I used to live in Bairnsdale for the first half of my life (I'm 41 years old).

[Craig H]

Guys, interesting story from last week:

I was fishing around the Redcliffe Bridge last Tuesday and something feisty took my set line, went for a run and stopped. I reeled in my line to find my trace had snapped clean from the Fireline (was using a swivel to join them, and a running bean sinker). Anyways...

Fishing again on Wednesay, I reel in my set line and it gets hooked onto something on the way in. Much to my surprise and kinda disappointment, it was a Soapie. 45cm and DEAD Upon closer inspection, it had my trace coming out of it's mouth from the day before, and the hook all the way down in it's gut.

This little tacker didn't survive... maybe if they take hooks deep in the gut/gullet it stuffs them?