Sorry, I forgot to respond to your BM. Im in fl till April but I'll shoot you a msg back. But yes just not for rockfish.

Hey Paul, you sold me the rods that dont catch fish and kept the ones that do for yourself....not fair!!

Thats funny Tim:)
The fish hit a deep, weighted umbrella. My son could not gain ground with the Penn 330 GTI so I ended up doing much of the work pumping the fish to get it closer to the boat. If we had the Tekota on board I think he could have done the job by himself. You'll see what I mean one of these days:D

So lets start a conversation on this thread on Catch and Release since MIKIE is concerned. (unless my sarcasim detector is not reading correctly)

My question:

Is it ever wise to release a big fish that has just been towed behind the boat, winched in on a broom stick, and then picked up out of the water and measured?

If someone answers YES, Please explain to me and all the other readers how much delayed mortality is involved and how you calculate it.

For the record: When I troll I want meat.:D (no pun intended)

Trolling with heavier gear reduces the fight and stress time on the fish, therefore it is lively upon release. Most my rods are 20-30lb class gear (with 30lb mono line and a reel that maxes out at 16lbs of drag - 330gti) and my fights tend to be relatively short. Most boats troll at less than 3 knots and then cut back the throttle with a fish on. Many boats drifting on a windy day can move through the water as fast as one trolling. Trollers also use artificial lures and dont "drop back" the lure, therefore deep hook sets are rare. Releasing fish, should that be the choice of the angler, while trolling should not be any more harmful to fish than if it were caught fishing in another manor.

Yes it is, b/c the fish has a better chance of living in the water than in your fish box.

Obviously you have the facts on "delayed mortality" (which by the way we're all subject to) so pleasse share. Even if its 99%, that 1% of fish deserves a chance to live.

C&R has obviously worked for the billfish population. Those fish go thru a lot more fighting than a rock pulled in w/ a broomstick.

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