GET A GRIP
Handy advice on the best methods for unhooking, handling and releasing your catch
Handling fish is a two-way thing. Personal safety is obvious, but we owe the fish respect to either dispatch it in double quick time, or release it fit and healthy to live, breed, and to fight again another day.
There will be arguments about how best to handle fish. I’ve watched scientists on tagging programmes make a right hash of it, so even the professionals don’t always get it right. What we can do is have respect for the fish we catch, and through that will come safer handling for the benefit of all.
The reality is that few of us give a second thought to how we handle fish. Having seen people bitten by blue sharks, stung by weever fish, received skin abrasions from tope and huss, fingers ripped wide open by thorns when mishandling rays, and hand infections after fish spine and skin contact, then it seems a rethink is in order.
BASIC FISH-HANDLING SKILLS...
There are two main things to consider when directly handling fish – the safety of the fish, and protecting yourself from injury.
The worst thing you can do is handle fish straight from the sea with dry, warm hands. The skin of the fish can burn from the heat of your hands, and this especially applies to whiting, pouting, poor cod and mackerel.
Ideally, your hands need to be wet so the heat is dissipated a little and also does not easily drag the protective slime and mucous off the fish’s body. The loss of slime can leave the fish open to infection after release.
When shore fishing, it’s easy to dip your hands in the sea prior to landing the fish. On boats, there’s usually a bucket available for basic hand washing after baiting up and, again, a quick wetting of the hand can do much to protect the fish.
A wet cloth can be useful, but there is some controversy over using them. Avoid the microfibre dishcloths. Less damaging is a traditional tea towel made from cotton, or maybe synthetic nylon. Make sure the cloth is fully soaked and dripping before you handle any fish.
Placing a fish on the wet cloth while unhooking, helps keep the fish damp and in much better condition than placing it on top of a dry seat box, bait table, engine cover, deck, or by continually manhandling it. This is exactly why a carp angler uses an unhooking mat. I also use a cloth to hold the tail of a stingray, also maybe a very spikey thornback ray, but prefer the wet hands method for other fish.
When taking photographs, I prefer the captor kneeling, if possible, to give greater stability. Should the fish flip free, it has less far to fall. The quicker a fish is released back in the water, the better. Here are my suggestions for common species of fish… SMALL SHARKS The dogfish has a habit of twisting its body around your hand and arm. The skin, being rough, can cause you major skin abrasions. These can take a long time to heal, but also the skin of a doggie can carry a little-known virus that, once in to your bloodstream via a scratch, can make you feel sick with flu-like symptoms. To avoid this, hold the dogfish by the head, and with the other hand pull the tail up to lay alongside the head, gripping both the head and tail together with the one hand. This stops the doggie twisting and makes for easier unhooking.
The bigger brother, the huss, is far more powerful and very difficult to hold. The big mistake when handling huss is attempting to hold them against their will. You’ll find it easier if you use a gentle grip and let the huss relax a little. If you’re rough, they’ll fight back.
It’s best to hold them along their length, one hand on the tail, and the other supporting their weight under the belly. This supports vital organs and sees them fit and well for release. This same two-hand hold works equally well on spurdogs, but watch out for the sharp spur on the dorsal fin, the same with smoothhounds and smaller tope, too. RAYS The thorns on rays need to be watched because they can rip deep through the skin, aided by the weight of the fish should it slip in the hands when lifting.
For unhooking, flip the ray gently on its back on the ground to fully expose the mouth. When handling it, and for photos, I prefer to hold the tail, and put my arm or hand under the ray’s wings to support it.
Alternatively, hold the ray to one side of the eyes by the wing edge and quickly lift it for a photo, with the other hand taking the weight of the ray under the tail and supporting its structure. This is a little kinder on the fish. BASS Bass have razor-sharp edges to their gills, also sharp dorsal and fin spines that can cause deep slashes if mishandled.
To lift these from the surf, you can use the thumb and forefinger to grip the lower jaw and slide the fish ashore. This gives excellent security, even with a big fish, but allows the head section to be lifted, and the other hand to slide under the body to support it fully at the belly as you lift it. This is a good hold for taking photos of bass to be released as well. COD Cod tend to have teeth, and few sizeable ones are returned, even in these more caring times, so the best way to land and hold a surf cod is to put your fingers inside the gill plate and simply lift the fish. Watch the gill-rakers on the inside, though, as these are sharp and can make fine cuts in your fingers. FLATFISH When taking photos of flatfish, grip the leading edge of the gill plate on the underside, but be mindful of the delicate gills themselves. Put the other hand behind the tail and lightly support the fish, so that you can get a couple of photographs, and then release the fish in good health.
UNHOOKING FISH
Do we really need to handle all fish? In the case of smaller, unwanted species, then getting them as close to the sea as possible, and shaking them off the hook by holding the hook shank and inverting the hook, will see a good proportion of fish wriggle off without direct contact.
You can do this with weever fish too, if you hold the hook shank with a pair of pliers and flip them off. If not, it’s safer to cut the fish free above the hook.
If the fish won’t wriggle free, then you need to revert to using pliers to gently remove the hook, but using wet hands every time.
I carry two types of pliers. I have small pair of needle-nosed pliers that are small enough to reach those deeper-set hooks in smaller flatties and whiting, and gently flick them out. My bigger long-nosed pliers are used when unhooking heavier gauges of hooks in bigger fish, such as cod, bass and rays.
I also carry, in both my boat and shore boxes, a stainless steel T-bar. Used correctly, this implement can remove hooks from bigger fish like huss, congers and ling, far easier than pliers if the hook is set that bit deeper. It’s a simple case of using a T-bar that is long enough to pull on the hook bend against a tight hook-length to flip the hook free.
When boat fishing, larger fish we want to return should ideally be netted in a proper landing net, and if possible, unhooked still in the net, then popped back over the side into the water, still in the net, and released by inverting the net. If you don’t want a photo, this is the ideal option.
RETURNING FISH
At the point of release, shore-caught fish should be supported by two hands, one at the tail, one under the belly, and held facing into the oncoming surf tables.
Hold the fish until it regains its strength, and it will indicate by moving its tail and flexing its body when it is ready to go. When releasing fish from rocks, man-made structure and boats into deeper water, lower the fish as close to the water as you can, then drop them head first in to the water. This vertical entry seems to help fish recover quicker. This also works from boats too.
The real issues are with bigger fish, such as tope and blue sharks, that need to be brought aboard boats for tagging and recording.
Lifting fish of this size is a two-man job. One guy grabs the tail of the fish, with the other lifting the fish, ideally, by a pectoral fin, with the other arm under the belly to spread its weight. Put the shark on the deck to support its weight, and throw a wet towel over its eyes while you work on it. The towel helps keep the shark quiet.
For photos, again two of you should lift the shark in a way that fully supports the body, and for smaller fish they can be cradled in the arms of the captor across the person’s body, which supports the fish.
Bigger fish should also be fully supported when lifting, and placed on a flat engine box for a photo, keeping the shark’s body fully supported. Also support the shark by tail and body as it is slipped back in the water.
Forward-thinking skippers are now using slings that the shark is lead into, then lifted and returned with. This way, the shark is fully supported and under control at all times.
“Support the shark by the tail and body as it is slipped back in the water”