| 1. Use barbless hooks – This allows the angler to release fish right away. An alternative is to flatten barbs with a pliers or file them down.
2. Set the hook quickly – Fish often die when they swallow bait and are hooked in the throat. By setting the hook quickly, chances of hooking the fish in mouth area, where it does little damage, are better.
3. Play the fish quickly – The longer a fish fights, the weaker it gets. Weak fish may succumb to disease or be eaten by a predator.
4. Hold the fish firmly, but gently – It’s best not to handle the fish at all. But if needed, grasp the fish at the back of the head, just behind (not under) the gill covers.
5. Use a needlenose pliers to remove hooks – The pliers lets the angler remove the hooks quickly while touching the fish as little as possible. Using the sidecutters on a pliers, deeply imbedded hooks can be snipped off.
6. If a fish is throat hooked, cut the line – Hooks can be dissolved by the stomach acids in the fish. Fish usually die if the hook is ripped from the inside of their throat.
7. Gently slide the fish back into the water – If lifting the fish out of the water for a photograph or measurement, don’t toss it back. Fish can die from injuries caused by being thrown into the water.
8. In streams, release fish into calm water – Fish are tired after being played and can die from tumbling downstream into rocks in a rapids.
9. Revive tired fish by moving it back and forth in the water – The motion causes water to run through the gills and will resuscitate the fish.
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1. Don’t net or handle the fish if it can be left in the water – Handling and netting can remove a protective mucous from the fishes skin and make them vulnerable to infection and disease.
2. Don’t drop a fish in the boat – Fish bruise easy and damage can often cause death.
3. Don’t hold a fish by the eyes – This can blind or kill a fish.
4. Don’t release a fish that can’t right itself and bobs to the surface – The air bladder of fish caught in deep water often expands and causes them to die. However, any fish not of legal size must be released regardless of its condition.
5. Don’t release bleeding fish – Fish bleeding from the gills or throat usually die. Remember, though, if the fish is not of legal size it must be released.
6. Don’t cull and release fish already on a stringer or in a live well – Fish on stringers often do not survive even if strung by the lips. Fish in livewells can recover, but often don’t especially if kept in livewells without aerators. Decide to release a fish before it is put on a stringer or in a livewell.
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| 1. Have the camera ready in case a large fish is caught.
2. Face the angler with the fish into the sun, with the photographers back to the sun.
3. Tip the hat of angler with the fish so the brim doesn’t shade the face.
4. Hold the fish horizontal, one hand under the head, the other where the tail meets the body.
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Fisherman's Special
If you like to fish for walleyes and you’re just getting started, or you don’t get the chance to fish that often, some of the methods used by top Canadian fishing guides are:
