Releasing walleyes

[Wrestling Coach]

We have been catching a lot of walleyes here recently. We have set our personal limits so we keep nothing over 26". Last night we had a 27", 29" and a 31". All went back. However the 31" had some bleeding from his gills that occurred from handling the fish out of the net and removing hooks. We placed him back in the water and he took off for the bottom right away. We wondered if he would ultimately survive. How do you make the call on an injured fish going back in?

Dennis

[Kevin J Legg]

I know the feeling. You hate to see them go to waste but like to release the breeders. Only one thing we know for sure. They don't have a chance to survive once you decide to keep them. I believe all you can do is use your own best judgement. You're obviously releasing most of the big ones, which is commendable.

[Wrestling Coach]

Kevin,

Good point. We know they won't make it if we keep them. Today we were out again and did well. From now on if the fish looks close to 26" we are doing everything we can in the rubber net not to harm him. Then measure. Today we put two 28" and a 30" back. Kept four others under 24". Fishing in the Cape Vincent area.

Dennis

[panfisher]

Nice work, and good thread...only to add that perches and basses seem to be a little tougher and resilient to some mishandling. I have kept some of both that had similar issues (not breeder sized, but up to 5lbs or so) in live well and/or under trickling tap water in the kitchen sink, become sidetracked and gone to bed, only to awake and realize the fish still needed to be filleted, and found them healthy and swimming straight up (in their confined space) and happily released them into some nearby waters, such as the barge canal, to continue their lives. Definitely a good feeling to see them swim off!

[salmonite]

Nice work, and good thread...only to add that perches and basses seem to be a little tougher and resilient to some mishandling. I have kept some of both that had similar issues (not breeder sized, but up to 5lbs or so) in live well and/or under trickling tap water in the kitchen sink, become sidetracked and gone to bed, only to awake and realize the fish still needed to be filleted, and found them healthy and swimming straight up (in their confined space) and happily released them into some nearby waters, such as the barge canal, to continue their lives. Definitely a good feeling to see them swim off!

seriously? or am I just gullable?

[BSmaster]

Nice work, and good thread...only to add that perches and basses seem to be a little tougher and resilient to some mishandling. I have kept some of both that had similar issues (not breeder sized, but up to 5lbs or so) in live well and/or under trickling tap water in the kitchen sink, become sidetracked and gone to bed, only to awake and realize the fish still needed to be filleted, and found them healthy and swimming straight up (in their confined space) and happily released them into some nearby waters, such as the barge canal, to continue their lives. Definitely a good feeling to see them swim off!

I'll add this to the list of things that make me go hmmmmm,,,

I agree that bass seem to be tougher than most fish, however, I think all sunfishes and perches are fairly tough. As for the original question, I have released some fish that swam off and then much later have resurfaced on their side. If you moved since it was released, you would probably never know. I was battling a slow bite/adults vs a fast bite/juveniles last winter and I had hooked a little one in the gills. Too small to keep legally. I was torn, I kinda knew it wasn't gonna make it. It swam off and 20 minutes later came back up. It wasn't in my opinion bleeding that bad either. This same scenario I have seen with bass and trout as well. How do you make the call? Depends on the situation, I guess. I don't know. If it isn't legal to keep it, it should definitely go back. Not worth the chance of fine.

[K Gonefishin]

If it's bleeding it's most likely going to die. I would have kept it, expecially if the blood was coming from the gill area if it was belly, head or face then that will heal over time. I catch a couple hundred large walleye ever year out of Erie and try and let the big gals go but bleederss go home. I do have a 50 inch livewell with recirculation so I'll often put a big one in there to see how it does and after and hour you can tell it won't make it

[Mark Komo]

ditto on Kevins stuff.

I like to think, and I may be wrong, on the velocity of bleeding, especially from the gills. If she is a good bleeder, then tend to keep her. But if slight, then let her go.

We go through the same thingon bay of quinte in the winter. Most pike in the livewell, most walleyes released. A couple of deep hookers, we take special care in releasing.

[panfisher]

Salmonite.... No, you're not gullible! Compared to the salmonids, basses and perches seem to definitely (at least in my experience) be somewhat tougher. And I would say bass are tougher than perches. I have had largemouths (years ago) that were out of the water on a stringer carried through the woods and in a plastic bag in the trunk of the car for 1/2 an hr (summer weather!) before putting them in cold water in the sink with water just trickling in and then draining out of the other side of a double sink...gone to sleep for a few hours, and then finding them completely alive and sound as if nothing had ever happened! Released them to the canal (just down the street) as I felt they had earned their lives! Have had perch "come back from the dead" many times while preparing them for cleaning, after ice fishing and having them lay on the ice inside a shanty and then a bag for the long ride home...and I mean flapping and breathing! Did not spare those guys, though ! And have done similar things to 'eyes and had them come back.... They were not spared either! Not all of the time, but enough to convince they are indeed more durable than one might imagine....

[mostlymuskies]

Perch are real tough! I can remember going to Simcoe Ice fishing and catching perch and tossing them on the Ice,they froze solid.I put the solid frozen perch in a bucket and drove 2 1/2 hours back to Buffalo.When I got home I dumped the perch that were still mostly frozen into the bathtub and turned on the water to thaw them out.I left the room and came back in an hour and 3/4 of the perch were swimming around in the tub. Now thats a tough fish!

[panfisher]

Yes, indeed!!!! Maybe cold and clean cold water (as in tapwater) has healing effects on some of the tougher species......

[scott111]

i dont keep any fish so all go back in

i have found that walleye are fairly fragile and the longer you struggle to unhook them, the more damage you do with hooks and lack of oxygen. several years ago i switched to only using barbless hooks and it has helped quite a bit, with pike as well

[bulletbob]

Are these walleyes being caught on treble hooked plugs? I wonder if trolling with trebles in pretty deep water is the problem?. I catch a lot of Walleyes every year, but mine are caught in a river in water 15 feet deep and under on single hook jigs mostly.. Never can I remember a floater in all the years I have been Walleye fishing...

Trebles kill IMHO.. I have been cutting 1 hook off many of my my trebles for several years, and the fish are so much easier to unhook, and initial hookup is every bit as good... It has certainly upped survival on my released fish.

[scott111]

I live in I bay. The most common fish I see floating dead in the bay are walleye. Even more than dead carp.

Another thing I do with crank baits is remove the front set of hooks

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[alex1young]

The only walleye I've caught recently (years) was a large female, around 8 lbs. Placed her in the well because she had some serious blood coming from the gills, we assumed she wouldn't survive. 2 hours later when we hit the dock the fish was lively and healthy. Took a nice photo and let her go. Feels great when your able to let a good one free.