Wednesday fishing report

 

Softshell turtle on right. Feel the love

Both Shotgun and I caught a Softshell turtle. Mine was about 12" from front of shell to the back. His was about 10".

I caught a 10" Largemouth Bass.

I hooked something that was about 20" long. It may have been a Northern Pike. It either bit through the line or slashed with its gill-plate. It was thrashing violently as I was reeling it in. I wish I had landed it.

All fish and turtles were released.

The "ethic" for how fish are reeled in and landed changed since I was a kid. Back in the '70s is was all about how heavy of a fish you could land on the lightest line possible. It was seen as giving the fish "a chance" and to prolong the thrill of catching the fish.

Since then, it has come to light that fish that are exhausted by prolonged struggles frequently die. Much of what we learned was from Bass Tournaments where only LIVE fish can be weighed and count toward points.

Now the ethic is to use heavy line and unceremoniously winching them in as quickly as possible. Fish that are to be released are often not even lifted out of the water, they are unhooked while in the net or while the fisherman has a grip on their lower jaw. Youtube is your friend.