Pike fishing is a sport, but it is more about fun in the recent decades and become less about survival. Due to the issue of fish being depeleted and most anglers are now using the practice of catch and release fishing. This fishing practice is a great theory, but many people are performing it incorrectly and as a result many fish are dying. Upcoming steps should be followed when trying to catch and release a pike. Once you are familiar with how to do it correctly, you will be able to enjoy pike fishing and keep the population of pike full in your best stream or lake.
To lift a pike out of the water, take a grip where the gill lid start in the lower jaw. It is very little sharp things there and when you pull it out support under the tail. When you lift it this way the pike is instantly paralyzed and will not move.Then put it gently down to a cloth or a math to release the hooks. A pike that has a hole through its gap has more chances to survive than a fish with a hole in its gill.
If you are unlucky and happen to hook a fish in the gut, the best you can do is to cut off the hooks as much as you can then release the pike. Many times the hooks will dissolve and the fish will spit it out, but in many cases they can also live with rusted hooks hanging from them. Whatever you decide, do not tug on your line to pull a hook or hooks out or you will severy damage the pike. If you can easily loosen the hook, use a pair of needle nose pliers. The old process of pulling the hooks out is simpler if you grind down the barbs from the hooks, but do as little wiggling while you pull the hooks out.
As most knows pike are unable to survive outside of the water. Therefore, the longer time that it takes you to put them back, the more it becomes as if you are suffocating them. The way a pike is gripped when lifted out of the water will make a big difference. Firstly, avoid touch a pike`s body with your bare hands. The pike has slimy protective coat that may be stripped off if you touch them with your bare hands. If you absolutely have to touch a pike, make sure that your hands are wet. A good advice is to wear gloves to protect your hands from sharp teeth or permeating fish smells. The perhaps biggest part in pike fishing is to “play out” the fish. The struggle can be what some fishermen wait all day to do. Pike are like humans; when they “work out” , they filis up with lactic acid. When you are working a pike, they are fighting too. Similar to someone works her or his body out and it feels very sore, the pike experiences the same thing. The build up of lactic acid can be poisonous to a pike even days later. With that in mind, if you are going to do catch and release, try to keep the fight to a minimum.
If possible, try not to let a pike flop around when you catch them. A pike that plops around might bruise or hurt its internal organs, perhaps causing them to die later from the injuries. Sometimes you have to revive a pike when needed. A pike is likely to run out of oxygen and pass out, as many other creatures do. To revive a fish, place the pike in the water with the belly down and gently grasp the tail. Then slowly move the tail back and forth until you see that it are ready to take off into the water. In some cases you will have to repeat the process more than once, but don`t let a pike go until its ready. A pike that is not ready to swim properly could get carried away and sweep into rocks or embankment and be seriously hurt.
Most important, when you re doing catch and release, have everything nearby. Make sure your gloves, needle nose pliers and camera are in reaching distance. Do what you can to take precautions necessary to preserve pike and one of our favourite pastimes.