How to Catch and Release Fish

1. Use circle hooks when fishing with bait. Fish are far less likely to swallow them. Most of the time, they will hook a fish in the corner of its mouth. If the fish does swallow the hook deep in its gullet, clip the line as close as you can to the hook and leave it. Modern hooks are designed to dissolve if left inside a fish.
2. Crimp down the barbs on your lures with pliers. They’re designed to hold the fish on the hook during the fight but make it difficult to back the hook out during release. Usually, if you apply enough pressure with the rod and reel during a fight, the hook will remain in place, even with a crimped barb.
3. Try to fight the fish quickly. When a fish is fighting against you, it builds up lactic acid in its muscles, just as a jogger does. If a fish builds up too much lactic acid during a fight, it could die. Also, the more tired a fish is after you release it, the more susceptible it is to being eaten by other predators.
4. Never touch a fish’s gills. These are the fish’s lungs, and touching them can cause injury that will severely hamper their ability to absorb oxygen from the water.
5. Try not to take the fish out of the water. If you want to hold it up to photograph it, try to return it back to the water in less than 90 seconds.
6. Don’t hold a fish up vertically by its lip. Holding a fish up by its head out of water puts massive stress on its internal organs and may harm the fish’s jaw so that it can’t eat. If you remove a fish from the water, be sure to hold it horizontally and support its belly with your hand.
7. Don’t hold the fish with a towel or your dry hands. Doing so removes the protective layer of slime that coats the fish, exposing the fish to bacteria and germs when you return it to the water. If you must handle a fish with your hands, always be sure to wet them before doing so.
8. Revive your fish before letting it go. Hold it by its lip or its tail and rock it back and forth gently in the water to get water flowing over its gills. If you’re fishing in water where there’s a current, point the fish’s head upstream.