keeping gt alive for pics, then release??

[simonjohnmoore]

 Hey guys, im a new member, and absolutely love this site, so informative, and free i am in the middle of designing my new anglapro outlaw 444 boat for gt fishing at home in the whitsundays, i want a system in my boat that helps pump saltwater through the gills of big gt while i prepare for a photo as i believe in catch and release? So please let me know what you guys do to keep the gt alive while on the boat deck. Cheers!

[Mark Harris]

Hi Simon and welcome.

Given the ethos of this forum, you should not be short of advice on this subject.  Some points from me:

1. Try to get the fish back into the water as quickly as you can. It is possible to "process" the fish for a photo and release in 30-45 seconds.

2. Handling is extremely important. Always support the fish with both arms or even better lie it across your lap.  Never hold the fish up by its tail and never touch the gills. Keep handling to minimum as it is very easy to remove large quantities of the protective slime from the skin and this leaves the fish open to infection.

3. As you mention, it is good to have a salt water hose on board to pump water through the gills.  If that is not possible, use a bucket.

4. When releasing the fish, do so slowly and gently. If it does not swim away immediately, support it in the water moving it gently until it fully revives. Never throw the fish back into the water.

I am sure others will have more advice.

[Angus Hulme]

Would it be a case of designing the boat so it's self draining, then including a deck wash that pumps fresh sea water? All you need then is a flexible hose attached to the pump, which pumps a constant flow of sea water into the fishes mouth while you are taking pics etc. The water then runs out the scuppers at the back of the boat. Seen it in vids etc, so it's obviously not a new concept.

Personally I don't really think all that's necessary if you can get fish back in the water quickly and follow the basic ideas as suggested by Mark.

[Jon Li]

A wet mat which can give cushion on the body will help rather than the hard deck . Deck wash is mandatory to keep some fresh saltwater flowing into the throat of the fish to help it breathe .

Jon .

[Travis Heaps]

We have moved away from lip gaffing the fish and now have one person tail grab and the other grab the leader or get an arm under it and lift the fish into the boat as level as possible. 

Place onto a wet towel if the deck is dry or hot, measure, pick it up supporting it across it's length (not by tail).  Only thing i don't like in this step is getting it's pectoral? fin caught facing the wrong way under the side it's laying on.  Oh yeah, retrieve remoras that otherwise die and stink up your bilge.  Take photo, chuck it back in. 

The big fish can take longer and may require swimming but you try carefully lowering 35+kgs of fish into the water to swim it after you've just caught and held it up for photos...best bet we've found is to spear it in and give it a blast of water over it's gills to get it moving.  They are tough critters, if you care enough to ask the question then you won't be doing anything too wrong - a deck wash for those that take slightly longer to get back in the water is all that's required.

[Graham Scott]

Hi Simon,

I have a deck hose but I'm not convinced it makes any differnece. Like the others, get them in quickly and back quickly.
I have a couple of long plastic eskies (100cm and 120cm) that we wet down before landing the fish, then with 2 holding the fish we put it straight on the esky to get the hooks out etc. The esky has a measuring tape on the top and thats all we do. So you can get a photo of the length while you're getting the hooks out. The only other photo we take generally is happy angler chucking it back in. Most times I haven't had to swim them and generally only do that if I am worried about them.
Attached is a typical set of photos. Generally their is so much going on the photos are pretty ordinary, but are still a good record. I would rather have a bad photo than a sick GT.