Catch and release has become an extremely important part of fisheries management.
Originating in the bass fishery where Ray Scott and B.A.S.S. found it necessary to propagate tournaments while promoting conservation it is now commonplace in saltwater.
Good information on proper catch-and-release for redfish, speckled trout and flounder has not always been easily available. I was recently involved in a project that detailed release plans for key species in Texas and throughout the country.
These are some of the findings on the Texas Gulf Coast’s “Big 3”.
Redfish: The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has an amazing and exhaustive set of details for releasing redfish. While their regulations are much different than those in Texas, they can help to properly conserve our wonderful redfish resource.
Releasing sub-adult red drum in shallow water:
Releasing adult red drum in deep water:
Speckled Trout: The catch and strategies for speckled trout are essentially the same as those for largemouth bass, with one major difference. Trout are more delicate so special attention should be paid to several key points.
According to the journal of North American Fisheries Management, scientists investigated the mortality associated with catch and release in the fishery for spotted seatrout trout in south Texas.
“Specifically, this study investigated the mortality for hook-and-line-captured spotted seatrout as a function of bait type, hook type, angler skill level, and fish size. Using a variety of angling techniques, we captured 448 spotted seatrout ranging from 250 to 760 mm total length (TL) and assessed mortality in replicate field enclosures.”
“The overall short-term mortality for all treatments was relatively low (11 percent); of fish survived. The exception was angler skill level. Angling by novices produced a significantly higher mortality rate than angling by skilled anglers; however, mortality averaged only 18 percent even for inexperienced anglers. To evaluate long-term mortality, we monitored 27 spotted seatrout held in a laboratory facility for 30 days. We observed 11 percent mortality during the first 48 hours and no mortality during the subsequent 28 days.”
“The location of hook-related injuries may be the most important factor in determining catch-and-release mortality. Anatomical hooking location was not a factor in the analyses but was treated as a component of experimental treatment level; however, we observed that mortality was typically associated with hooking location rather than angling method or bait type. These data suggest that management options involving the release of spotted seatrout, including those larger than 635 mm total length, are viable tools.”
Flounder: Flounder are my forte and through our Flounder Revolution ® conservation project, I have developed some specific techniques for safe catch and release of flounder. Many of the strategies applied to other fish apply but these are specific and important for flatfish.
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