albie release experiment

[CaptSuperfly]

I know there has always been debate on how to release false albies. I'm reminded of this old riptide thread

http://www.reel-time.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50345&highlight=releasing+albies

this weekend, we found rather large albies in very, very clear water. When you lift the bigger albies by the tail, even supporting the head, you can almost feel their spines rattle when they shake the tail. Still, it's just about the only way to control the fish out of the water while protecting the gills.

Popular opinion seems to be that the albies need to be launched (torpedoed) back into the water to give them a jump start. Without it, they just drop down like a stone and die.

As an experiment, I tried this with a few fish that we got to the boat - I grabbed the leader, lifted the head out of the water and popped the jig or fly out of the fishes mouth with my needle-nose. Never took the fish out of the water.

I just let the fish drop. I watched it on the way down. Since the water was so clear, I could see down quite a bit.

The fish did drop like a stone, but just for 3-5 feet. then, it shook - woke up - and shot off like a bat out of hell. Tried this with a few fish (none of which took the hook down very deep, so it was easy to pop it) and I had the same result each time.

I still tailed a few, when it looked like I needed extra effort to take the hook out, but the more I think about it, the more I think the torpedo release does little to save fish and the best bet is to avoid taking them out of the water at all.

No science here. It's just something I noticed.

[Slappy]

When I was a kid we used to turn bonito upside down and gently place them into the water. They would sink up to 20' before flipping over and tearing off.

If there were seals around, the bones got torpedoed, they needed a running start to get away!!

Not science either, but I think most tunas respond the same way.

[Wild Bill]

Interesting!

The bumps on the bottom of the albies jaw have never pierced my skin. I do not tail the albie if I can see the location of the hook and it is on the outside. I thumb his lower jaw and pull the barbless hook out. They seem to swim away just fine without a jump start. If the top jaw rakes you, it can cut the skin. I agree that keeping them in the water is best.

Do not try this with Bonita.:eek:

[sa1280]

I think the guys "spiking" the fish into the water like they just made a touchdown does more harm than good, a lot of the time the fish rotates in the air and ends up tailfirst anyway, plus they can torque the tail too much, which could conceiveably damage the fish's propulsion. A simple headfirst drop from just above the water does just fine. I dont know about lipping albies, they just dont seem to have the same strength of their jaw structure as bass and blues (not that I lip blues!!) I have done it in times of necessity, say a fish getting tossed around while trying to land it off a jetty and you just cant get to the tail, but I quickly switch to the tail grab/cradle. I think the most important thing is get the fish in quickly, and if from shore, make sure the fish is going to hit the water right side up and pointing away from the rocks!

[Wes]

I haven't seen any studies specifically about FA release mortality rates. One I did see studied some other pelagics for stress of hook and line capture, tagging and release. They concluded that sharks, YFT and BFT had a great chance of survival after the fight, boating and tagging if handled properly even though the fish's blood chemistry showed significant deterioration in their blood chemistry due to exhaution and time out of the water. Without much other evidence I'd guess you are all on the right track in that handling boatside is key. They did say in their conclusions that with proper handling with release in mind even an exhausted fish with some time out of the water had excellent chance of long term survival. Although most the the tagged could only be observe for abt 8 hours after relase the few they captured after longer periods had no discernable effects from early capture and tagging.

[Wild Bill]

sa-

I do not know if lipping albies is best either. They surly do not have the mouth and jaw structure of a striper. I should have emphasized that the fish is totally in the water when I do this. If I cannot see the fly, I grab the tail. Sticking a thumb in the lower jaw with the fish being supported by the water does not seem to harm them at all, but I will concede, I am not sure. If you pick an albie out of the water by his lower jaw, there is a good chance of damage.

An experienced and world renowned fly fisher told me he thinks most albies caught on a fly rod die from exhaustion. The fact that they swim away does not mean they live. I certainly hope he is not correct. I would feel bad and probably not fish for albies, if I thought all fly caught albies die regardless of how handled.

[sa1280]

This is one of those times when I almost wish albies had real food value, so there would be studies done on them like there is with BFT, YFT, ect! I really doubt the mortality is that high on them, judging by how the studies done on larger tuna seem to indicate that the majority of tuna landed actually DO live. It would be interesting to try to find out what the actual migration patterns, life span, etc is of both albies and bonito, but unless they suddenly become the next delicacy (hopefully not!) I think we will just have to guess.
I have heard that some talk of how even stripers really dont have a very high survival rate after capture, but I just saw a study that said a VERY large proportion of the tagged bass had been recaptured at some later date, and a large proportion of thoe recaptured bass had been caught yet again down the road! I think the biggest part in fish survival is how they are played and handled after being caught.

[Slappy]

sa--I have caught a bunch of different tuna type fishes, and albies are by far the most fragile, they don't do well out of the water for even a very short period of time.

Mortality studies on stripers typically show a fairly low mortality rate, but it is dependent on method. Bait fishing kills many more than other types, poor fish handlers killl the most. I haven't seen any studies looking at the influence of fisherman experience on mortality. I would be willing to bet that experienced fishermen kill very few fish compared to others.