Great thought to start this Mark.
My rules:
* no trebles hooks - I don't buy anythingw/ treble hooks and have replaced
almost all existing treble's w/ single 5/0 bucktails.
* no barb's. Crimp all barbs on new stuff *before* it goes on the boat. If
I grab for something in the heat of the moment, I'm not stopping to check for
barb's so I do my best to crimp them down before I ever get them near the
water. Barbs are not needed for either blues or bas, for bonito and albacore
they help; as a result I try and use one set of jigs solely for fast movers and
not for bass/blues.
* try and keep the fish in the water for the release. Blues never come on the
boat if I can help it; I try to shake them free boatside w./ pliers by holding the
lure/leader joint, grabbng the base of the hook w/ pliers; elevating hook (and
fish) above lure and shaking fish off hook. W/ crimped down barbs its
works at least 2 out of three times. Stripers get lipped boatside and released
w/out ever coming above the gunwale.
If I must bring a fish in the boat I try never to let it hit the deck and flop around;
blues are tightly gripped behind the head and in front of the gill; stripers are
hugged towards my body to get them under control w/ an arm, w/out getting
speared by their spines. Once a fish starts flopping around on the deck its going to damage itself more than being held under contrl.
* all bait fishing is done w. circle hooks. Let the fish run forever, 90-95% of
the hookups are perfect corner of the mouth. Circle hooks work.
* I use 10# test for lure fishing for blues and bass, 15 # leader for fly fishing.
On bait I use 20# test. I fight fish hard and fast; try to get them in the boat
fast before they exhaust themselves. Blues can wipe themselves out in
a series of boatside dives, I try to get one good run, then work the fish
in fast.
* Oop's - serious (40-80#) mono leader, 12-18" long on all lures and jigs. The
leader makes it easy to land a fish at boatside quickly by giving me a long
target to grab rather than having to work the fish a while at boatside. On bonito/albacore I drop to 20# test; in any event the key is to have a mono
leader strong enough to be able to grab and hoist the fish w/out worrying
about it breaking off.
* Get the fishes head out of water and 1/2 the boatside fight is taken away
from them; if the head is out of water, then the fish can't dive. Makes for
a shorter boatside battle and a healthier release.
* Side pressure, boat, shore, fly/whatever. Fight the fish w/ the rod held
sideways, or even underwater; forces them on their side and brings them
in quicker. It also allows you to use the stronger rod butt, rather than rod
tip.
* Bonito and albacore get torpedo'ed into the water to ram start their
engines after a fight. Hold them chest high, tail and chin, head downwards,
and torpedo (not throw, not toss) them headfirst into the water so they
go into the water hard and deep. It works even though it sounds weird.
* Big bass from boat take time to revive. If possible beach yourself and work
them from shore; hanging over the gunwale for 10-15 minutes and trying to
control a 25#+ fish is not easy or fun. If your not near a beaching spot take 30
seconds and get the boat to a safe spot before you start reviving it.
If you have to move it while reviving the fish your in trouble...
* Plan your release spots on a jetty before you catch the fish. OK - so your
10' up the canal entrance jetty and you have to release a 5# fish. How are
you going to go down and land it? How are you going to release it? There's
usually a good spot somewhere on a jetty if you look before you need it.
I don't fish rocks and cliffs, but I assume the same rule holds there.
* Minimize time out of the water. If you take the fish up for a photo, do it
quickly, have your tape, scale, camera nearby. Do the high 5's after
the fish is back, not while its gasping on the deck.
* If a fish is guthooked, try quickly *once* to get the hook out. Sometimes
its a simple twist and out. If it doesn't come out, don't pull, don't tug, cut
the line as close to the hook as you can and revive the fish fast. Maybe
fish can survive w/ a hook in their belly...
* Gill hooked fish can sometimes be easily unhooked by going in behind the
gill plate and pulling the hook out that way and cutting the line once the
hookis free. It sounds barbaric, but I've done it sucessfully a number of
times. Its better than trying to work a hook out of gill tissue the normal
way.