Santiago - 6-20-2009 at 07:02 AM
Saw on Gene's site that you have a way of releasing yellowtail caught with live bait while still in the water. Would you mind giving us better
description of how you do this?
Thanks
losfrailes - 6-20-2009 at 07:07 AM
Surely he uses circle hooks and grabs the fish by the lip with his gloved or ungloved hand. Tough on the fingers tho.
He will respond shortly, presently he is on the way home in Colorado.
Santiago - 6-21-2009 at 09:08 AM
Bump so Pescador can see it.
Pescador - 6-21-2009 at 09:10 AM
Santiago, Here is what I have learned since I started working on this system of release. First, Los Frailes is correct, I always use circle hooks
and prefer owner ringed Mutu hook in 2/0, 3/0, and sometimes a 4/0. Every fish I get is usually hooked right in the corner of the mouth. When I get
the fish up to the surface I know that I do not want to remove any scales or slime from the fish so I touch the fish a few times around the head area
and he thrashes a few times almost like a billfish. But after three or fou of these head thrashing the fish is calm enough that he will let me put a
thumb in the mouth and I can lip the fish pretty much like a Large mouth bass. I do not try to lift the fish out of the water, I just want to hold it
enough to be able to back out the hook with the other hand. They swim away with not much wear and tear.
I have seen people pull them into the boat and go through all kinds of gyrations to release but you cause a lot of damage to the fish, scales and
slime that way, so I prefer to leave them in the water the whole time. I do essentially the same thing with a billfish and never lift them up on the
boat for pictures and all that junk because a higher percentage of those fish die.
A side advantage of playing with this sytem is that I have learned that when the fish is headed for the smoker of bar-b-que, then instead of hitting
them with a gaff, I just reach over and slide my hand in the gill plate and pick up the whole fish. Sure does save a lot of blood that used to be on
the floor of the boat. Then I can tie a tail loop around the fish, put him overboard, and then cut his gills to drain the blood while the fish is in
the water. Sure makes great sashimi that way.
Santiago - 6-21-2009 at 09:36 AM
Thanks! Do you crimp the barb or is that not necessary with the circles? I do not fish with live bait very often and with irons or surface lures I
simply grab the lure, lift the head out and remove the hook (mine are barbless). I will try the head-pat thing next time.
Pescador - 6-21-2009 at 05:40 PM
The live bait thing is a local thing and it is pretty interesting. We fish Tortuga a lot and the guys come over from San Carlos and they watch us
haul up fish after fish and they get one every so often. They use a lot of jigs but when they are fishing side by side with live bait, they usually
always manage to catch a lot less fish. I consider bait making to be the most important part of the day. But yes, if you are using yo-yo or other
lures, it is very easy to squeeze down the barbs and then they back out very easily when pushed backwards. I do use circle hooks on my billfish lures
and it has taken me awhile to perfect the technique but they really do account for a lot of fish and the hook is always in the right place. I do
think they perform better with soft lures however.
Yes, try to get the fish conditioned to having you play around their head area before going for the lure. I have had a yellowtail hit the boat
really hard with a yo-yo when they first come to the surface and they are trying to fight anything that messes with them.