Hook Removal Research Articles

Influence of four hook types across four hook removal tools, including bare hands, on the effectiveness of hook removal and reflex impairment of Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) captured from a lake in Eastern Ontario

AbstractHook removal devices have been developed to enable rapid release of angled fish, yet little research has evaluated their effectiveness and potential for injury among hook types. We compared the performance of hook removal tools and bare hands with four hook types on freshwater Lepomid sunfish. Dehooking performance was assessed using hook removal time, unhooking difficulty, degree of tissue damage at the hooking location, and immediate reflex impairment. Unhooking difficulty was positively related to hooking depth. Unhooking difficulty was lowest for hemostats and the mechanical dehooking device; however, the mechanical dehooking device caused the largest tearing of mouth tissue. Unhooking difficulty was the main driver for hook removal time, tissue tear length, and overall reflex impairment. Hooks that were harder to remove caused higher reflex impairment. Hook type had little influence on the effectiveness of hook removal tools, although circle hooks were more difficult to remove and caused greater injury when using tools. Although use of hook removal tools can be beneficial for fish that are released, more research is needed on more species targeted by recreational anglers, and more hook removal tools. We suggest that hemostats should be used to remove hooks from fish to reduce unhooking difficulty, tissue tears, long air exposure, and thereby to increase the welfare of the fish.

A review of elasmobranch catch-and-release science: synthesis of current knowledge, implications for best practice and future research directions.

Until relatively recently commercial fisheries have been considered the main driving factor for elasmobranch population declines. However, this belief has begun to shift with the realization that recreational elasmobranch catches may equal or exceed commercial catches in some regions. Many recreational angling fisheries for elasmobranchs involve high participation in catch-and-release angling practices. However, high release rates may not necessarily equate to high survival rates. Therefore, to assist accurate assessment of the potential impact of recreational angling on elasmobranchs, we attempted to summarize and integrate currently available information on specific risk factors associated with recreational angling, alongside associated mortality rates, as well as information on angler behaviour as it relates to identified risk factors. We categorized the major angling-related effects into two groups: injury-induced effects; and biochemical disruption-induced effects; providing a summary of each group and outlining the main lethal and sub-lethal outcomes stemming from these. These outcomes include immediate and delayed post-release mortality, behavioural recovery periods (which may in-turn confer increased predation risks), chronic health impacts and capture-induced parturition and abortion. Additionally, we detailed a range of angling practices and equipment, including hook-type, hook removal and emersion (i.e. air exposure), as well as inter- and intra-specific factors, including aerobic scope, respiratory mode, body size and species-specific behaviours, which are likely to influence injury and/or mortality rates and should therefore be considered when assessing angling-related impacts. We then utilized these data to provide a range of actionable recommendations for both anglers and policymakers which would serve to reduce the population-level impact of recreational angling on these enigmatic animals.

The effectiveness of bite-shortened hooks for reducing handling time and injury of small-bodied freshwater fish captured by recreational anglers

Modified bite-shortened hooks show promise for enabling easy handling and rapid release of fish captured by recreational anglers, with the potential to reduce injury and stress of released fish. This study investigated whether bite-shortened modified hooks were effective at improving fish welfare relative to more traditional hook configurations. We evaluated how hook type (jigs vs. Aberdeen), hook length (regular, shortened by 4 mm or shortened by 6 mm), and the presence or absence of a barb influenced the landing rates, handling time, hooking depth, ease of hook removal, and injury of Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus). There was significantly more fish landed using jig style (87.7%) than Aberdeen hooks (80.5%). The landing rates varied significantly among hook configurations with standard barbed hooks having the highest landing success (96%) and very bite-shortened hooks having the lowest (67%) landing success. Once landed, self-release (i.e., unhooked without use of hands) was most common for fish caught on very bite-shortened (shortened by 6 mm), followed by short bite-shortened (shortened by 4 mm), and then regular barbless hooks (hook not modified), while regular barbed hooks had the lowest self-release rate. Very short bite-shortened and short bite-shortened barbless hook configurations resulted in shallower hook depths and were less likely to cause injury compared to barbed and barbless regular length hooks. This research suggests that bite shortened barbless hooks allow for easy and rapid self-release while retaining reasonably high rates of landing success, suggesting that bite-shortened hooks could be a useful management tool for recreational fisheries.

Removing a fishing hook from inside the nasal alar: The push through and cut off method

Introduction Fishing can be problematic for the novice fisherman when the fishing hook sinks into the fisherman’s body. The hook can often not be removed easily because of its specific structure. Case report A 12-year-old boy had a fishing hook sunk into his nose after it was thrown towards his face; it inserted into the septum and right lower lateral cartilage of the nose due to inexperience in handling it by the victim. Discussion The hook was extracted through the ‘push through and cut off’ method with no damage caused to the lower lateral cartilage, septum and the nasal skin. Deep insertion of the hook in the sensitive areas such cartilage of the nose can cause an irreversible complication if erroneously manipulated. Conclusion This is the first report of technique of removed fishing hook with extra teeth from the nasal cartilage. Surgeon knowledge about the hook type and techniques of hook removal can help successful removal from the body without irreversible complication.

After the spawn and on the hook: Sea trout Salmo trutta biophysical responses to different components of catch and release in a coastal fishery.

This study investigated the biophysical responses of sea run brown trout Salmo trutta to catch‐and‐release in the coastal fishery around Gotland, Sweden. It used information recorded on individual angled S. trutta (n = 162), including fight time, handling time, total air exposure time, injury, bleeding, fish length, body condition, spawning status, water temperature, hook location and difficulty of hook removal. Reflex action mortality predictors (equilibrium, operculum beats, tail grab response, body flex response and vestibular‐ocular response), tests of blood glucose and lactate, and observation of hooking injury were used to measure the relative impact of the angling event on the fish's physical state and stress experienced. The results of this study suggest low rates of post‐release mortality and generally limited stress responses to angling events, and relatively high post‐release survival supported by the recapture of many tagged S. trutta. However, a number of scenarios were identified in which stress responses are likely to be compounded and where anglers should take additional action to reduce sublethal physiological disturbances and the risk of delayed mortality. Particular care should be taken to limit cumulative total air exposure to <10 s, and to reduce handling time and risk of additional injury in angling events with extended fight times, when water temperatures >10°C, or where S. trutta show evidence of being physically compromised by injury or having recently spawned. The results also indicate the importance of using appropriately sized single hooks rather than larger treble hooks to reduce hooking injury and handling time during unhooking.

Influence of hook type on performance, hooking location, injury, and reflex action mortality predictors in float recreational angling for cyprinids: A case study in northeastern Poland

One of the elements critical to the success of catch-and-release fisheries is the use of appropriate gear that permits releasing fish safely. To date, not all fish species have been the focus of comprehensive studies on this topic, and this applies to cyprinids. Fish from this family are distinct because of their pharyngeal teeth and the particular way they ingest food. We evaluated the impact of hook type on cyprinid catch rates (further catch per unit effort (CPUE)), the size of the fish caught, and the welfare of the fish released. Quickly assessing immediate reactions with reflex action mortality predictors (RAMP), we determined the consequences of recreational angling with barbed J-hooks, barbless J-hooks, and circle hooks. During the study, 1,066 fish were caught that belonged to eight native cyprinid species. Hook type did not have a significant impact on the fishing index with the mean CPUE ranging from 14.4 (circle hook) to 17.2 (barbed J-hook). The size of the fish caught also did not depend on hook type. However, hook type influenced the efficiency of hook removal, which was the lowest for circle hooks (45.6 %) and the highest for barbless hooks (63.7 %). Dehooking time was linked significantly with hook type, hook location, and fish species. The longest dehooking time was noted for fish caught with barbed J-hooks. Anatomical hooking locations did not differ in the fish caught with J-hooks, while the hooking location of circle hooks differed significantly in comparison to that of the J-hooks. Deep hooking in fish caught with circle hooks occurred decidedly less frequently as did tissue damage. Bleeding occurred more frequently in fish that exhibited impaired reflex action mortality predictors. Fish caught with circle hooks exhibited the least impaired reflexes. The differences in the build of the anterior part of the cyprinid digestive system and the manner in which theses fishes take up food did not exclude using circle hooks.

Short-term behavioural impacts of air-exposure in three species of recreationally angled freshwater fish

Fish captured and released by recreational anglers are often exposed to air to enable hook removal and for admiration (e.g., photography). It is necessary to identify thresholds for air exposure that minimize sublethal alterations to inform best practice guidelines yet doing so in ecological-relevant field settings is challenging. We developed a novel attachment method for tri-axial accelerometer and depth biologgers to quantify short-term post-release behaviour in recreationally angled northern pike (Esox lucius), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), and walleye (Sander vitreus) following a range of air exposure treatments (i.e., 0, 15, 30, 60, and 180 s). The biologgers were attached to the fish using a quick-release Velcro® harnesses that facilitated easy retrieval of the device from free-swimming fish without the need to recapture the individual. For this study, biologgers were retrieved after a 10 min observational period. Overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) was calculated from accelerometric data to estimate post-release swimming activity. Clustering of ODBA via k-means was used to classify distinct movement patterns: resting, steady-state swimming, and high intensity swimming occurrences. In northern pike, ODBA in the first minute after release was significantly higher in the 0 s air exposure treatment compared to the 15 s, 30 s, 60 s, and 180 s treatments, however the same patterns were not observed for smallmouth bass or walleye. We did not observe differences in the time spent resting, time spent steady-state swimming, or the number of high intensity swimming occurrences among air exposure treatments across all study species. This proof-of-concept study demonstrated the utility of this non-invasive bio-logger approach for the short-term study of catch-and-release and also revealed that for the species and context (e.g., water temperatures of 17–25 º C) studied here, air exposure had relatively little negative short-term impact on behaviour or reflex impairment. Nonetheless, we encourage air exposure to be minimized as longer fight times or higher water temperatures may interact with air exposure to increase behaviour impairments and negatively impact survival.

Influence of hook barbs on the “through-the-gill” hook removal method for deeply hooked Smallmouth Bass

Sustainable catch-and-release fisheries are based on the assumption that most fish survive an angling event. The adoption of best practices has become important to help mitigate post-release injury, behavioral impairment and mortality. However, in any catch-and-release fishery, a proportion of fish will become inadvertently deeply hooked (e.g., in the gullet) and numerous studies have shown this to be a major driver of mortality. Although available science suggests that cutting the line tends to yield better outcomes than removing hooks in the gullet, there has been interest within the angling community with removing hooks using the “through-the-gill” method where the hook shaft is turned outwards into the gill region and then the hook is removed by pulling anteriorly by gripping the outside bend of the hook. Here, we tested the efficacy of removing barbed and barbless hooks though the gill opening from experimentally deep-hooked Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) relative to leaving the hooks in place. Using a control group and four experimental treatment groups (barbed and removed through the gills; barbless and removed through gills; barbed and left in; barbless and left in), we evaluated handling time, presence of bleeding, incidence of gill or esophageal injury, reflex impairment, incidence of hook shedding (for the left in treatment groups), and survival across a 24-hour monitoring period. Collectively, our results suggested that when hooks were barbed and removed through the gills, fish condition and survival were lower. In addition, barbed hooks were more likely to cause bleeding, gill damage, esophageal tearing, and impair reflexes. When hook removal was done through the gills, the chances of all sublethal outcomes across all categories were more likely to occur. While short-term mortality was not statistically linked with any treatment group, the greatest percentage of mortality (24%) occurred for fish that had barbed hooks removed using the through-the-gill method. These data suggest that when anglers use barbed hooks and encounter a deeply hooked fish, cutting the line poses the least risk to the fish.

Microfishing for Juvenile Bluegill: A Catch‐and‐Release Study on an Emerging Form of Recreational Angling

AbstractMicrofishing is an emerging form of predominantly catch‐and‐release recreational angling with the main target being diverse small‐bodied nongame fish species and the early life stages of traditional game fish. While there has been an apparent increase in interest in microfishing, little is known about its impacts on fish and fisheries. Here we compared the effects of two hook sizes (i.e., a size 22 hook and a somewhat larger, yet still smaller than normal, size 12 hook) on aspects of injury, handling, and mortality for juvenile Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus (size range of 69 to 141 mm; n = 54 for each hook size). Hook size was determined to have a significant influence upon injury and mortality. The smaller hooks resulted in longer handling time, more extensive tissue damage arising from challenges of hook removal, and higher levels of short‐term mortality (n = 12, 22%) than the larger hooks (n = 2, 4%). Additional research is needed to develop best practices and management strategies for this emerging form of recreational angling on a wider range of species.

Evaluating different hook removal gear for in-water dehooking of jaw-hooked fish captured with barbed or barbless hooks

Dehooking tools are often touted as a means to remove hooks from fish caught in recreational fisheries, especially for fish intended for release. We used Bluegill as a model species to test the efficacy of five dehooking tools as well as bare hands, for both barbed and barbless hooks. Bare hands took the longest to dehook fish, and there was little difference in dehooking times among the dehooking tools used. Tissue tearing, however, tended to be more extensive for fish dehooked with tools compared to bare hands. For all dehooking tools and bare hands, barbed hooks took significantly longer to remove than barbless hooks, and there was a 65% increase in tissue tear size for fish caught on barbed hooks. Those fish scored as difficult for hook removal were caught on barbed hooks. Overall, larger fish took longer to dehook than smaller fish, but tearing was not size-dependent. Incidence of bleeding was low and not significantly different among treatments. The only fish that experienced reflex impairment were those caught on barbed hooks that also had the longest dehooking times. Overall, for Bluegill hooked in the upper jaw, our study showed that using barbless hooks is a more important than which purpose-built dehooking tool is used. Given the diversity of species caught in recreational fisheries across a wide range of locations and scenarios, we recommend more studies of this kind be conducted, as well as for tackle manufactures to work closely with fisheries scientists to design dehooking tools that minimize physical injury.

Influence of artificial lure hook type on hooking characteristics, handling, and injury of angled freshwater gamefish

Catch-and-release is practiced in recreational fisheries under the premise that released fish will survive with negligible injury and stress. However, hooking injuries may prevent that outcome from being realized. One way to potentially minimize injuries and maximize survival in angled fish is to replace treble hooks on hard plastic lures with single hooks, but the effectiveness of this tactic has yet to be tested. Our study investigated if replacing treble hooks with single hooks on hard plastic lures reduced injuries and handling for angled Northern Pike (Esox lucius), Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) and Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides). Furthermore, we compared fish handling (i.e., need for use of hook removal gear) and injuries between fish that were captured with barbed and barbless hooks. Fish were angled using three types of conventional hard plastic lures (i.e., crankbaits, jerkbaits, and lipless crankbaits). Upon landing, total length of the fish, an array of hooking characteristics (i.e., number of hook points in the fish, anatomical hooking location(s)), and reflex impairment were recorded. Analyses revealed that using barbless J hooks on all lures yielded the shortest unhooking times for all species. For Smallmouth Bass caught on both crank and jerk baits, J hooks tended to result in more shallow hooking than treble hooks. Barbless treble hooks were more likely to be embedded in a sensitive location (e.g., foul hooked, gullet, gills, and/or eyes) compared to barbless J hooks in Smallmouth Bass. No other significant differences in hook types and anatomical locations were found for other species. Hook type and lure type did not influence reflex impairment or survival for any of the species. Using J hooks, especially barbless ones, on lures that traditionally have treble hooks should be considered when encouraging best angling practices for the freshwater gamefish studied here to expedite release, although the extent to which this influences mortality remains unclear.

Efficacy of dehooking tools for the removal of hooks from the jaw region of angled fish

There are a variety of tools that have been developed to aid in hook removal of angled fish that are intended for release. The premise of these tools is that they enable rapid hook removal while causing negligible injury to fish. Here we scientifically assessed the efficacy of dehooking tools for the removal of single barbed J-hooks from the jaw region (i.e., shallowly hooked) of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu). Specifically, we compared dehooking time and physical injuries caused by using bare hands, hemostats, pliers, a push-pull device, and a mechanical dehooking device. Bare hands yielded the most rapid dehooking time and the least injury. Dehooking times were the longest for push-pull and mechanical dehooking tools. Moreover, those two purpose-built tools caused the most injury, including tissue tears and bleeding. Dehooking times were intermediate for hemostats and pliers, and they yielded injury similar to use of bare hands. Overall, there was no evidence of conservation benefit arising from use of dehooking tools with smallmouth bass caught on single barbed J-hooks. However, there are other contexts where they may be use useful, such as dehooking sharp-toothed fishes, and if fish are hooked in areas other than the jaw. This research suggests that dehooking tools are not universally useful to achieve optimal catch-and-release outcomes and their utility likely depends on context. Given the wide diversity of fish caught by recreational anglers, as well as the diversity and sizes of hooks, more research on hook removal tools is needed.

A study on fiber motion in the drafting zone and hook removal

In this study, the hook removal of four types of hooks during the drafting process has been investigated, and the theory of fiber straightening was further improved by analyzing the relationship between fiber length, fiber straightness, draft ratio, and the fiber accelerated point. Simultaneously, a time domain model was used to simulate the dynamic drafting process based on the straightening analysis, which provided an approach to capture the dynamic motion of different types of fibers and hook removal in the drafting zone. The model is validated by a previous study and experimental work, with the result that the output fiber straightness is both in a good agreement with those calculated by classical theories and experimental data. The straightening effect of the drafting process on four types of hooks under the same drafting conditions is compared. It is shown that the drafting effect on different types of hooked fibers is varied, with the clumped fiber removed preferentially followed by both end hooks or the trailing hook, whereas the leading hook is the most difficult to remove.

Hook removal operators on the odd Young graph

In this article we consider hook removal operators on odd partitions, i.e., partitions labelling odd-degree irreducible characters of finite symmetric groups. In particular we complete the discussion, started by Isaacs, Navarro, Olsson and Tiep in 2016, concerning the commutativity of such operators.

Telemetry reveals the movement, fate, and lure-shedding of northern pike (Esox lucius) that break the line and escape recreational fisheries capture

Although many fish are captured and released following hook removal by recreational anglers, some fish break the line and are confronted by the potential impediment of a lure lodged in the jaw, buccal cavity, or throat. We simulated break-off events by releasing northern pike (Esox lucius) into Lake Opinicon, Canada with custom-built lures that were manufactured to contain radio transmitters. Treatment groups combined hook placements (lower jaw, upper and lower jaw, throat) and hook types (barbed and barbless) to investigate the effects on pike survival, movement, and lure shedding. Fifty-one pike were released (522 ± 64 mm), three of which died (6%; 95% CI = 2–16%). Data were analysed by dummy variable regression to investigate the main effects of hook placements and hook type in pike. Cumulative distance swam after release was significantly reduced by deep hooking and lower jaw hooking. All fish except for one shed the lures within 14 d of release, and barbed hooks and lures lodged in the lower jaw significantly increased the time required for pike to shed lures. In light with previous work, we documented significant short-term behavioural consequences of lure break-off for pike (i.e. hyperactivity) but the experimental fish rapidly and naturally shed the hooks within days in nearly every instance. Given our findings, for pike (and likely related species such as muskellunge), anglers can be reasonably confident that long-term damage to individuals is limited even when a lure is retained by an animal following a break off event. Nonetheless, use of barbless hooks facilitates lure shedding, and all efforts should be taken to avoid break off events in the first instance using appropriate gear (e.g., wire leader, heavy line) especially when angling for fish with sharp dentition.

Self-customized Crimpable Hook

Universally, hooks are meant for application of a force delivery system. Recently, hooks bent into the archwire/soldered hooks were replaced with crimpable archwire hooks in clinical practice. An alternative to crimpable hooks, a simpler, cost-effective method to reduce the chairside time was thought, which leads to innovation. This article describes the stepwise fabrication and application of simple self-customized crimpable hooks onto the archwire. These self-customized crimpable hooks are very economical and extremely useful for practitioners and can be easily fabricated at the chairside. They can be positioned where ever required and also can be used as an alternative to crimpable hooks without welding. It has added advantage of easy removal with a crimpable hook removal plier without causing distortion of the main archwire.

Removal of a barbed fish hook from the cornea of an 8-year-old boy

This video article shows the surgical removal of a three-pronged barbed fish hook from the cornea and anterior chamber of an 8-year-old boy. The advance-and-cut method is shown: the embedded barbed point of the fish hook was advanced through the cornea, its point was cut off, and the shank of the hook was withdrawn. This method was chosen due to the three-pronged configuration of the fish hook to minimize additional trauma to the eye. Other methods of fish hook removal are briefly reviewed.

An assessment of the health and survival of fishes caught-and-released in high-energy surf zones during a South African competitive angling event

Recreational marine shore-based (MSB) fisheries are growing rapidly in many developing countries where they compete with subsistence and small-scale fisheries for resources. Many MSB fisheries are managed using regulations (e.g. size- and bag-limits) that require mandatory catch-and-release (C&R). More recently, voluntary C&R angling has become increasingly popular within the MSB recreational sector and has even expanded into competitive angling. Unfortunately, there is limited information pertaining to its effects on fish health and survival in the nearshore marine environment and particularly in high-energy surf zones. The aim of this study was to examine the impacts of C&R on a range of nearshore coastal fish species during a C&R MSB angling competition. The health and survival of fishes was assessed during the national Rock and Surf Super Pro League C&R tournament near East London, South Africa. The tournament rules require fish to be handled and unhooked in a bucket filled with seawater. The fight time, total air exposure, hook injury, difficulty of hook removal, extent of bleeding, angler distance from bucket, fish time into bucket and total time was recorded for each C&R event. Fishes were then subject to either blood sampling, a reflex impairment assessment or a short-term (18–24h) survival experiment in three 3 425l ponds. In total, 247 fish, belonging to 23 different species, were sampled (49 “blood chemistry”, 113 “reflex impairment”, 35 “survival”, 50 “independent” samples). A linear mixed effects model (LMM) identified fight time (P <0.01) as a significant predictor of blood glucose concentration and air exposure as a significant predictor of blood lactate concentration (P <0.01) in teleosts. In elasmobranchs, air exposure was a significant predictor of blood glucose concentration (P <0.05) while air exposure (P=0.03) and fight time (P=0.04) were the best predictors of blood lactate concentration. A total of 83.9% of the teleosts suffered some form of reflex impairment (4 indicators) compared with 31.4% for elasmobranchs (3 indicators). A cumulative link mixed model (CLMM) identified fight time (P<0.01) and hook removal (P=0.02) as the best predictors of reflex impairment in teleosts, while fight time (P<0.01) was the best predictor of reflex impairment in elasmobranchs. The total mortality during the survival experiment was 14.3%, however, mortality was only observed in one family, the Ariidae (38.5%). The reflex impairment scores of all surviving fishes showed a complete recovery from the impacts of the C&R event. Although the findings suggest that immediate mortality within this fishery was low, with the exception of the Ariidae, the superior fish handling practices applied during this event still resulted in considerable physiological stress and reflex impairment. This is most likely ascribed to the extensive energy expenditure endured by fishes during capture in a high-energy environment.

Effects of Common Angler Handling Techniques on Florida Largemouth Bass Behavior, Feeding, and Survival

AbstractBlack bass Micropterus spp. support popular freshwater sport fisheries in North America. Bass anglers commonly adopt catch and release as a conservation practice, and frequently over 75% of angled black bass are released back into the water. If fish survive the angling event, the practice of catch and release as an alternative to harvest reduces direct mortality, but it has the potential to affect the postrelease feeding behavior and survival of the fish. The act of lifting black bass for handling, hook removal, and photograph opportunities may cause stress and injury, and the degree of injury sustained could be influenced by fish size. Holding fish in a tilted grip by the jaw has raised concern among anglers about potential damage to jaw musculature and tendons, as they may not support the fish's body weight out of water, particularly for trophy bass. We conducted an experiment with Florida Largemouth Bass M. salmoides floridanus to evaluate the relative differences in survival, jaw mechanics, and feeding success after the use of three common handling treatments: (1) a vertical hold using a lip‐grip device (vertical treatment); (2) a tilted, one‐handed grip using only the lower jaw (horizontal treatment); and (3) two‐handed support to the lower jaw and body (support treatment). The time taken by fish to regain equilibrium and resume normal swimming behavior after handling differed among the three treatments; the recovery period was shortest for fish in the support treatment (mean ± SD = 7 ± 10 s; vertical treatment: 33 ± 74 s; horizontal treatment: 12 ± 16 s). Minor injuries (e.g., abrasions and sores) and diseases (e.g., tumors and fungus) tended to increase after handling across the entire sample. Results suggested no evidence of handling‐specific differences in fish feeding behavior, jaw adjustments, and mortality after release. However, based on our results, we recommend that anglers use two‐handed support to handle Florida Largemouth Bass, thus minimizing the mean amount of time for an individual fish to regain equilibrium after an angling event.Received February 22, 2016; accepted October 7, 2016 Published online February 22, 2017

Influence of hook type and live bait on the hooking performance of inline spinners in the context of catch-and-release brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis fishing in lakes

The objective of catch-and-release angling is for the fish to survive with minimal fitness consequences. However, fish survival can be compromised by a number of factors, especially anatomical hooking location. To evaluate whether hook type or bait influence hooking outcomes, we tested different combinations of hook (treble or single siwash hooks) and bait (hook tipped with worm or no worm) while angling for brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) with inline spinner-style fishing lures. The study was conducted at spring water temperatures (∼20°C) in small lakes stocked with trout in southwestern Quebec, Canada. Incidences of hooking in the interior of the mouth (i.e. internal hooking) were uncommon (19%), did not differ significantly between hook types or bait treatments, and occurred independently of fish size. Reflex impairments after hook removal were not related to hook or bait treatment. Short-term mortality was quantified with 24h holding in net pens and was determined to be infrequent for all treatment groups (treble/worm: 6%; treble/no worm: 5%; single/worm: 2%; single/no worm: 0%). Although no fish were hooked in the gills, esophagus, stomach, odds of mortality increased by 14.21 when fish were hooked internally, which is consistent with the position that hook placement is an important predictor of the fate of fish released by anglers. However, our finding that neither hook nor bait type significantly increased the odds of internal hooking, bleeding, reflex impairment, or mortality in this study suggests that restrictions imposed on the use of baited lures or certain hook types attached to lures when fishing may have little influence on short-term catch-and-release mortality of brook trout at these temperatures.