Catch and Release Tips

Since I mostly practice and advocate catch and release I thought I’d post these tips.  Most experienced anglers know these but it never hurts to review them from time to time.

Use artificial baits, not live bait.
Fish are often hooked deeper on live bait then on artificials.

Use barbless hooks for catch and release fishing.
You can also bend down the barb of a regular hook. Barbless hooks do less damage to the fish you catch and allow you to release it easier.

Set the hook as quickly as possible.
Letting the fish take the bait will give it time to swallow it. As soon as you feel the bite the fish has the bait in its mouth in most cases.

Land the fish as quickly as possible.
The longer you fight a fish the more lactic acid builds up in its body and the less likely it is to survive. Use heavy line and tackle to help you land them quickly. If you plan on practicing catch and release, ultralight tackle is not the best way to go. The exception to this rule is when you catch fish in deep water. In that case bring them in slowly to allow them to adjust to the pressure change. If they float belly up when you try to release them they have an inflated swim bladder. In that case use a needle to deflate the bladder or better, use a line with a weight and a tiny hook to take the fish back to deeper water. When you pull hard the small hook will come out if barely hooked in the skin of the lip.

Don’t use a net when landing fish.
Nets damage the fish so don’t use one if you can land the fish you catch if you are planning on releasing it. If you have to use a net, a rubber or cotton net is better than a nylon net because they will do less damage.

Wet your hands when touching fish.
Dry hands will damage the slime on fish that helps protect them, as well as damaging skin and scales.

Keep the fish in the water.
If you can take the hook out of the fish without taking the fish out of the water catch and release is much more successful. If you need to take pictures or measure the fish keep it near the water and put it back in the water as quickly as possible.

Don’t hold the fish in the gills or eyes and don’t bend the jaw.
Don’t squeeze the fish tightly. You can damage eyes and gills with your hands and if you hold a fish by the lower jaw and bend it, for example holding a bass up by the lower lip and turning it sideways for a picture, you can damage the jaw so badly the fish can’t feed.

Keep the fish off the ground and boat deck.
If it flops around on the ground or boat it can damage itself.

Don’t pull a hook out of a fish.
If a fish is hooked deeply, use pliers or a hook removal tool to back the hook out the way it went in. If the hook is deep in a fish’s throat or in its gills, cut the line and leave the hook in it. Cut the line just outside the mouth of the fish.

Don’t use stainless steel hooks.
If you have to leave the hook in a fish that is hooked deeply, regular hooks will rust fairly quickly, stainless steel hooks will not.

Hold the fish in the water until it starts to move on its own.
Hold it under the belly and keep it upright. Keep its head pointed away from the side of the boat or anything else it might hit as it swims off. Some say move the fish back and forth in the water to move water over its gills, others say don’t do this, it can damage the gills. In current, face the fish upstream into the current.

If you can think of any others let me know!

Some pics from my phone

I was cleaning out my the memory card on my phone and found these.  I caught these fish at Lake Wohlford in mid April of this year.  All were caught on crankbaits.  I caught plenty of smaller fish but these were in the 4-5lb range.

Wohlford Bass 1

Wohlford Bass 2

Wohlford Bass 3

Wohlford Bass 4

Last Months Hiking Trip

 

Brook Trout

Last month I went on four day hiking trip in Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Forest.  It was just me and two of my best friends.  We started at the at the Roads End trailhead east of Fresno.  Our intent was to do the Brewer Loop in three and a half days.  Since I knew we would be close to some very pristine lakes and streams I couldn’t resist finding a place for some gear within my pack.

The first two days were spend hiking up hill along a creek that held a good amount of small wild trout.  I caught a few rainbow and brook trout without much effort.  Little spinners in the bigger pools of water were a sure thing.  I tried floating some salmon eggs down stream but the wild trout didn’t seem as interested in that presentation as stock trout normally are.  I planned on frying some of these fish up for dinner but they were all too small.  I just didn’t seem worth the effort of cleaning and cooking these fish so I let them all go.  I had  blast though.  The scenery was amazing.

At the end of the second day we arrived at East Lake.  This was probably the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen.  It was nestled in a valley between several 12-13,000 foot peaks.  The water was crystal clear and I could clearly see fish as deep as 20 feet.  Rocks and logs could be made out anywhere in the lake.  We crossed a natural log-pile spanning the lakes outlet stream and looked for a nice campsite.  I have to admit that I had less interest in finding a nice place to sleep than I did in finding a nice place to fish. 

East Lake

My hiking buddies found a nice spot to bed down and I proceeded to fish.  It turned out that anywhere was a nice place to fish.  I quickly caught several brook and rainbow trout on spinners.  It was a great experience.  Even when I couldn’t see the fish I would cast for large logs and boulders in deep water and the fish were always there.  I’m so used to the muddy reservoir water in SoCal that I forget what its like to sight fish in deep water.  The fish here were all small as well and I did not bother to eat any of them for dinner. (I’m not big on eating fish anyway)  I settled for some oatmeal and a cup of hot chocolate.  This was definitely the high point of my trip.

One of my hiking partners was having some endurance problems.  He wasn’t used to hiking, high altitudes or carrying a pack and he was having a hard time.  We decided not to go up Mt. Brewer and instead turned around and went back the way we came.  Because we were now walking down hill it only took us one day to walk the same distance that previously took two.  In three days we walked 30 miles.

The low point of the trip would be when I broke my favorite trout rod.  It was a three-piece Lamiglas rod that I’ve been hiking with for years.  It got caught on a branch while I was walking and one of the pieces broke.  I choose to see the silver lining though… I have a good excuse to buy a new one!

This Months Water Bill

 

Lake Henshaw

I received my water bill in the mail today… oh joy.  My normal routine is the tear the envelope open and extract the bill without bothering anything else that might be inside.  But today I must have been bored because I decided to see what was so important that my local water utility needs to inform me about.

I found a flyer titled “Reflections”.   It’s whole purpose was to inform local residents of the continued drought to our region and offer tips for water conservation.  The flyer had some great info about Lake Henshaw and its water levels.  Apparently Henshaw peaked at only 29% capacity in May for this year.  After visiting the utilities website I found that currently Henshaw is only at 10% capacity.  Also, this lake is the only local source of water for the Vista Irrigation District and it supplies 30% of the water needed in the district.  The other 70% is imported from the Colorado River.  There were lots of other interesting facts and general info.

I have to admit it, the whole time I was reading this article I was thinking about the effects of drought on fishing.  When water levels get low I start worrying about fish populations, water oxygenation and launch ramp conditions.  Henshaw has never been a very popular place for sport fishing but drought affects all the lakes in our area and we should do what we can to keep our lakes healthy.    Maybe there is something I can do?

If I thought rain dancing would help I’d have done it.  That would be easy.  As it turns out, conserving water is mostly inconvenient or costly.  The backside of the flyer offered suggestions such as purchasing newer and more efficient dish and clothes washers and washing vehicles with just one bucket of water and not use a constantly running hose.  There were a few more that didn’t really apply to me but they were good suggestions anyway.  However there were two things listed that I could do right now with little effort.  I could change the number of days my sprinkler system waters per week from 4 to 3.  Also, change the duration of my sprinklers from ten minutes to seven.  I figured what the heck and made the adjustment on my control panel.

So there you have it, I’m now conserving water.  I feel better about myself.  Of course that might change if my lawn turns brown but we’ll see how it goes.  I’d suggest everyone find the website for your local water utility and do some reading.  As fishermen the info provided should be especially relevent and hopefully you will have a better understanding of the water situation in southern California.

Hello Fellow Fishing Enthusiasts

My name is Chris Mitchell, but many people call me Mitch.  I’ve been fishing in the San Diego and surrounding counties since I was 8.  I’m not a professional fishermen but I think it would be awesome to be one.  What I am is a geek who spends too many hours working on servers and networks and not enough time fishing.

I’ve been sitting on this domain name (sandiegobass.com) for a while so I figured it’s time I do something with it.  So here it is, my blog!  I could have made a web forum, wiki or even an online store but those just didn’t seem like my style.  I needed a way for me to ramble on about local fishing topics for my own amusement and hopefully a few people will read a post or two.  If anyone has any suggestions or input please leave a comment.

I hope you enjoy my blog!