I hear a lot of people say that even if you handle a bass correctly there is a decent chance it can die after release, I have a pond in our yard stocked with bass and I catch them and release them back all the time and I have never seen a dead bass out there out of the 100s I've caught in it over the years... What do you guys think the survival rate is of properly handled bass? I'd say it would be darn near 100% bass are some tough fish...

There's a lot of variables in that question. Some it won't matter what you do, they won't make it. A vast majority will make it when handled properly though. It just stands to reason that if there was a "decent chance" that each bass would die after being caught that popular lakes would be littered with rotting bass. 

No one knows for sure what happens to any fish after you lose site of it, fish can eaten by other fish all the time.  I don't recall ever seeing a bass go belly up after landing them.

If b.a.s.s. can release all those bass that go in live wells, bags, weighing, and parading with few lost bass then I'd say odds are they will survive

Bass respond extremely well to catch and release. Not all species do.

I've always wondered this too. Some of the articles you read would make you think that a hook in the mouth = sure death for the fish, but like the OP, I fish a small pond that I regularly catch fish in, and I can somewhat embarassingly say I've deep hooked a few (successfully removed the hook), but I have yet to see a dead bass. It's a neighborhood pond so the traffic of carcass-removing animals isn't as high as it'd be in a more natural setting, so I have to believe the catch-and-release survival rate is actually probably pretty survivable for those fish. Makes me glad too, not only do I like knowing that most of my fish live to fight another day, I also like knowing that I have a sort of honey hole in this pond since the HOA gave me pretty strict "me-only" access to this pond since he caught me picking up trash a couple times.

Spawn season is another way to tell how good the survival rate is in states where it is catch and release only. You can catch a bass that has obviously been caught 4 times in the last week (I always feel bad when that happens), but they are still alive and kicking.

When it comes to largemouth, this isn't something I really worry about. Not because I'm insensitive but because I have never seen a bass come belly up on me after release. I make sure to take extra care when a fish is hooked badly (cut line).

I've spent a lot of time fishing, catching and releasing muskies, now that's a completely different ball game.

Unless the fish is mortally wounded, immediate release results in nearly 100% survival.

The biggest issue I have observed is tournament fishing with bass held in the live well

when air temperature is high. There was a terrible instance at Falcon (B.A.S.S.) a few

years ago and we (BassResourse Roadtrip) observed a massive kill at Kentucky Lake

during a FLW tournament.

 

With today's technology an easy solution in my opinion is video recording, weighing and

imediate release. The weigh-in could be staged like a rock concert with all the bells and

whistles.

B.A.S.S did an article if I recall roughly a year or so ago about the many lbs of fish caught and the release I believe it may have been roughly % 92 or better survival rate .

Unless the fish is mortally wounded, immediate release results in nearly 100% survival.

The biggest issue I have observed in tournament fishing with bass held in the live well

when air temperature is high. There was a terible instance at at Falcon (B.A.S.S>) a few

years ago and we (BassResourse Roadtrip) observed a massive kill at Kentucky Lake

during a FLW tournament.

 

With todays technology an easy solution in my opinion is video recording, weighing and

imediate release. The weigh-in could be staged like a rock concert with all the bells and

whistles.

100% agree with this.

I find it hard to believe cutting the line for a gut hooked fish is the right thing to do ( I still do it because everyone else does it haha ) a hook can take a month to erode out of his throat and that's a whole month without feeding if its obstructing his ability to swallow... Just seems like it would definitely kill the bass, maybe not quickly but eventually. I have caught bass and cleaned them and found hooks and fishing line in their stomachs before, its crazy how tough bass can be.

I find it hard to believe cutting the line for a gut hooked fish is the right thing to do ( I still do it because everyone else does it haha ) a hook can take a month to erode out of his throat and that's a whole month without feeding if its obstructing his ability to swallow... Just seems like it would definitely kill the bass, maybe not quickly but eventually. I have caught bass and cleaned them and found hooks and fishing line in their stomachs before, its crazy how tough bass can be.

Yeah, I guess by cutting the line I'm hoping to be picking the lesser of 2 evils.

I thought I read a few years back that the survival rate for released bass was about 50% on average.  Professionals and tourneys have better equipment and means to be better at catch and release so I'm sure it's higher in a tournament or professional setting. 

 

Personally, I think the survival rate is more like 80% or else we would be seeing dead bass all over the place.  If handled properly and released quickly, I would think most fish would survive without issue.

 

Of course, just because one thinks the survival rate is high, one should not be lazy when releasing or handling fish.  It's up to each angler to help keep the bass population healthy.

I would say if everything is done right the survival rate is near 95%..... unlike a northern which seem do die right after you net them

Post mortality rates are anywhere from zero to over 30% depending on how the bass is handled after catching, the depth of water and the temperature of water the came out of or when put into a livewell.

What kills bass isn't being mortally wounded, it's suffocation and thermal stress. When a bass is bleeding, that is visual and a obvious problem. When a bass rolls over from stress, it's usually past the point of recuperating.

The bass is released and swims away out of sight out of mind, doesn't insure it survived.

Summer the surface water is often in the mid 80's, water near the thermocline may be in the low 70's, over a 10 degree sudden temperature change can be fatal to bass and this is a big problem with tournament bass anglers that don't maintain livewell temperature in the low 70's or DO levels between 3-12 mg/L.

Tom

I dont know about survival rates after bass are released but I GUARANTEE that the survival rate is higher in bass that hit water vs bass that hit oil.

Tom is spot on! During summer tournaments, I try to maintain my livewell temps around 10* colder than my surface temp readings and if I'm catching fish deep have fin weights available for the fish that are having difficulty maintaining equilibrium! I try to minimize time spent out of the water as well.

http://www.bassmaster.com/news/100-survival-rate-classic-bass

 

Survival rate was 100% at the point of releasing them back into the water after the weigh ins and all. I'd be willing to bet 99% survived. I am pretty sure BASSs estimate on this was well over 95% in something I read once.

There's a very nice sized fish in one of my favorite ponds that I have caught three times! I have pictures to prove it too. It has very distinctive spots on its mouth and head. My buddy was with me for two of the times so we've gave it a nickname, haha. So being that it was caught multiple times and still going hard, I'm sure other bass are just fine after release.

Remember Dottie was caught and released many times over a long period.  See did quite well until the end.

Post mortality rates are anywhere from zero to over 30% depending on how the bass is handled after catching, the depth of water and the temperature of water the came out of or when put into a livewell.

What kills bass isn't being mortally wounded, it's suffocation and thermal stress. When a bass is bleeding, that is visual and a obvious problem. When a bass rolls over from stress, it's usually past the point of recuperating.

The bass is released and swims away out of sight out of mind, doesn't insure it survived.

Summer the surface water is often in the mid 80's, water near the thermocline may be in the low 70's, over a 10 degree sudden temperature change can be fatal to bass and this is a big problem with tournament bass anglers that don't maintain livewell temperature in the low 70's or DO levels between 3-12 mg/L.

Tom

Better do another google search!

 

Today's bass boats have far better live wells than those of your tournament fishing days!

 

I've seen mortality rates of 83.67-92.88% in small local tournaments

He is saying that 0 - 30% of fish die not 0 - 30% survive BTW, at least I think that what he meant

If you have never seen a LMB/SMB go belly up? Or bleed out from ... Say a crankbait hook harpooning the top of the head.. Or a jig deep throated.. Open hook tube... Geez... I have seen and been apart of this many times..... It happens.. A lot more than some may want to admit.

Better do another google search!

 

Today's bass boats have far better live wells than those of your tournament fishing days!

 

I've seen mortality rates of 83.67-92.88% in small local tournaments

 

By mortality rate he meant that many die. Not survival rate, which is what you gave. You mixed up the two.