Feeling Bad For Killing A Fish?

[BrianMDTX]

On 6/20/2014 at 6:58 AM, Crestliner2008 said:

Remember this also, nothing goes to waste in nature. Snapping turtles, gulls, herons and other fish will make good use out of whatever doesn't survive on it's own.

I had a 2.5 lb’er take a wacky rig deeper than normal a few weeks ago. It was hooked just where the gullet opens. I took my time and got the hook out with little blood loss. Let it go and it swam ten feet out and floated sideways. Darn. I felt bad about that. 
 

Within 30 minutes, four turtles had it and began feasting. Like Josey Wales said, “buzzards gotta eat. Same as worms”. Nothing goes to waste in nature. 

[PhishLI]

Cognitive dissonance:

 

It makes me feel a bit sick watching a deeply hooked fish flop and roll then bleed out. It really takes the shine off for me. It's hard not thinking about it even a few days later, but, for a thrill, I'm tricking what are in fact innocent animals minding their own business into eating barbwire sandwiches. De-barbed hooks, circle of life, blah blah blah, it's pretty diabolical stuff no matter what the rationalization. I can't wait to get back out there tonight though. New baits came today! Weeee!

[GReb]

I no doubt blinded one a few weeks back. All three points on the treble were through eye tissue. Now I’ve caught enough one eyed fish to know they can survive but still felt bad for the little guy. Caught another on the very next cast and I was back at it

[ATA]

On 6/19/2014 at 6:36 PM, C0lt said:

(if this is in the wrong category let me know, Im not sure if it would be under experiences or not)

 

Today while fishing the pond in the woods behind my house, I decided to use my pad crasher that I had just gotten at dicks. I had to use my brothers surf pole since my rod did't have very heavy line. On the fourth cast a pretty large fish took the frog. When I set the hook, I quickly discovered that the drag was almost off (not sure why he would have turned it down so far, but I should have checked anyway), I quickly tightened the drag and set the hook. When I got the fish in it was about a 4 and 1/2 pounder. The problem is that he had the frog too long and got hooked in the lower gills near his spine. Took a while to get the frog out, and from the blood I wasn't sure if he would make it. He swam off half assed and im more than sure he died within a few minutes (too many weeds to see if he floated up).

 

For some reason I feel really bad that this happened. Am I just a strange guy? anyone else had similar experiences?

I never had killing thank goodness, but if god forbid same thing happen to me, ill be depressed .

[LCG]

It's something that happens to everyone. I don't generally eat fish, but I know that other fish and birds will eat the dead fish. So it's not a total waste.

 

The big thing is to learn a lesson and apply it in the future. We have all done it, don't feel bad. At the end of the day we are setting sharp hooks into a fish, it's bound to end badly eventually. 

[Bluebasser86]

On 7/16/2020 at 4:04 PM, GReb said:

I no doubt blinded one a few weeks back. All three points on the treble were through eye tissue. Now I’ve caught enough one eyed fish to know they can survive but still felt bad for the little guy. Caught another on the very next cast and I was back at it

I'm fairly confident I blinded a white bass with a jigging spoon Thursday...

[Blacktail 8541]

I purchased a pair of mini bolt cutters made for fishing and sacrifice my hooks now. A cut off hook gives the fish a lot better odds of survival. If they look to be in to bad of shape when I bring them in, They go into the live well. 

[MN Fisher]

For me - if the hook is in a spot where survival of the fish is 50/50 or less...into the cooler it goes and I'll have a nice meal.

[A-Jay]

On 7/16/2020 at 4:57 PM, PhishLI said:

Cognitive dissonance:

 

Good Term ~

Describes my state of mind come around January.

A-Jay

[DitchPanda]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

For me - if the hook is in a spot where survival of the fish is 50/50 or less...into the cooler it goes and I'll have a nice meal.

This is a good practice as far as I'm concerned. I'm not one to keep a bass...not because I'm against it if it's legal...I just feel there are much better fish to eat...my opinion of course. However if it's going to die and I caused it then I'm fine with eating it. I saw a dying bass the other day...wasn't sure what it was so I guided it in with my rod grabbed it and it was a solid largemouth. It didn't appear to have been caught recently and I saw no signs of damage so it must have been illness or old age. Turtles get that one.

Like stated above this is a barbaric practice we engage in to begin with. So while you should do what you can to respect\preserve the resource...squeamish people need not apply. It's one thing to feel some remorse for killing an animal...you should to an extent unless your heartless...but if it devestates you then fishing may not be your thing. Hunting as well. But I find that as you get better in your skill set and refine more techniques as your competency goes up your deep hooking goes down.

[Frogs N Hawgs]

I was bank fishing a small public pond the other day where I ended up gut hooking a bass.  The thing that really has been eating me up is the fact it was my PB @ 7-1/2 lbs!  I have gut hooked bass in the past and it only happens when I’m bouncing a Texas rigged worm.  The survival rate is 50/50.  

 

On this occasion I was just hopping the worm along the bottom at a steady retrieve when I noticed the line started moving towards me a little quicker than normal.  There was no thump or any sort of “hit” to inform me the bait was taken.  I reeled in quickly to pick up the slack and set the hook hard.  BOOM, fish on!  I pulled in a pig and knew it was going to be my new PB.  My excitement turned into anxiety as I realized the fish had nearly swallowed the hook.  I cut the line and attempted to back out the hook from the eye side.  Every time any sort of tension was put on the fishes throat it would contract it’s gullet, lodging the hook deeper inside its throat.  After no luck of getting the hook out, and some bleeding, I decided to leave it in and give the fish a chance to survive.  I attempted to revive the majestic beast, but I had no luck.  The 7-1/2 lb. LMB kept floating on its side occasionally twitching.  I thanked her for the experience and pushed her into a thicket of cat tails. I checked back in about an hour later and three turtles had already started to make a meal of her.  That made me feel ALOT better.  

 

I felt so guilty considering it was such a large specimen in a small pond that gets a lot of pressure from other anglers.  I have a feeling there isn’t many bass in the pond considering there is an abundance of small baitfish and the few bass I have caught were 4+ lbs.  This tells me the population ratio of bass/baitfish is not exactly “healthy”.  I can’t help but to think I just screwed up the food chain by removing one of the few large predators in that ecosystem.  Is that a possibility?  I hope not!

 

Learning from this experience, I will start carrying bolt cutters specifically for cutting the shank of the hook.  I will also start bending the barb down to increase the chances of removing the hook with ease.  Thanks for listening!

 

[gimruis]

Selective harvest would be a good way to put it.  The strong catch and release ethic amongst most bass anglers is what makes bass fishing as good as it is.  Professional circuits help drive this culture too as they highly value the sport for what it is by applying their best methods of catch and release.

[the reel ess]

On 6/20/2014 at 9:05 PM, FrogTosser88 said:

I hooked a small striper right through his eye a cpl weeks ago..... He wiggled kinda wierd when I pulled that barb through...... I felt bad for him... he swam away but who knows if he made it... Maybe he will seek revenge some day.......

I caught this guy a while back. He was still chomping.

[CrankFate]

If you’re serious about fishing, you should be able to avoid killing fish you intend to release. I hate when someone asks fo a hand with a gut hooked fish because they want the rusted dull hook that is as sharp as the hook on a shirt hangar back. I do what I can to not injure fish. I hate to kill fish by hooking them halfway through their intestines. 

[sbhall]

Something similar happened to me a few weeks ago. I had a small bass, bite on a Fat Ika. He swallowed it pretty deep, I got it out, but he didn’t make it. 

[Nelson Wormefeller]

I feel bad when I injure too, but I remind myself that I try my darndest not to