Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers wrote:


The problem with waiting to set the hook is that while you will likely
increase your catch rate, you'll also increase the number of gut hooked fish
that will in all liklihood suffer delayed mortality.

I usually wait about a two count, one thousand one, one thousand two, set
the hook. I'd rather miss a few fish than kill them. A 21 acre pond can be
fished down in little time.

From what I've been "told" by a fish biologist, that works for
"Southern Pond Management", a well maintained pond should support 200
lbs of bass per acre, that could be 200, 1 lb'ers or 20, 10 lb'ers, but
the biomass of bass has a set "weight" limit. If C&R is religiously
practiced on small bodies of water, you end up with a majority of dinks,
just after 10 years of the stocking date, you will have a few, very few
hogs in that lake, but mostly 1 to 2 lb'ers, and smaller

That's why the State park lake (about 45 acres) near me has signs all
around it

"Keep every bass caught, up to the state limit of 10."

Small bodies of water need bass removed every year, my standard practice
is keep everything under 2#, throw back everything over 2#, in really
small ponds they say 3# is the break point. In large bodies of water I
just C&R everything.

WE have another state lake that is 68 acres , that is a state "fishing"
lake, they stock it 4 times a year with cat fish, and once a year with
blue gills, they do not restock bass into it at all, with a 10 bass keep
limit. Many of the fishermen that fish that lake are fishing for dinner,
yes there are a large number of C&R fishermen, but they weigh out every
fish removed from the lake (all species), and they take out a couple
thousand lbs of bass a year

I really don't think a single person could hurt a 21 acre pond's bass
population, by killing a few fish.

But like you, I would rather take a beating, than gut hook a bass, it
makes me sick every time it happens to me

SET THE HOOK ! :-)


--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Nutri Shield insect repellent. ,TTI's StandOut Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com