Unhook your Snook

But I know the reason why. It impossible to deny that using the best possible handling techniques is easy to implement. And why wouldn’t people want to give a released fish the best possible chance of surviving the encounter? It is reasonable to easily have the best of both worlds: get your great photograph, and release the fish with the realistic expectation that it can survive post-release predation. That part -predation-  is something that is missed by a lot of anglers. It is a topic that I talked about regularly in better times, but three and a half years after the massive freeze-induced snook kill, every healthy fish that remains in the population is extremely important. The lessons are applicable to many species and the hope is that people are open-minded about evaluating their own techniques for all species they handle then release.
 
This subject of better release techniques is one of the best education opportunities inside the sport of fishing- you cannot fault people for what they do not know. There are varying levels of knowledge when we address people in the fishing world but the messages can be helpful to everyone. Beginners embrace the philosophies. Other anglers who have never been exposed to the concepts can also benefit from the technique changes (as do the fish they catch and release). Read on….