I was wondering what people do with native bleeders they catch. Do you keep them or put them back and pray for the best. I don't think letting one go is an option yet on some rivers you have to. I watched a native summer run turn belly up in the shallows I picked it up and it had a hook in its tongue and a large blood clot in its throat. Just finding this fish made me sick I don't know what I would do if I had landed that fish. So far all my bleeders have been hatchery fish so I just bonked them. Also those in favor of state wide CnR how do you feel about this issue now and under state wide CnR.

I let my Nates go. Most of the rivers I fish are closed to retention of wild fish, so keeping one is sort of out of the question. I've actually had very good luck so far with releasing wild fish. In the last five years I've only had one Wild fish that was bleeding badly, he was hooked in the gills and was bleeding everywhere. I couldn't even get him to swim away, he just kept going belly up, no matter what I did, he wouldn't swim off, so I bonked him, even though it was illegal, and I took him home and ate him. If I'd have gotten caught, I'd have been in big trouble, and just for the record, I'm totally against keeping wild fish, even where it is legal to do so, but I felt that this was a special case. I'm not saying to start bonking Nates, because the Judge wont care weather the fish was bleeding or not. I'm just saying what I did, and I'm really not sure if I'd do it again or not.

Never like to see a native hooked so that it is bleeding, but it does happen. The law here says you release them, and I do. I just cut the leader and hope they might survive. If they don't, they will end up as food for other creatures. But, I am not going to take my chances with a large ticket from the authorities.

The ability of "bleeders" to survive is partially depend on how the fish is handled. As with all catch and release fisheries the first step is how the fish is played; with bleeders playing the fish to exhaustion (turning on its side) greatly reduces its ability to survival.

"Rules to increase survival chances":
1) Land the fish quickly.
2) Leave the hook inplace, trying to remove the hook often causes additional tissue damage.
3) Release the fish immediatley without removing it from the water. If possible do so in quiet water. Under no circumstances try to revive the fish. Its survival (clotting of the bleedig) is dependent on slowing its heart rate down. Your continual handling of the fish keeps its heart pumping full bore.

Over the years I have see a number of salmonids that have survived a completely torn gill arch (piece of gill poking out from the gill plate) to fight another day. Various species handle this abuse better than others. Steelhead (rainbow trout) are not particularly tough fish and the mortality rate of heavy bleeders is high; though some will survival if handled properly. By far Dollies are the "toughest" of the salmonids; I personally seen 17 that have survived a completely torn gill arch.

Tight lines
Smalma

Most often bleeder fish are the result of handling by the angler when they try and get the hook out. Single barbless is a good thing and something I would like to see passed as law.

I caught a native hen on the Queets (C&R River) a few weeks back. She engulfed the hook so far that I couldn't even see it. I landed her in some real quiet water, almost current free. I proceeded to clip the leader about an inch from her mouth. All the tugging of the fight ripped the hook all through her gut. I held her right side up in the water for something like two minutes and attempted to revive her but she kept turning upside down. I finally let her go and the current slowly took her down stream like a floating log. I couldn't deal with this so I jumped in and took her home for the BBQ. On my way out I was spotted by the ranger. I told him what had happened and he let me get away with it. Lucky me.....

In this unfortunate situation I like to believe that the fish dosent have a chance if its not in the water.

Have to let them go, its the law, period...

It is one of the unfortunate drawbacks to C & R. In recent weeks I have been amazed at the recovery abilities of Steelhead. I have caught at least two nates with net marks ripped clean through their skin, they had obviously bled alot but had a chance to recover because, as stated above, they were still in the water.

I have released fish that I thought would die, always feeling horrible about it and reticent to let the fish go. Again, to practice ethical C & R you must be able to let these fish go in spite of your misgivings.

Saw a nate on Sunday that had a chunk missing out of it's head. It had bit on Josh's eggs. Today, I saw the smae nate, swimming happily along about 40 yards downstream from where Josh caught it. If you don't let it go, it doesn't have a chance. It won't be a complete waste of a fish if it does die, because the nutrients will go on to feed others in the system.

Ya know, I have a problem when I see someone putting a fish back that you know is going to die. Granted, the law says it is not legal to keep native fish on many rivers yet natural law says “do not waste if you kill it use it”. I respect both laws without reservation because their intent is to preserve the natural resources and make sure they are available for all. A little common sense can go a long way however sometimes it may require making a judgment call. Laws were intended to make guidelines for people that have a problem of riding the edge so to speak. Above these guidelines we have an obligation not to waste and not to take advantage of the opportunity. Some people live in this reign and need to be called on it. In the same token anyone that consciously uses baits that often put this issue at hand killing more than one fish in a single outing need to be stopped. I personally use bait and have no problem selecting which fish will be on my table over those that will swim possibly with sore mouth to die a natural death. If you are hooking fish deep you can change your presentation and probably overcome the problem and still catch fish.
We need to be conscious of what impact that we have on our environment and for those learning from watching. Most of all we need to have a conscience and know we have to live with our mistakes, if that doesn’t dictate some bearing on how you live your life. Good luck

The expected survival rate of bleeders, particularly from the gills, is low. But it is higher than zero. Numerous steelhead have been recorded as bleeding when landed, but retained for broodstock programs, or tagged and released and recovered at a hatchery, so survival is documented. Of course, when you bonk the fish, the survival rate is zero.

Follow your conscience, if not the law.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

This is an easy question. Regardless of how bad the fish is bleading, or even if it is totally dead you have to release it, if it is the law.

The whole idea of keeping the fish using the argument that you "do not want it to go to waste" is seriously flawed!!! Letting the fish die in the river provides food for insects and smolts. You are helping the ecosystem by letting the fish die in the river. Period.

SA

This is why you should carry pads and "Plugs" (tampons) if the fish took the hook deep shoot a plug down its throat otherwise a pad will suffice-just dont use the ones with the wings, they really screw the fish's dynamics up. :p

like Salmo put it--Follow your conscience, if not the law.

20 years of steelhead fishing and I have never had a "bleeder" As far as I can remember 100% of the steelhead I have caught have been hooked in the lips ir in the corner of the Jaw.
Coho on the other hand I have hooked often in the tongue usinf spinners and spoons.
I'd say if bleeders are at all common on steelhead you gotta do something different.

you guys could use the octopus circle hooks with bait, just a thought

I'm with RA3, I'm having trouble remembering a steelhead that was hooked so bad it was bleeding. The one's that get hurt are the cutts - those buggers are eating, not just biting, and they tend to swallow everything. I use barbless hooks always, as they make releasing (and really even hooking) fish so much easier, but a 2/0 down the throat of a cutthroat is probably pretty much fatal, even if you cut the line. I'm pretty convinced that incidental hooking of cutthroat while steelhead or salmon fishing is hurting recovery of searun cutts .

I caught one hell of a lot of coho on the Columbia last year, releasing all the natives, and I also had a couple that were bleeding so bad that in spite of releasing them rapidly and having them swim off vigorously I'm sure they died, in fact one I saw die - it had a distinctive seal bite on it and it popped to the the surface belly up and bled out 5 minutes after I released it. But that was probably 1% of the fish I hooked, and 99% survived a whole lot better than if they were bonked. And no, I didn't take that fish home - it's illegal and I don't want my boat and gear confiscated. I just went home one short of a limit that day.

I also had an otherwise healthy 25lb chinook that I let go on the Columbia after they shut down chinook retention get nailed by a sea lion right after I released him - he was swimming away ok but he was worn out from the battle and was no match for Herschel But I guess that meant he wouldn't take the next one I caught right off my line as he was full.

Finally, I've caught a number of trout in lakes with broken off gill arches sticking out of their gill covers, exactly as smalma described. These were usually small fish that obviously had the power bait hook ripped from their gills by some high-grader, yet they survived to bite my fly somehow. So if you want to release it use barbless hooks, land it quickly, cut it off if it's hooked deep, and if it dies anyway, well, the rest of God's creatures got to eat too, so nothing is really wasted. Just take one less home that day if you kill one for the river livers.

I cannot recall the last steelhead I caught that was so deeply hooked that it bled at all. Are the bleeders in question being caught by drifting or plunking bait -- or by use of lures and flies? I imagine that there is more chance for a steelhead to swallow an egg cluster or nightcrawler than a lure or fly.
Even during the long number of years when I used bait for steelhead I don't recall many -- if any -- bleeders.

Les Johnson

How often do you guys fish for Summer runs?? I fish pretty hard for these fish and they are, when using bait, frequently hooked deeply.

Additionally, Steelhead have an artery that runs right beneath the boneline in the corner of their jaws. Its quite easy to puncture this artery with a hook, you just have to be unlucky I guess...

Elguapo, El Bonedaddy here. Kapassa.

What to do with bleeders? ... I tell them to keep their dam mouth shut next time.

h2o,

It would appear that there is an easy solution to your deeply hooked summer-run problem. Don't use bait!