perch fishing

Went perchin out of conneaut wednesday with a buddy from Ohio. We caught well over a hundred to get our 60 keepers. They were in 72ft of water. We used goldens and sabiki rigs.

I agree that throwing back 40 sounds like a waste. 40 fish just died.

I have no idea if there is any "rules" about doing so.

I'm sure the Lake Erie Channel Cats will leave nothing to waste
 

It's actually not the air bladder that protrudes from the gullet/mouth...it's the stomach that is forced through the gullet by the air bladder expansion.

I'm dubious about the actual survival rates on released perch from over 50' except from a very slow ascention. I've often seen perch released, apparently very healthy only to surface a few minutes later and become gull food. I'm not bashing either side of the argument here (I have an issue keeping 5" perch too)...just saying that I don't think many perch released from 70' ultimately survive...even with a carefully punctured stomach.

ORIGINAL: Hammer Handle

I'm sure it's the air bladder. Normally when you bring a perch up from depth the airbag forces the contents of the stomach out first, hence the reason I have partially digested gobies and minnows all over my boat. As the air bladder expands even more it protrudes out of the mouth or sometimes out of the gill plate. When you puncture the air bladder with a needle you can hear the air escape.

It's the stomach....tRusT mEe

One thing I do not do is poke a hole in what I thought was the air bladder (swim bladder) protruding from the fish’s mouth. That is not an air bladder; it turns out it is the fish’s stomach being pushed out because the swim bladder has burst.Swim bladders are a closed organ in a fish’s abdominal cavity. Containing gasses, it is regulated by the fish to allow it to remain at a constant depth. As the fish moves shallower, outside pressure on the fish reduces and the fish compensates by adjusting its air bladder. The reverse is true as the fish moves deeper. Some fish are able to make faster adjustments to their swim bladder than others, but despite that ability, they still have issues of they are brought to the surface too quickly from deep water. The problem occurs when a fish is brought to the surface too quickly, unable to keep up with the pressure change. The air bladder actually bursts inside the fish allowing those gasses to fill the abdominal cavity, and often pushing the stomach out of the mouth. The proper thing to do is vent the abdominal cavity, not poke a hole in the fish’s stomach. It turns out that the air bladder will heal if vented properly.

As far as the Edward-John goes .. if caught throwing the dinks back you will not be invited back on the boat...

so sounds like what I was told is correct... most thrown back do not live,

so it appears as in the last post throwing them back and not counting them would be considered illegal if you had your 30 in possesion too....

I'll have to ask our local PFBC WCO next time I see him what he thinks..

as for the "it's not a waste" comment...

I'm not buying that, sounds like an excuse for killing them....

I can hear the outcry if I just kill and throw back all my small trout and other fish for the turtles, catfish, heron, coons, etc, etc to feed on

ORIGINAL: locojoe

It's been mentioned here previously that it's unlawful to "catch, kill, or possess..." more than one days limit. In other words, those throwbacks count. That's why, I suppose, the party boats follow that law to the letter.

Is that in the OHIO book?

Was fishing at Conneaut, Ohio. I know thats in the PA book but dont know if it's in the Ohio book. Sorry if i broke the law. Next time i'll be more aware and definetly wont post if i ever do it again.

Was the fish dead when you took it off the hook? If not and you don't wish to keep it, release it. Stop when you have your daily limit.



Don't try and make it any more complicated than that.


You have not by definition "killed" the fish.