Hooking Mortality of Trophy-Sized Wild Brook Trout Caught on Artificial Lures

Abstract

The average hooking mortality per capture event for 630 trophy‐sized wild brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis (mean total length, 33.9 cm) caught on five hardware lures was 4.3% during the first 48 h after capture, Mortality was 8.3% for brook trout caught on Mepps spinners and Cleo spoons equipped with a treble‐pointed hook, whereas mortality was significantly lower (2.4% per hooking event; P < 0.05) for fish caught on the same lures with a single‐pointed hook. The 10.9% mortality caused by treble‐hook Mepps spinners was significantly higher than mortality caused by single‐hook Cleo spoons (1.6%). Mortality for brook trout caught on single‐hook Cleo spoons and single‐hook Mepps spinners combined (2.4%) was also significantly lower (P < 0.05) than mortality offish caught on Mepps spinners with treble hooks. There was no mortality among 126 brook trout caught with Rapala lures rigged with two treble hooks. We believe that the differences in mortality of brook trout caught with different lures are primarily attributable to differences in the frequency and extent of damage to the gill arches and esophagus area. Certain lures were more likely to be engulfed deeply, particularly by larger fish, and thus were more likely to cause death. Lures that exhibit vigorous wobbling action when retrieved appear less likely to be deeply engulfed and consequently cause less mortality. Hooking mortality estimates for brook trout caught on Mepps and Cleo lures combined were positively and significantly correlated with size of fish (P < 0.003). The probability of death within 48 h of capture for profusely bleeding brook trout that were hooked in the gills or throat increased rapidly with increasing water temperature. Fish that did not bleed profusely after capture with treble‐hooked Mepps and Cleo lures that did not penetrate the gill or throat region were unlikely to die as a result of temperature effects, unless temperatures were above approximately 14°C. The probability ofdeath was not significantly associated with temperatures ranging from 5.6 to 17.8°C when brook trout were hooked with single‐pointed hooks at anatomical sites other than the gills or throat and did not bleed heavily. Present regulations on Michigan's trophy trout lakes, which restrict lures to single‐pointed hooks and forbid harvest offish less than 38.1 cm in total length, appear quite adequate to minimize losses due to hooking mortality.

Estimating post-release survival and the influential factors for recreationally caught Black bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri) in the Glenelg River, south eastern Australia

“…The rate of shallow-hooking was relatively high (84%) during the present study and other PRS research has reported the same trend (e.g. Nuhfer and Alexander, 1992;Malchoff and Hens, 1997;Nelson, 1998;Cooke et al, 2001;Dunmall et al, 2001). The shallow-hooking rate in A. butcheri was strongly influenced by fish length with shallow-hooking decreasing as fish length increased.…”

A Simple Model for Predicting Survival of Angler‐Caught and Released Largemouth Bass

“…Thus, after a largemouth bass is captured and the hooking location is recorded, an estimate of survival and its standard error can be derived from the relationships above. Similar models for survival of angler-caught fish based on anatomical hooking location were constructed by Nuhfer and Alexander (1992) for trophy-sized brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and by Lindsay et al (2004) for Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. However, these models did not assess potential temperature effects on survival.…”

“…In many fisheries, a substantial portion of the fish population may be captured and released (Schill et al 1986;Nuhfer and Alexander 1992;Davis 2002). Consequently, survival of released fish can have a major impact on fishery quality.…”

A Review of Catch-and-Release Angling Mortality with Implications for No-take Reserves

“…Treble hooks may cause less mortality than single hooks because they are more difficult to swallow (Klein, 1965;Muoneke, 1992b), but may cause more tissue damage at the hooking location (Muoneke, 1992b;Nuhfer and Alexander, 1992). Treble hooks also may be more difficult for anglers to remove, resulting in detrimental increases in handling time and air exposure (Nuhfer and Alexander, 1992;Gjernes et al, 1993).…”