Biologists say big bass need careful handling
Fisheries biologists with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have been preaching about the importance of proper handling techniques for big bass for years. The experts highly recommend that anglers use kid gloves when handling heavyweight largemouths.
The reason?
Big fish are not near as tough as they look.
Biologists have learned from experience that improper handling of a large bass can injure the fish, sometimes so badly that it is unable to recover.
Earlier this spring, the TPWD recently stepped up the alert a notch by launching a big bass safety awareness campaign aimed at making more anglers aware of how fragile the piscatorial giants can be.
"How a big bass is handled after it is caught can make a big difference in whether that fish survives or not," said the TPWD's David Campbell.
Campbell should know. He has been the point man behind the department's high profile ShareLunker program since its inception in 1986. The program has taken in nearly 450 bass weighing 13 pounds or more for use in spawning and genetics research. The fish are pampered from start to finish, then released back into their lake of origin.
About 70 percent of the ShareLunkers have survived their stay at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center. That's not a bad average, but Campbell thinks it could be better if more anglers took better care of their fish before contacting the department to retrieve them.
"Conservation is more on the minds of Texas anglers today than ever before, and conservation is the whole purpose of this [campaign]," Campbell said. "Why not help us with it?"
One of the main fish handling tactics under address by the campaign is how to hold a big bass when it is out of the water. The most common method is to grip the fish with one hand by the lower lip, but biologists have learned that is not the best way. In fact, it may be the very worst.
According to Campbell, when a large fish is held vertically by the lower jaw, the weight of the fish is placed on ligaments and fine bones that hold the jaw and its hinges together. This can tear tendons and even break the bones. The threat of damage is compiled when an angler rolls the lower jaw back so the fish hangs at an angle.
The proper way to hold a large bass is with one hand supporting the lower jaw and another under the belly to support the bottom half of the fish. The technique takes the stress off the bottom jaw and reduces the likelihood of injury.
"I have seen several ShareLunkers over the years that appeared to be having problems with their mouths, probably as the result of the way they were handled before we got them," Campbell said. "Two of the fish we have picked up this year are experiencing those types of problems."
The scenario Campbell described brings back some horrid memories that date back to the early 1990s. It was early in my career, and I got wind of a local angler who had boated a potential ShareLunker at Lake Nacogdoches in East Texas.
I contacted the angler, and he agreed to meet me for a photo session before Campbell retrieved the fish. We transported the fish back to the lake, where I instructed the angler to strike several poses holding the 13 pounder by the lower jaw, with one hand.
Slightly more than a month later, I learned the fish had died at the fish hatchery. The bass' jaw was so badly damaged that it was unable to eat. Campbell tried force feeding the fish and even wired its mouth shut periodically in hopes that it might help the jaw heal.
I am ashamed to have instigated such a tragedy, but I'm thankful it was recognized as a fish handling boo-boo that Campbell has been stressing to the fishing public ever since.
The biologist said nobody really knew much about proper fish handling techniques 20 years ago. In fact, nobody even thought much about it. But times have changed, and more anglers are making conscious efforts to care for big fish than ever before, largely due to discoveries made under the ShareLunker program.
"I used to handle bass the same way, but I don't do it that way anymore," Campbell said. "Ever since the ShareLunker program started we have been on a learning curve. We continue to learn more about these big fish every year."
Campbell admitted he has learned some equally hard lessons about handling big bass over the years. One came to surface at Lake Murvaul in the early 1990s.
The biologist went to a local marina to pick up a 13-pounder. He was carrying the fish from the indoor minnow vat to the hatchery truck by hand using the proper holding method.
Just as Campbell was about place the bass in the holding vat, it twisted violently and jerked free of his hands. The fish landed on the concrete parking lot and flounced around beneath the hatchery truck for several seconds before he was able to retrieve it.
"That was the last fish I ever attempted to carry out by hand," Campbell said. "I don't use nets anymore, either. Today, we carry the fish from the holding tank to the truck using a large carrying bag filled with water. The fish really seem to be at ease in there."
The fish never leaves the bag except for the brief period Campbell allows for photographs. Anglers are instructed ahead of time on how to hold the fish. The photo session is limited to 30 seconds.
"You should never keep a bass out of the water longer than 30 seconds for any reason," Campbell said. "In windy conditions it can cause the bass' eyes to dry out and cause damage."
Campbell says it is equally important to always wet your hands before handling any fish, regardless of its size. Handling a fish with dry hands will remove the protective slime coating on its body. This can allow bacteria to attack the skin and cause fungus to form. Biologists are sometimes able to use saline solutions to reverse the process. Left untreated, however, the fungus will kill the fish in time.
"I have seen instances where you could actually see fungus form in the shapes of hand and fingers on the sides and mouths of some of these fish," Campbell said. "It was pretty obvious those fish were not handled properly before we got them."
Matt Williams' e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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