Disturbing Fish Care

last weekend on Lake Fork i witnessed a bed fish being caught and another angler pick up the line and flopped a healthy spawner onto the deck and then kicked the fish into the bottom of the boat. not sure everyone knows but all fish have a coating to protect them from getting infections and once a fish is flopping around on a deck that slime is sometimes removed and the fish could get an infection and good possibility they will die. I ran across a 4-5lber cpl years ago and fish stayed just under the surface and had white spots all over it from an infection.

Being we are in the middle of the spawn and really any day of the year just be careful when landing a fish and remember to try and keep it from flopping all over your boat. i know sometimes we flip them in the boat and sometimes they come off nothing u can do about that. but to kick a spawner to the bottom of a boat instead of grabbing her we must keep in mind these fish are full of eggs and no need in treating fish like this. if we don't respect or protect our resources we want have healthy lakes as we have now.

so just a remember to everyone to try and protect the fish we catch even some big spawners alot of you will catch..

Indeed. Don't let them hit the carpet if you can help it.

Should have told him to get in the penalty box lol.
Seriously though, the spawn is really stressful on fish and they are already beat up. Any extra damage can cause some bad infections all thru summer and may kill them

It'll be ok...

Carpet is better than a frying pan... just saying.. bass aren’t as fragil as many think.

the op has a good point.

Might have been me, as if it is a legal fish, I will drop them in the boat, until I can get the rod tended to before putting them on ice...but then if it was, it would have been eaten by now...I am a catch and grease fisherman, and just love bass on the half shell. Basically, the law allows me 5 bass a day, within limits, and when I catch a legal one,it’s hitting the carpet, for the skillet..not abused/returned to the lake to die, and get wasted. Really hate some of the dumb regulations they have on fish these days...no real need for most of them IMO...creel limits I get, minimum size limits I get...the other ones,not so much...

I hate to see it too but it's part of the season. Lots of part timers fish this time of year and most guides are full up with clients who want to see/catch fish off beds. I've seen them lined up in the back of Little Mustang catching them off beds. Several times after the spawn I've caught males who had parts of their jaws missing. Not to sound insensitive because I firmly believe in protecting the resource, but it is what it is. Somehow enough survive that most years we have a healthy spawn. Having muddy water most of this years spawn I'm sure has prevented a lot of sight fishing but if there's any place on the lake that has any clear water the guides will find it. Fishing and catching goes on year round so we should try our best to protect them all year long.

He really does, I see total disregard for many fish caught in my cove.. I see the same little 3-4 lb fish caught time after time and boat flipped on the carpet...
Not all anglers are so disrespectful, most are aware of fish care. It seems, and I say this with no disrespect, most of the ones that are so careless with the fish are not from here..just say'n
I can SEE the boat letters and numbers, busted for sure...

Yet that same little 3-4 lb fish continues to survive and obviously eat after being mistreated time and time again.

Yea, just like yanking on a dogs tail, it will continue to survive. Smh...

The past 2 months the area where I live on the water the Bass have been hammered , who knows how many have been carpeted , greased , relocated , pictured , belly flopped . I can go out this morning still catch a 16 “ er . They are Tuff

I agree completely with taking care of your catch and release catch but as far as the time of the year? Just as harmful to have abused that fish a month ago as today.

Anybody selling plastic hooks so that I can make sure their mouth has no holes?

I agree, but nothing to go "postal" over

Everybody kicks fish. It happens for a multitude of reasons. Now beating a fish, well never really seen that. Wonder why BASS lets them boat flip all over the carpet if it’s so bad....maybe they need to issue a official sized hand net like the size for trout and stop killing all the fish they catch. Between practice and derby they must kill 1000 fish everywhere they go.

On one hand, I'd rather not see stuff like that happening and I sure as heck don't treat the fish that way. But on the other hand, it's been going on for years and years and things have been alright. They could possibly be better but this stuff is going to happen no matter what

Let me guess, since you fish you know more than the state biologists on the matter....

Getting a little snow flaky on here

Regardless of how tough bass are, and they are. I don't understand why anyone would argue against trying to protect the fish we all love to catch. Seems common sense to me to do the best job we can to protect our resource. And yes, I boat flip fish, I'm just sayin.

I'm a boat flipping SOB!

He paid his license fee. It's his fish to do as he pleases... Not my style but... Dan

I am sure catching them off spawning beds and throwing them in live well all day with other fish and sloshing them around all day to be weighed in a bag and released back into different temp water lake is pretty bad fgor them too. I agree take care of them as much as you can, but we have to be honest with ourselves

Doesn't happen vey often, but if I hoist a good one onto the front deck and he's thrashing around amidst my rods and I can't get a grip on him he"ll usually end up on the floor.

I tend to pay attention to what is going on in my boat.

As long as it looks cool on TV and helps to build ratings they don't give a da#m about the resource. If they did they would allow the use of nets like FLW does. It's all about educating the new fishermen and woman that are coming into the sport. Teaching them proper fish care.

Any of you guys ever see the Bass swimming around shallow April thru July with the Brown looking fungus growing all over their sides? Due to letting them flop around on the carpet.
THESE FISH ARE DYING!!! It's called delayed mortality I believe.
David Campbell the retired state biologist wrote a article about this.

bed fishing,carrying fish around in a livewell or letting them flop on a carpet would have an effect on the fish population if it was done in a small lake or pond........but......I read someplace that in large reservoirs the spawn always produces millions more fish than the lake can sustain or support.....so.....if this is true and I'm pretty sure it is....none of us want to see any bird,fish or animal deliberately mistreated but all this concern over letting a few flop on the carpet or catching fish off the beds is really unjustified...