What's an ethical time frame......

[ctom]

....for having fish out of the water during high heat periods or when water temps are running quite high?

For the last 4 weeks we've been having a ball catching bass and pike but the air temps have been hovering at or above 90 degrees and the water temps have been ridiculous being as high as 84 degrees. The clincher is that the hotter the air and water is, the hotter the fishing bite is. So how much stress is put on the fish when caught under these conditions?

Personally I prefer to get the fish in right quick when hooked. I am not a fan of pictures and I am not a fan of gloating over larger fish so what I catch goes back to the water within seconds of being boated. The other day my buddy wanted a picture of a nice bass I took on a 4" Ripper and while wearing a Do-It shirt and I relented for the 30 seconds to get the picture, but the air temp and water temp were about 6 degrees apart [the water was at 84 degrees] and my concern was for the fish. I caught 3 other bass that were all larger than the pictured one but said to forget pictures, I wanted the fish back in the water.

99% of the bass lately have been jaw hooked  and are freed up quickly. Pike may be a different story as several have been hooked on the outside of the jaws. Still they are freed up and released within 30 seconds or so. All of the fish we release seem to hit the water and fly but I wonder if the hot water temps are derogatory to the fish even with a quick release time. Any idea if these fish ever look good swimming off but then die from the stress of being caught and handling?

[cc1]

Round my area most guys I know take pics.  We always work quickly and hen slowly release fish back into the water.  Weather it is fresh or saltwater and the fish is being released.  Really large fish are worked in the water back and fourth slowly to help with their oxygen levels.  Most guys also wet there hands as well before handling the fish which is really key in releasing speckle trout that are very prone to struggling after release.  All trout under 12 inches are released back any many are caught below that length.   

[WALLEYE WACKER]

I won’t normally fish with high temps. If it comes to white bass I bleed and ice and that’s about all I’ll keep.

[Agronomist_at_ia]

I think it's pretty common for someone to reel in the fish. Take the hook out, and take a pic then release. If the fish can't survive it, then I figure it's natures law. Weed out the weak. If a large one dies it leaves more forage for the others to grow.

Typically though I'm fishing small ponds/lakes/pits where the DNR stocks bass/bluegill/catfish. Over population and stunting is typically more of a concern in them then anything.

[anyfish]

I won’t normally fish with high temps.

This is me as well.   Not sure on actual % that die from the stress, but I'm sure some do.  With that said, I have convinced myself that when i see them swim away quickly they are fine. Im also not a big photo person for myself but I do like photos of my kids. 

[Apdriver]

We fish in those temps all the time down south. Take a quick photo and release. They’ll be fine.

[efishnc]

Really large fish are worked in the water back and fourth slowly to help with their oxygen levels. 

Although I cannot conclusively say that pumping the fish has any negative effect, I usually hold big fish into the current or propel them forward with the trolling motor (on a low speed) until they take off on their own.

[Lamar]

  I just fished a tournament yesterday with a 40 boat field and most had their limit of five. I didn't see or hear of any dead fish. Temps in the mid 80's and rain all day. We all have live wells and keep them running all day. Most also add stuff to the water to help the fish heel from the hooks and build their slim back up. Also when we go to weigh them in there is a tank we dip our sack of fish in and I'm not sure what is all in there but it calms them down. It's like they smoked a joint  . Where I see most of the fish kills is when we catch smallmouth in deeper water and it's hot out. They don't seem to do as well. So we keep a bag of ice and slowly add some all day.

[basscatlildave]

Our fish are used to high temps down here I would guess. I've caught Bass in a foot of water what was 97 degrees. We also do like most said catch one take some pics if it's a good one and just release it. During a summer tourny with 100 degree days we do use livewell treatment and frozen bottles to keep the stress down on the fish. I have seen plenty of fish released at the landing in 90 degree plus water after being weighed in and they seem to do fine.           

[efishnc]

  I just fished a tournament yesterday with a 40 boat field and most had their limit of five. I didn't see or hear of any dead fish. Temps in the mid 80's and rain all day. We all have live wells and keep them running all day. Most also add stuff to the water to help the fish heel from the hooks and build their slim back up. Also when we go to weigh them in there is a tank we dip our sack of fish in and I'm not sure what is all in there but it calms them down. It's like they smoked a joint  . Where I see most of the fish kills is when we catch smallmouth in deeper water and it's hot out. They don't seem to do as well. So we keep a bag of ice and slowly add some all day.

Our fish are used to high temps down here I would guess. I've caught Bass in a foot of water what was 97 degrees. We also do like most said catch one take some pics if it's a good one and just release it. During a summer tourny with 100 degree days we do use livewell treatment and frozen bottles to keep the stress down on the fish. I have seen plenty of fish released at the landing in 90 degree plus water after being weighed in and they seem to do fine.           

I cannot say how bass here on the Big Muddy may differ from those elsewhere in the nation, but even though fish may appear "healthy" when released, there may still be some delayed mortality that goes largely unobserved.  I think delayed mortality (especially in the summer) might be a poignant example of the adage  "does a tree falling make any noise when no one is around"... here are two articles demonstrating actual delayed mortality from two consecutive FLW tourneys held here; though not in the same year, both were held in the summer.

https://www.outdoornews.com/2005/09/22/virus-suspected-in-deaths-of-731-bass/

https://lacrossetribune.com/news/somethings-fishy-dnr-collects-hundreds-of-dead-bass-from-river-after-tournament/article_8a783658-5cf3-5880-91ab-dd986f63c072.html

Both note massive summer fish die offs days after FLW tournaments... in this situation there was plenty of money coupled with highly knowledgeable anglers and professional staffing, which should have given the fish much better care and chance of survival (than small local tourneys without the added care/knowledge).  The first article does not give good percentages, but the second one shows where the fish were marked and 98% of the dead fish being tail marked from the tourney (which in this case, equates to roughly 25% delayed mortality from that single tourney).

I remember when I fished tourneys in California 30 years ago, the law was that they could not be longer than 4 hours in duration when water temps were above 80F.

[basskat]

Rule of thumb is your livewell should be 10 degrees cooler than the surface temp. We catch bass this time of the year in 25 - 30' deep. It's pretty common to fizz these fish as their swim bladder will not deflate. Studies have shown that drastically increases their survival rate.