Landing fish
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FLY-FISHING FOR PIKE by Paul Le Gall, translated by Claude BELLOIR
8 - FISHING ACTION : Landing and releasing fish To
my mind, fishing as a sporting practice cannot tolerate landing a pike,
including a big one, in any other way than by hand. It can be easily done with a
little learning and some getting used to.
One
must be careful to tighten only there and avoid squeezing the belly of the pike
and damaging vital organs. Handling the fish in this way is as foolproof as
pressing one's fingers into
the eyes - an old-fashioned practice whose merits are still unfortunately
vaunted among live bait anglers. Such
behaviour is all the harder to kill as hardly ten years ago, was published the
picture of
a well-known fisherman holding a pike of about 10Ibs in this way and presenting
it to the photographer's camera. With
fish of more than 80cm, the angler may resort to beaching as well as grasping it
in the above manner; With
a big or even a very big pike, several other ways are suitable to put it in the
boat or to unhook it while keeping it in the water, and then put it back safely. To
land a very big fish, the angler must raise its head above the water, slide his
hand not as before nearest the head, but under the nearest gill flaps. Between
them is a fleshy lump between the lower jaw and the belly, a kind of double chin.
With the forefinger and middle finger used as a kind of hook, slipped on either
side of this fleshy part, palm of the hand facing upward, the pike can be lifted
clear of the water. This method doesn't injure the gills or the jaw. At worst,
and if he doesn't wear gloves, the angler will graze his fingers.
The
classic landing-net doesn't seem necessary or recommended. It's much more likely
to damage the gills or fins than grasping the fish. What's more, it should be of
such a large size that it would get cumbersome in the boat. The
gaff can't be contemplated to land a pike, as it would be out of the question to
put it back. However a long telescopic gaff maybe used when the bank forbids
beaching or grabbing the fish to unhook it. In such a case, one must stick the
hook of the gaff in the middle of the lower jaw, lift it, unhook it and put it
back by the same method. All of this can be done without the fish losing one
single drop of blood. As for me, I've given up taking this cumbersome
tool even when fishing from the bank. Wearing
gloves is not a luxury to fish for pike. They must be real gloves, not mittens,
as it is precisely the fingertips that need protecting. Golf gloves are the most
suitable as they are strong in spite of their thinness and can be bought singly,
for the left or the right hand according to the angler's needs. They prevent the
angler's fingertips being singed or gashed by
the line as it is pulled by a big lake trout for instance. Such a mishap
happened to me twice for
neglecting to put on gloves. Each time, the pain made me drop the rod. Luckily
it fell in the boat, not at the bottom of the water. Gloves also of course avoid
getting injured or causing
injuries to the fish being landed and unhooked.
To
unhook a fish, its jaws must be opened, which doesn't require any special tool.
A spring retractor is ill-advised as some of them may injure the fish. One must
simply hold the fish where the two gill flaps meet, as we've seen, and pull the
wrist gently.
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