I am not an angler nor highly educated on this subject. Disclaimer: I’d even prefer it if we never caught a fish even if it means just holding the pole all morning (with a book in my other hand.)
So what do we do if we actually catch a fish? When my first child was little we went fishing on a pier and caught a small stingray. We did not have pliers and the hook got stuck and it was terrible. We ran to the bait shop. Luckily, the guy working there helped us take out the hook. A fishing camp and several bait shops later we discovered circle hooks. They are hooks that aim for the fish’s mouth and not the body parts that would kill them. Catch and release is my goal here, but you also don’t always want the type of fish you catch, or maybe the fish is too small to keep. Here is a circle hook. You have to twist them out of the fish’s mouth. I do not have a video, nor am I going to make one...I looked online for a real fisherman to show me how to do it.
Since that day, we have made our “fish saving” kit to help us remove all hooks. Bucket for Bay water. Pliers. Gloves. And a measure. If a hook does get stuck, leave it in and cut the line as close to the hook as possible.
This is all just in case...
(I am not saying no to fishing as long as I can have a book and we use cheese or hot dogs as bait.)
These 2 publications from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are amazing!!
