Holding a fish

Solitario Lupo

Moderator
I usually have a bait tank set up. Keep all my minnows in there what a pain they are to keep alive. The best was when I caught a bunch of bluegill and one became my friend. It was aggressive towards the other fish but I kept it around for a couple years. Never would touch them with my hands always used the nets.
 

Gremcat

Well-known member
As for the heat those trout don’t stand a chance unless it’s a really cold spring running it. Even then they can be overplayed.
Yeah the owner stocks them to catch. He restocks every year. Somehow some seem to holdover. This is the first year I personally saw floaters.
 

Gremcat

Well-known member
I crush all my barbs. On every kind of hook. Initially it was in self defense as I have twice been hooked badly enough to require professional help. However it has been a lot better for the fish. It's rare now that I can't get a hook out without damage.
Grem, what did you keep? In high school I had just about everything in the fish store and even raised swords to sell back to them for a while. Some years ago I went native and kept a redbreast sunfish. He died a couple of years ago and I haven't replaced him, but I always have the itch.
I kept all kinds of stuff. Never salt but had a Brackish reef system with Monos, puffers, archers, scat, eels, planted system, bunch of Monsters, Clown Knife, Polyupterus, oscars, Pacu, Jack D, Green Terror, probably a half dozen others in that one. My 9 yo has a Betta barracks for breeding and growing out about 50 bettas but his customers died with Covid so we are winding down the system.
 

truecrimson

Well-known member
Was digging out some pickerel pictures to PM Don and ran across these showing why I crush all barbs. June and August 2013. The first one, a guy fishing nearby was trying to help me. We tried every trick in the book. Finally I told him just grab it with pliers and pull with all your might. Tear it out. It still wouldn't budge. He started to get queasy after that so I ended up going to ER. Doc used an 18 gauge needle to hold the wound open and got the barb around the edge. Second one was a big fallfish. 24 inches at least. Fought like mad. Even out of the water he tried to kick my ass. No pics so just a fish story. Broke my rod and transferred the hook from himself to me. That one was in the joint so they ended up cutting it out. Fun times. After that I spent my time in between rounds many nights at a vent unit I used to work at crushing barbs with pliers on every hook I had.

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