Sadly, catch and release mortality is approximately 9%. That means for every ten fish you catch one fish dies. One fish that could have spawned; that could have been caught by someone else; that could have lived a good life. We can do better.
Thankfully, the Fish Need Water Alliance (FNWA) agrees and has put out a list of six fish handling techniques to help anglers reduce their catch and release mortality rate. Not all of them apply to striped bass, but most do. Conservation Tip will be a recurring segment in which we take one of FNWA’s techniques and provided striped bass specific information.
Without further ado, the first fish handling technique suggested by FNWA is minimizing fight time. Their guidance reads as follows:
“Exhausted fish have a difficult time recovering from being caught and are more susceptible to predation and swift currents than fish quickly brought to hand. Exhausted fish may be unable to fulfill their parenting responsibilities, hurting the next generation of fish.”
So how does one minimize fight time when doing battle with a trophy sized striped bass? Learn how to get the most out of your rod’s power by using side pressure.
When we hook into a fish all we seem to hear from guides is “keep the rod tip up!” While this may be important in a trout stream where we need to use the rod tip to protect delicate tippets, it’s not the way you should be doing battle with a cow striper.
When fighting large striped bass we want to use a low rod angle. This takes the fighting pressure off the tip and transfers that pressure to the thicker, more powerful butt section of the rod. At the same time we don’t want to point the rod tip at the fish. This takes the pressure off the rod altogether and puts the majority of the pressure on the line (think stuck and bottom and need to break off).
Therefore, when fighting a big fish we want to keep the handle connected to the body, bring the rod to the side and steer the fish to shore. The fish will swing in the direction you pull because of its anatomy—a fish has to swim in the direction its head is facing.
Once you learn how to use side pressure you’ll be surprise how much fish fighting power your rod truly has. I’ve quickly landed multiple 15+ pound stripers on my 8 weight rod and never once felt under-gunned. With side pressure and low rod angle you control the fish, not the other way around.
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