Interesting post Andy, cheers for that.

Never thought about a deco stop but it makes a lot of sense. I do a slow retrieve but I can get a bit excited sometimes, a deco stop would provide that extra bit of security / safety for the fish.

I'll be making some changes.

 Ben, I usually go slow on a small fish then stop once I get a reasonable ID of species  under the water and wait for a minute then retrieve again to a couple of meters under the surface just watch for the bubbles being released each time it will release a few and stop then retrieve a little until the bubbles start again stop and then retrieve again, I think it just lessens the swollen gut a little and avoids too much pressure on the organs.

There are a few vids on here I posted a few years back showing the deco and bubbles pretty well. Mindarie Mayhem 14 or 15 I think. Can't remember exactly but they are in the archives somewhere.

good work!

Would be interested to know if others use the release weight to assist in releasing dhu's even if they are in good enough condition to swim back on their own?

On Sunday we caught 3 or 4 small ones, and all bar 1 went back down on their own, 1 went on the release weight. All bought up nice and slow.

With the bends, its not swelling as much as microbubbles that do a lot of damage. There is no issue with that if you use a weight.

Great to see the recaps Andy.

 I caught heaps over the Xmas break lots of small and size ones with the deco stop rarely did the release weight need to be used. And of course bring up small fish slow.  Baldies on the other hand seem to struggle alot more with barotrauma.  I had one that was just sized on the weekend and it was so close I would have preferred to release it.  My mate brought it up slow as he thought it was an undersize dhu but even with a release weight it was too far gone so we kept it.  I was a bit worried it might shrink once necked so I didn't cut its throat and it stayed the same size.    

And im sure the community of fishermen will follow in your steps to looking after fish. Great work

Hat`s off to you Andy too many people get over excited pulling in what turns out to be small fish, we could all learn something from this post.

Cheers Boomer

 The proof is in the pudding and you Andy have shown me the pudding. I was always sceptical of the effects that baratrauma had eveb when a release weight was used. I believed that the fish would have been knackered and either died down the bottom in severe pain or got nailed by something else because it was FUBARed. Wrong I was and how great it is to see. Many congratulations and I hope your post is read by all.

Good work on the recaptures and all of the effort with catch care.

A few people are saying they let the fish swim back down if the fish is healthy enough - can I ask why the release weight isn't used anyway?

 Don't get me wrong, I do release a few fish straight over the side, but thats only where they are clearly unaffected visually by barotrauma and are quite lively boatside. Most go back with tags some don't but any fish that doesn't make it we go back for, net and use the release weight to be sure. Most Pinkies can go straightover the side unless they have their stomach in their mouth, then its release weight time no questions.

The advantages of the release weight are that the fish is recompressed quickly and you are giving it a free ride so to speak so it is still full of energy to escape a waiting predator, instead of being knackered from the long swim back down.

Another tip for releasing fish with a release weight is to have a dedicated set up (line with release weight ready).  I use a big trolling reel with a lever drag and rachet, which helps stop overruns as you drop the fish overboard. Trust me plenty of fish have jumped off and had to be netted and re-released because of a reel overrun.

Always best if you can have two people doing the release one holding the fish, the other the rod, but that isn't always possible or practical.

Anyway it takesmaybe 3 minutes to tag, release and bait up for the next drop so if you catch a few fish that need releasing its not an aweful lot of time out of your fishing day to invest for the future.   

I know Paul G and Jody have tagged and recaptured heaps as well so its definitely worth taking care of these fish for the future.

kmo if they dont have baratrauma better off letting them swim off under their own steam, the ones I am talking about kick off straight back down.

I have had on a few occasions particularly with coral trout they float on their back kicking so when the release weight is use they shake of it halfway to the bottom then float back up which is pretty frustrating.  I am 100% convinced that the method andy has stated is the best option which is dont let them get baratrauma to start with.

 It was Mindarie Mayhem 16 vid .... here that had the deco vision to show what I mean by self venting the fish.

We have tagged 280 dhuies since starting ,Two Rocks, Jurein Bay ,Abrolhos,oceanreef.From 15m _80m all good releases even in 80m swiming off by themselves.As said if done correct they will survive .We have had 40 recaptures and im sure there is some numbers not being repoted .As you said none have moved far from there place first tagged.we have had a couple that have grown over 100mm in a bit over a year.

 Thats just it Paul, if people stopped to think how much these fish can grow in a reasonably short space of time (I had one recapture grow 6 cm in just 12 months ) they pack on a fair bit of beef in that time, so taking care of all of them may mean more size fish down the track for your esky. I know science says they are slow growing but that is still a healthy return for time spent giving the best chance possible.

The other point being if these fish we have been recapturing are surviving with a bloody big plastic tag shoved in their side, surely the ones that non-taggers release have an even better chance of survival.

280+ tags mate that is awesome!!! I need to get on the water more. 

 We have caught a lot of dhuys and never once caught a tagged one, where abouts mainly do you tag? What I found worked on the weekend if bait fishing and a fish looks like it won't go back I quickly took off my sinker and looped a release weight on the paternoster rig and that worked a trick we have used the release weight a lot of times and have never seem a fish re surface after 

this has to be the best way on releasing fish that just float, how do you get into tagging? I wouldn't mind putting some research into our catches, might have to con my old man(fisho-Ron) to look it up 

 There are about a dozen of us who tag under the ANSA Westag program. Jody is the organiser here in WA. Not sure if they want anymore involved, perhaps you or Ron shoot her a pm and she may be able to find out for you.

There are lots and lots of spots out there and Dhuies rarely move much so I guess unless you are fishing a spot one of the dozen or so tagging guys fish you aren't going to get a recapture.

Part of me is pleased that I'm the only one recapturing my tagged fish, which selfishly I figure it means its ground not many others fish.

I did recapture one of Pete D's fish once but he tagged it on my boat using his tag kit so it still was off one of my spots.

If the tagging is showing the fish are not moving too far, what is happening to the other 85% of fish that you have tagged? (on Paul g's numbers)

Paul has God only knows how many spots, and we have tagged on heaps of them over the past couple of years.

We've only been abke to get back to some of them and a just a couple on a regular basis.

Paul hopes to remedy this, dontcha Paul eh? eh? eh?  Especially where my 20kg went back

One particular fish has seen the sunlight at least 4 times. We call him Dopey

There have also been recaptues of our fish by others which are not included in Pauls data.

I must admit to being horrified hearing about people recapturing fish, not reporting them  and tossing the tags. Pretty poor form IMHO 

I would be interested to know how Pauls spots fish going forward. It is a great effort to tag 280 dhuies, but I think getting those sort of numbers again will be hard, despite the fish going back and evidence suggesting that they do not move too far.

"If the tagging is showing the fish are not moving too far, what is happening to the other 85% of fish that you have tagged? (on Paul g's numbers)"

I view it like this:- How can you prove that you have caught every fish on the spots you fish? You can't simple as that, unless you dive every lump you fish and do a manual count before and after every drift.

By all accunts a 15% recapture rate is very impressive when you stop and think about how many spots we all fish. I know Paul is like me, we might do three or four drifts on a spot in a day maximum then move to another spot and not fish that same spot for months, maybe years. The reason Paul catches lots of good fish is that he spreads the load and fishes spots that not many people fish. I try to do the same, so if I'm the only one fishing a particular little lump maybe a total of 10 drifts a year with an averege of 2.5 anglers on board its not an aweful lot of effort delivering that 15%.

Similarly if you think 15% is a small percentage then it also stands to reason how on earth can a fish possibly reach 20+kgs and be taken from a spot that is fished more than once a year. How could it possibly evade the hooks for all those years to grow that big. Answer is they just do. Also how many fish have you caught undersize and thrown back without a tag only to recapture again still undersize and throw back again. Without a tag in there you would never know... maybe you have been catching the same fish 10 times over if you only fish a few spots.  Well I believe that just like that other 85% tagged and not recaptured they somehow evade the hooks on those brief moments when a baited hook or jig runs over their home turf.

Sure some may die, which may account for some of that 85% but the proof is pretty clear that good fish retrieval technique, good fish handling technique and good release technique will improve the chances of survival.

Focus on the glass being half full not half empty as you are never going to be able to guarantee a wild fishes survival after release. I can guarantee you however that a fish with a tag in its back and enjoying a ride on my release weight will have an infinitely better chance of survival than a fish chucked overboard after a rapid ascent and flapping on the surface with its eyes being picked at by mutton birds.

The message is simple - take care with your undersize or overlimit released fish and they will have a good chance to grow and possibly eventually grace your table accompanied by the usual side order of chips. 

.. for raising / rekindling awareness of good practice regarding release of fish.

It is amazing how much one can learn from a forum like this - I for one do appreciate the tips shared on the retirieval methods and release of fish not destined for the freezer.

Now only one problem remains .. catching them in the first place!

there must be lots of pinkies being tagged as well?

top work guys with tagging fish its really good to see. i have been releasing all unwated or undersize fish on my release weight but struggled last trip out as i released a couple dhuies around the 60cm. the reason i had a problem was because my release weight was too small. have now upgraded to the 80 oz! should sort that problem.

i would like to get into the tagging side of things myself as when im out i tend to get a fair amount of small undersize dhuies, pinkies and breaksea.

Dylan

Great to hear there's alot of fisho's out doing the "right thing".  Also to the tag and release research crews. Must be very satisfying to catch and recatch some quality fish.

 You can find it here and like it to get updates.

 Jody organised mine for me as part of the westag program.