going fishing: do I kill the fish if I want to take it home?

[space-time]

for many years I went fishing and released the fish back in the water. Now I think I am gonna take it home tomorrow if I catch a nice one, so the moral question is: do I kill it there on the spot (and how?) or do I let it die a painful death in the bucket on the way home?

[OWC Jamie]

I've heard gills don't work too well in air.
The thrashing is a bit tough to watch, though.

You could bash them in the head with a baseball bat- but like decapitation that can leave you with a mess on the way home.

Some put them in a cooler with slushy ice and they just slow down and freeze.


Do you catch and release well enough that those you caught all survive the catching and releasing stress ?

[haikuman]

Samoans just bite the head off... *(:>* You can Gill and clean the fish right away... then put it on ice right away. Salt mixed with your Ice works really well.

[AlphaDog]

My dad always had the decency to give them one very hard, sharp blow to the head, and they died immediately. If you do it right, there's minimal blood loss, and that'll be inside the container you bring along to contain your catch. Don't use something as big as a baseball bat - use something small and dense, like a short piece of galvanized pipe.

[mrthuse]

Decapitation? Baseball bats? Galvanized pipe? This can't end well.

Put him in the cooler and forget about him. Straighten him out when you get home: clean, filet, cook - delicious.

[iaJim]

Don't kill it if you're not going to clean it right there and put it on ice. Keeping it alive keeps it from spoiling.

[testcase]

Bring an inverter and microwave; nuke 'em on the spot! :yum:

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Depends on the fish and where/how you catch it. When I fish on the shore of lake when camping I bring a stringer, stake it by the edge of the water, put a link in mouth and out in front of gills so they can swim to get oxygen. If they stay alive until I am ready to walk back to camp, I whack them. On an ocean boat, either in a live storage bay or on ice. I have not done much fishing in something like a Bass boat, so I can not say much about that.

Note: some lakes on the West Coast have high mercury levels due to mining, do a little research before eating.

[kap]

I'd say euthanize it with care.

[AlphaDog]

Filliam H. Muffman wrote:
When I fish on the shore of lake when camping I bring a stringer, stake it by the edge of the water, put a link in mouth and out in front of gills so they can swim to get oxygen. If they stay alive until I am ready to walk back to camp, I whack them.

I never had you figured for a guy who believes in torturing small helpless creatures.