Removing Billfish From Water - a No-No

[Deep C]

Indeed law enforcement does monitor sites but they have a whole set of problems trying to convict from anything posted. It basically comes down to "heresay" which is inadmissable in court. Even photos clearly showing wrong doing can't be used without time date stamp and a whole gammut of protocols to establish the legitimacy of even that.
What they can and do do is monitor who is claiming to do whatever then set up a sting to catch them in the act...

[Captain Fred Archer]

More information on J versus C-hooks from a friend, top Cabo charterboat owner (3 of them) and exceptional angler, Tom Lansing.

"But back to the J-Hook versus Circle Hooks debate which here in 2009 has been settled beyond dispute by every study/survey done since 2000. Let me give some undisputable facts for those of you who continue to use J-Hook's versus Circle hooks. First, I'd venture a guess that 99.99% of the Charter Boats in Mexico use J-Hooks, so assuming I'm correct let's see how many Marlin are being killed by those of you who religiously practice catch & release but use J-Hooks.


A recent comparison study was conducted in Iztapa, Guatemala in order to assess the impact of Circle vs. J-hooks with both live and dead bait on Sailfish. The results were dramatic, revealing the benefits or Circle Hooks in Billfish conservation. A total of 360 Pacific sailfish were caught with 235 on Circle Hooks and 125 on J-hooks. Significantly more sailfish were deep hooked in the throat and stomach with "J" hooks (46%), as compared with circle hooks (2%). Only one sailfish (1%) was foul hooked using circle hooks, while 11 (9%) Sailfish caught on "J" hooks were foul hooked. Sailfish caught on "J" hooks are 21 times more likely to suffer hook-related bleeding than those caught on circle hooks.


In the May 2008 issue of Marlin magazine, Dr. John Graves, Chair of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, reported on two Circle-Hook studies he has conducted over the past six years. These studies were done on White Marlin, but it’s a reasonable assumption that similar results would arise among released Sailfish and Striped, Blue and Black Marlin.

Graves’ initial study placed pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) in 40 White Marlin caught between 2002 and 2003 off the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast and La Guaira Bank, Venezuela. Half those fish were caught on J hooks, the other half on Circle Hooks. The results - seven of the 20 marlin caught on J Hooks died within a 10-day tagging period, while no mortalities were recorded among the 20 fish caught on Circle Hooks.

A second study in 2007-2008 compared three models of commonly used Circle Hooks. Sixty PSATs — 20 per Circle-Hook model — were deployed in White Marlin off the U.S. mid-Atlantic, Mexico and Venezuela. Usable data was retrieved from 59 of those tags. After a 10-day tagging period, an amazing 58 fish had survived! The final analysis of just this study found that J hooks were 39 times more likely to hook fish deeply, 32 times more likely to induce trauma and 22 times more likely to cause mortality. Other studies have shown the mortality rate to be as high as 50%. So, if you're releasing all your Billfish but using J-Hooks there's almost a 50-50 chance that Billfish is going to die anyway.

There is no study that I have ever seen to dispute the above data nor any study that showed the hook-up ratio was better with J-Hooks versus Circle Hooks. On the contrary, I can show you several studies that show that Circle Hooks have better hook-up ratios than J-Hooks."

To repeat again, decades of personal experience using circle hooks in both lures and baits catching and releasing literally thousands of billfish confirmed the hookup and hook placement factors found in these studies. The scientific data also confirmed and conforms with what we always suspected and hoped, but could not measure concerning the C-hooks and minimalizing handling. Consequently, I believe that these particular new rules are good ones that I hope are abided by.

The record speaks for itself. From the not long ago days when circle hooks were roundly demeaned by many, to now, when many of the naysayers have been forced to use and finally learn about them themselves, I continue to be amazed that some continue to seem to be trying to come up with negatives about them, right up to and including intentionally violating rules meant to ensure that they be complied with.

Why fight what has repeatedly been proven to be good for the resource that we all have a vested interest in and can have a hand in protecting? I simply do not understand.

[Catfish Johnny]

Has anyone ever been given a ticket for removing them from the water based on the hero photo shot? It is pretty imcriminating evidence.

I have no problems leaving them in the water, getting the hook out, and getting a nice shot of the angler holding the bill. I don't know if pulling them out of the water really hurts them after all the acrobatic jumps they do to get loose but it has to be better for them to stay in the water.

Fish Dad is always the complainer..