Sailfish #2...Getting Bigger

[fishnNauru]

Well we had a record breaking day in our little boat the other day...
First up we caught a 7kg YF Tuna (on a YF Halco Max)hotly followed by a 3kg skippy (on a small yellow squid w/double hook). then we did abit of high speed trollling and Elijah, my 5 yr old picked 2 lures, one being a chrome head silver skirt lure that we ran for abit before the drag went off and kept on going. we swung around and backtracked abit then the fish went straight down, which had me thinking it was a big tuna, but it turned out to be a 26kg sailfish. When he went down i think he go wrapped in the line and I ended up dragging him back to the surface by his tail. When i got him to the boat he was pretty much dead and had been hooked through one of his eyes...OUCH!
I had hopes of a release this time but in his state he was pretty well dead already, particularly down an eye.
During the fight he never jumped once which i thought was weird for a sail...but this is only my second so I'm no where near an expert.
The only thing in the sailfish gut was a long skinny trumpet fish 20cm long about 5mm diameter...he must have been hungry
The 36kg of fish is our biggest catch so far and all the fish caught was sold and eaten. The man who bought the sail fish calls it the "Salmon of the Sea" for it's pinkish and tasty meat.
Would a foul hooked or injured fish fight or act differently than a mouth hooked fish?
If they get wrapped in the line is it still possible to release them?
How do you guys determine if and when a fish will not survive after the fight?
What injuries to the fish di you determine to be fatal?
Any tips for us billfish novices would be appreciated.

[jaws]

Have you eatin any of it? How does it taste? Compare it to some other species. Thanks.

[Team Karma]

Congrats on your catches. It seems like you are fishing some pretty good waters.

To take a stab at some of your questions...

Yes, a foul hooked or tail wrapped fish can/will act considerably different than a fish that is hooked in the mouth. If a fish comes up tail wrapped the best thing to do is revive the fish along side the boat. Most of the time this is simple to do because the fish is exhausted and easy to handle. Simply unwrap the line from around the fish, remove the hook, hold the fish by the bill and slowly drive forward around 2-3 knots. Be sure that the fish's mouth is underwater and that there is water flowing through the gills. It is also good to hold them by the dorsal fin or a pectoral fin so that the fish is upright throughout the process. Sometimes you will think a fish has no chance of survival but after 10-15 minutes of reviving it, some of its color will return and its tail will begin to "beat" or kick (swim).

There is always some guess work involved in whether or not any certain fish is going to die. We have released healthy fish after 10 minute fights that start to swim off then roll over and die. Some of the easy general indicators are color, tail movement and mouth movement.

Tired fish turn a dark brown or black with almost no stripes. As you start to revive them, some gold and lighter shades should appear as well as some stripes becoming more noticeable and vibrant. Exhausted or near death fish will not have a strong tail beat. During the reviving process, if the fish is recovering, you will feel the fish start to stabilize itself (meaning you have to do almost nothing to keep it swimming upright) and kick on its own. Another small indicator is mouth movement. A lot of the time tired fish simply have their mouth opened or closed. As you are reviving the fish, you should notice the lower jaw beginning to slowly move up and down, almost like the fish is trying to help the water flow over its gills (no idea if that is what it is doing, but it looks like it).

Injuries that generally mean doom for a billfish are eye and gill injuries. If a billfish throws up its stomach (and yes they literally throw them up so their stomach is hanging out of their mouth), it does not mean anything bad. It is a defense mechanism they possess to rid their stomach of spines or anything else that is unwanted, like your fishing hook.

Just a general tip, billfish remain much calmer when their head is left in the water. You can test this theory next time you catch one. Bring it up next to the boat slowly and let it swim along with its head underwater and in most cases the fish will swim right next to the boat. Reach down and grab its bill or pull on the leader encouraging the fish's head to break the surface and that beautiful, tranquil fish will turn into a pissed off, thrashing mess.

Also, reviving all tired billfish, regardless of where they were hooked, is a good practice.

Hope I clearly answered some of your questions. Keep the reports coming!

[fishnNauru]

Sailfish is a good tasting fish. Not as white as wahoo, but abit more pinky and juicy maybe. I reckon Wahoo is the best for frying for fish and chips, but Sail is very good for that too. The 20kg fella I caught first I sold to a local resturant and they sold out of fish and chips in a day.
Hey a big thanks to team karma for your help. So an eye or gill injury you reckon makes the fish a gonner and therefore a keeper? Other than that if you spend some time reviving them most will survive??? I want to do my best to release bills (as not many fish get released round here at all anyway) but we are 0 from 2 so far...but this foul hooked through the eye one kinda threw me for a loop anyway.
Any one else got any ideas about when to keep a fish that you are trying to revive, or what kind of fish injury you reckon makes the fish a no hope of survival?
Thanks again.