Catch, Kill & Release

[GreatWest]

I've been a bad man. Coming from a trout, stream background, I am a Piker when it comes to this Lack Mead Striper fishing. The IL's (In-Laws) bought a boat this year and we've been out 11 times. No goose eggs yet! This last trip we were catching fish deep off the tires at Lake Mead Marina. I caught & released as we have been doing & the striper went belly up, but flopping after an easy lip hooking & fast release. I use hemostats & hardly touch the fish as not to mess up their goo coating as I have been taught. We do not usually keep fish as we always catch e'm & would have too many (There - I went ahead I cursed myself!. We will be skunked next time.) We could keep them all if we had to so not to be wasteful. We have Setters who eat canned mackerel & the occasional fish we kill with a gut/gill hook. We eat trout but have never tried striper, but we would not be able to eat all we catch anyway. That was the second fish I observed floating after a successful release. The first one compelled one of our passengers, Jack to dive in the water with a lit cigarette & his glasses on to save & revive. But that's another story. Do we need to save all fish caught deep? Do we need to perform surgery to pop there air bladders? That does not look like any fun. Do we offer the occasional fish to the fish gods? Is this an anomaly (big word for a carpenter!)?

Thanks
Vince
S
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