Safely releasing a fish comes down to shortening the fight, never touching the fish, and getting it back in the water fast. You shorten the fight with heavy enough tackle and a rubber landing net for the right species, then unhook with a dehooker while the fish stays in the water so you never strip its slime or scales. In this How 2 Tuesday I break down healthy fish handling for bonefish, permit, tarpon, and more, using a great example from guide Richard Black.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
The best way is to shorten the fight, never touch the fish, and get it back in the water as fast as possible. You shorten the fight by using heavy enough tackle to put real pressure on the fish, and by using a landing net for species suited to one. Then, instead of grabbing or lifting the fish, use a dehooker to back the hook out while the fish stays in the water. Land them quickly, keep your hands off them, and they swim away far healthier.
Because touching removes the slime coating and knocks scales off, which is the same damage we obsess over with offshore baits. When you handle a baitfish like a ballyhoo or a threadfin on a Sabiki rig, the untouched ones are fine hours later while the handled ones go belly up in the livewell. The exact same thing happens to game fish. They may swim off looking healthy, but the more handling and the longer the fight, the higher the risk they get attacked or simply do not recover.
A rubber landing net lets you end the fight much sooner, sometimes saving three, four, or five trips around the boat, or even minutes on a kayak. You stick the net out and catch the fish like a football, which means a shorter fight and a much healthier release. Then you can leave the fish in the net, reach down with a dehooker or pliers, unhook it, and simply drop the net so the fish swims right out without ever being squeezed or lifted.
Net the fish that fight hard at the boat and are suited to it: permit, bonefish, redfish, snook, and cobia are all great candidates. Do not net tarpon, because they thrash too much and split their fins, doing more damage than the shorter fight saves. And never net toothy fish like barracuda, which will bite a hole right through the mesh, I know because we put holes in nets chasing barracuda records. Match the net to the species.
Like my friend Richard Black of Blackfly Charters does it. He catches the bonefish, takes the dehooker we normally use offshore, swings it around to grab the line, runs it down to the fly, and turns the hook out, all while the fish never leaves the water. He never touches it with his hands, just gives it a little shove off with the dehooker, and the bonefish swims off perfectly. Get your one good photo of your first fish, then release the rest this way.
Yes, get your good picture, especially of a first bonefish, permit, or tarpon, I would never deny you that. But once you have caught a bunch that all look about the same, there is little reason to keep lifting them out for another shot of a fish an ounce heavier than the last. Take the photo with the fish just barely over the water, put it back, and after that release the rest without even touching them. Better for the resource, the fish, and you.
We are learning more and more that fish like tarpon are far more delicate than we used to think, back when we would lip gaff them and haul them into the boat. They are big tough fish, but they still deserve careful handling and respect. Richard Black of Blackfly Charters, one of the finest guides in the Florida Keys, posted a release video that captures it perfectly. I break it down in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Here are the steps I follow to release fish healthy. I cover the details and stories in the episode.
I unpack each step in the episode. Press play in the player above.
We are obsessive about not touching offshore baits, because the ones you handle lose their slime and scales and go belly up in the livewell within hours, while the untouched ones are fine. The same thing happens to game fish. They may swim off looking healthy, but handling and a long fight quietly cut their odds. I explain the connection in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Permit, bonefish, redfish, snook, and cobia are perfect for a rubber net that shortens a hard fight at the boat. Tarpon are not, they thrash and split their fins, and toothy fish like barracuda will bite a hole right through the mesh. I go through the list and why in the episode, so press play in the player above.
If we want to keep the healthy bonefish, permit, and tarpon populations we are lucky to have, we have to handle them properly: shorten the fight, never touch them, and let them swim off strong.
Get your one good picture just over the water, then release the rest without even touching them. Better for the resource, the fish, and you. Press play in the player above.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Richard Black · Blackfly Charters · bonefish · permit · tarpon · redfish · snook · cobia · dehooker · rubber landing net · Florida Keys · Saltwater Experience · End of the Blue · How 2 Tuesday
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 918: How To Safely Release Fish (How 2 Tuesday, solo)
In this episode: releasing “that fish of a lifetime” the right way, Richard Black of Blackfly Charters and his dehooker release where “the bonefish never leaves the water,” why touched baits go “belly up and dead in your livewell,” using a landing net to shorten the fight, and which fish to net — permit, bonefish, redfish, snook, cobia — and which not to — in the exact words spoken.
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Tom Rowland: This is how to Tuesday on the Tom Rowland Podcast brought to you by Danco. Everybody? It's how to Tuesday. And today, we're gonna talk about what to do when you catch that fish of a lifetime, which could be bonefish, permit, tarpon. But, specifically, we're gonna talk about bonefish because I've got some excellent examples of what I'm gonna be talking about, that come from Instagram from one of my friends, Richard Black, one of the best guides in the Florida Keys. He's got a video that we're gonna go over today, and it's about how to release a fish.
Tom Rowland: And there's been a lot of talk about how to release fish lately, especially tarpon. We're learning more and more about how these fish are way more delicate than we thought they were. Like, we used to bring them into the boat. We used to lip gaff them. We used to do all kinds of things to them thinking they're just a really big tough fish, and they they are big tough fish. But still, they require some, delicate care, some handling, some respect, and, that's what we wanna give them.
Tom Rowland: So one of the ways that you can show the fish respect, in my opinion, is to fish with heavy tackle. You can use tackle heavy enough to put adequate pressure on them so that you shorten the fight.
Tom Rowland: Another way that you can shorten the fight, and this one gets a little bit controversial with some people, but I strongly believe in it, that is use a landing net, for fish that are good to get in a landing net. Permit are my favorite. Bonefish can be a good one. And what the landing net does is a lot of times when you're really concerned about getting a fish in the or or to the boat, you can shorten that fight maybe three or four or five times around the the boat. Even Jack Cavell's, I'll I'll land like this, where you can they're coming by the boat, and you can stick that landing net out, and you can get them really, really fast. You can shorten the fight. And in my opinion, the thing besides dropping them in the bottom of the boat, the thing that will make sure that a fish is released safely, healthy is to land them quickly and get them back in the water. In fact, never even take them out of the water.
Tom Rowland: There's a great video that, that I found here, another video, and I don't know who this person is. But if you watch this if you watch this video right here, this person is fishing on a kayak. And as we move towards, catching this fish, it'll play replay again. They stick the the net out, and you can see that that fish was obviously not ready to come in the boat, but they shortened the fight by minutes by having a net handy, putting it out there. It's a rubber net. It it's great for the fish, and, they just catch it like a like a football. Boom. Right in the net. And that fight is going to be shortened greatly. So that fish is probably gonna be released very healthy.
Tom Rowland: Now one of the things that Richard Black is advocating right now, which I strongly believe in, is using a, a dehooker that we use for offshore fishing, for bali hoo, for thread fins, for for fish that you're catching on a Sabiki rig.
Tom Rowland: What we're very, very careful about our offshore baits because it's very, very obvious. When you handle the bait in any way, shape, or form, you touch that bait. You remove their slime coating. The scales come off. And in just a couple of hours, the bait that has not been touched is doing fine. Those that have been touched are belly up and dead in your livewell. So the same thing happens to game fish. You know, they they might swim off healthy looking healthy, but the more handling the longer the fight and the more handling that you do to these fish, the greater you you are risking their survival. Either they're gonna get attacked by another fish, a barracuda, a shark, something is gonna come after them, or they're just simply, got a lot of, adrenaline. They're gonna get away from you, but maybe they're not so healthy.
Tom Rowland: So the best way that we can do this is, one, shorten the fight. Two, never touch the fish. If you can do this and never touch the fish, it's really good for the fish.
Tom Rowland: So Richard catches a lot of bonefish, and we're gonna talk about your first bonefish and the importance of getting that photograph. That's that's awesome. I wouldn't deny you of that. But after you've caught a bunch of them and they all look about the same as the last one that you caught, Is there any reason reason to really bring them out of the water to get another picture of a fish that weighs one ounce more than the previous fish and maybe maybe an ounce less than the next fish? They're all about the same. Get your good picture and then do your best to release the rest of them.
Tom Rowland: And this is this is Richard right here, releasing his, and he's got a dehooker in his hand. And this dehooker is the same thing we use offshore, and he just swings the thing around in a circle and grabs the line with the dehooker, goes down to the hook, and just turns it out just like you do offshore, and the bonefish in this situation never leaves the water and swims off perfectly. He never touches it with anything, with his hand. He touches it with a dehooker just to give it a little just give it a little shove to go out of the way. Richard, this is this is an excellent video.
Tom Rowland: And, if you want to follow Richard and see this video for yourself, if you're listening, audio, it's Blackfly Charters. It's Richard Black. Richard Black has been on Saltwater Experience a number of times. He's been on End of the Blue a number of times. Richard has won tons of, tournaments in the Florida Keys. He is definitely, undeniably, one of the very finest guides in the Florida Keys. Some say the very best. And, this is a great video. So he catches this bonefish. He's got the dehooker in his hand. He grabs the line. He turns it around in a circle and quickly and and easily goes down the line, grabs the fly with the dehooker, and and just pulls it out, and the bonefish swims right away. That is the video that we're watching. You can see that on Blackfly Charters, if you go to Instagram. And you know what? That is a great way for us all to try to release bonefish. That is that is is awesome. I mean, that was that was a great tutorial, and it's been making its right way around Instagram. But I wanna do it on how to Tuesday today because, you know, it's it's really an important thing and it's a very easy thing. You don't have to have pliers. You don't have to hold the fish. You don't have to grab the fish. You don't have to pick the fish up and put it under your arm and and and all these these, ways that maybe we used to get fish off.
Tom Rowland: But now, if we want to maintain maintain this really healthy population of bonefish that we have in the Lower Florida Keys, we want to maintain the bonefish when we go to The Bahamas, when we go to Christmas Island, when we go to any of these destinations where we're enjoying great bone fishing, part of the reason is because there are a lot of bonefish there. Let's keep it that way. Let's handle them properly.
Tom Rowland: Do the same thing with with tarpon. In my opinion, if you can use a landing net, do it, especially for fish that are suitable in a landing net, and let's talk about what those might be. Permit, bonefish. I don't like netting tarpon at all even if it short shortens the fight. I just don't think they they just thrash around way too much in the net, and it's not healthy for the fish. It splits their fins. It it it's probably more damage on the fish than you're saving. But for permit and bonefish, yes. Redfish, yes. Snook, yes. Cobia, yes. A lot of these other kind of fish that, might fight real hard at the boat and not give you the opportunity to get them. Fish that have teeth, not a good idea. Barracuda bite a hole right bite a hole right through your your landing net. I know because we've tried to get some barracuda world records, and we did try to net the fish instead of gaffing the fish or or getting the fish in any other way. And you you end up with a with a hole in your net. So they're toothy fish, not the best, but, you know, bonefish permit tar perm sorry. Bonefish permit, redfish, snook, cobia, definitely. Definitely. If you're gonna release those fish, definitely good to get them in the net, handle them, and, handle them gently.
Tom Rowland: And a lot of times, you can just net the fish, leave the fish in the net, reach down there with your dehooker or the pliers, and dehook them, and then just simply drop the net down and watch the fish swim right out. That is good handling. That's what I'm advocating and, what I try to do. On the TV show, you know, it we're we're trying our best to handle the fish as best as possible and still give the cameras an opportunity to look at them. We will lift them slightly over the water and put them back down. But, obviously, the best thing is to never touch them like Richard Black was doing right here. So good job, Richard. Way to go for showing everybody how to do that. Follow Blackfly Charters. You'll learn a lot about fishing. You'll learn a lot about fish, handling and, and also what what Richard's up to. He's a good follow. And, that's it gonna be it for how to Tuesday today.
Tom Rowland: If you have questions or concerns or you want to talk more about how to release a bonefish or redfish or permit, whatever you wanna talk about, text (305) 930-7346. That's the best way to get a hold of me. I will get back to you on that text, and, we have a ton of you guys on that text thread. So I really enjoy that. Check it every day and, talk. Lots of people wanna talk about knots, wanna talk about working out, wanna talk about whatever, carbon fishing, tackle, whatever. We talk about everything on there. So if if you're interested, that is the inner circle. That's the best way to get in touch with me and the way that I will definitely respond to you. If you send me a Facebook DM or a Instagram DM, there's a chance I might get back to you. But on this, I will definitely get back to you. So it's also a good place for guest suggestions and show suggestions. I take those very seriously when you say you think you have a good show for us. You guys are the ones that listen. I will try to deliver. We got some great ones coming up this week. If you do get out there and you are fishing, take care of those fish, release them without touching them. Get your picture. Of course, get your picture. But do it with the fish just barely over the water. Put it back. And then if you're catching all the same kind of fish, just release them without even touching them. Alright? Better for the resource. Better for the fish. Better for you. Alright. We'll talk to you later. That's how to Tuesday. Take care of those fish. See you.
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