Does Catch and Release Work?- Catching the Same Fish

Have you ever caught the same fish more than once? Perhaps years apart? As a fishing guide, I literally see thousands of fish per season and it is next to impossible to remember specific fish. Even the big ones are hard to distinguish between unless there is some characteristic or marking that differentiates them. I often wonder if I re-catch some of the same fish, especially in locations I target often. A few days ago I got thinking about this as I was looking through my photo albums and I made a pretty interesting discovery. Ill start from the beginning… 2011, my first full year of guiding was a pretty exciting time for me. I was able to go fishing with some amazing people, and help them catch some pretty incredible fish. One big pike stood out though. It was the biggest pike I had ever had in the boat, weighing in just under 29 lbs, if I recall correctly. We were in about 3 feet of water, so the fight was not very long, but the way she bolted from left to right, and then up and out of the water was just fantastic. We got her in the net, and I took the barbless hook out of the roof of her huge mouth, and I remember thinking that she was going to be a bit hard to handle. There was no reason to think she was ailing besides a bit of watery blood coming from the roof of her mouth, which you can see in the photo. We had her out of the water for maybe 20 seconds while we were getting a couple photos but as I placed her back into the water to release her, she struggled as if ready to go, then went "quiet. Very little movement, and her gills just didn't seem to be working hard enough. I sat there, holding her upright for over an hour watching and waiting for her to gain back her strength. My clients were very supportive of my attempts to revive our fish, but I think we were all pretty worried she would not make it. It was coming up on the time I had to get back to the lodge, and she still wasn't really responding. I hadn't given up hope, but I was definitely not confident that she would survive. At this point, she gave a few light kicks, enough to pull away from my hand and slowly made her way to the bottom. I gave her about a 10 percent chance to live, even though I could not think of any reason why she was acting distressed. To be honest, I felt pretty bad about this fish for a long time and often still think about it today. I have returned to that bay many times since then, and caught many more big fish, but nothing quite that large. As I stated earlier, I started wondering the other day whether or not any of those big pike, from that same bay were if fact caught more than once. What I found was quite amazing to me. As it turns out, that big 29 ish lb pike, was caught again…. twice…. in my boat! The second time 2 years after I first landed her, and again just this past season. You can tell by the markings on the head of the pike, specifically the lines and patterns on the "cheek. The 2nd and 3rd time I had this fish in the boat she weighed less than the first time, which is at least part of the reason why I didn't realize it was the same fish. I think 24 and 26 lbs were the more recent catches, but those two times I caught her two or three weeks earlier than that first time, just as the ice came off the main lake. That could easily explain why she weighed less. Boy, would I like to catch her in late September! It's hard to explain how happy I was to know that she survived, and it just goes to show that these fish are resilient and strong. They can handle a lot but we need to do our part to conserve them, both big and small. Start by using barbless hooks when sport fishing, minimize handling and time out of water, and take the time to properly revive your fish. Its an incredible feeling to know that you released a fish, and then caught it again years later. This example proves that Catch and Release works. Happy Fishing, Corey Myers