When I sit down to watch a fishing segment on TV and someone holds up a bass to show the audience with the fish’s mouth held open with its body extended horizontally, my wife has a fit. For years she has said it is damaging the fish’s jaw, and it may not be able to feed once released. Because of her insistence, I have tried not to extend the jaw of a bass with its weight extended once caught, but I did this without any research to support it. However, I happened to pick up “The Angler” magazine last week, and before I got to look through it, my wife starting turning the pages…and to her delight, there it was…an article by Mark Sosin, an award-winning writer, a leading educator, journalist, and one of America’s most knowledgeable fishing authorities, saying what she has thought for a long time.

I practice “catch and release” and do not eat any larger or smallmouth bass because I would rather eat bluegill and crappie and leave the bass to grow. I just find the bluegill and crappie taste so much better myself. In Mark Sosin’s article, he is suggesting that we release correctly. The fish should be released quickly as possible, rather than waiting for the fish to be exhausted. The fish should be handled as little as possible and kept in the water during the release process. Lifting a fish by the jaw can damage internal organs and/or damage the delicate region under the jaw unless you support its belly. Once the jaw is compromised, feeding may be impossible. Hanging a fish from a hand scale to weigh also may damage the fish. A fish may swim off looking healthy but may not survive. Researchers call this “cryptic mortality” because they cannot calculate the percentage that dies. Fish rely on a vacuum created in the mouth to draw prey into it. Any hole in the jaw takes away this feeding advantage.

I think it is important to use common sense when it comes to protecting our natural resources, including following creel limits, correct catch and release techniques and wildlife regulations.