When I was a kid and when I was a boyscout I never really did

>>847037
You can just leave the fish alone you know...

>>847041
This.
As for real tips: take your pliers/file to the hooks and press down/file away the barb.

Holier than thou C&R fishers piss me off. I kill what I catch and eat it putting food on my table. You just cause harm and (unintentional) death to fish. Hypocrisy at its finest.

>>847037
Biologist here

Most fish don't even feel pain in their lips. It sounds strange to us and is not really imaginable for humans but fish have a touching sense in their lips and mouth but don't feel pain like we do.
Especially the cyprinides (e.g. carps) and other fish who find food on the ground are pretty immune to pain in the face area because they eat stuff like little crabs and urchins which are harming the skin.
Sorry my English isn't good enough to explain this in any more detail but I hope you get what I mean

>>847044
Remove the barb and use circle hooks.Statistically they have the highest survival rate of any hook type. If that isn't possible, use long-shanked hooks which allow a better grip to pull the hook out.
Eye-hooking can generally be avoided by careful selection of hook size, I've been C&R fishing for a while and have never experienced it.

>>847044
catch and release is law in a lot of places.

>>847037
I wouldn't worry too much, they are very simple creatures

>>847074
OK.

What is your view on cleaning fish at the shoreline and just throwing the guts back in? I am a chemist so the impact doesn't bother me, but the ethics of polluting the ecosystem does.

Should I wait until I get home to gut and filet fish?

>>847055
Just crimping/removing the barb makes a huge difference.

>>847078
Do it at the shore, the waste breaks down and provides for for other creatures.

>>847112
Yeah, I don't see a problem with it. Something will come along and eat it if it's on shore. I wouldn't clean a fish by where I camp though, just asking for a raccoon to come around and fuck yo shit up.

A friend of my had a racoon steal his boot. He was sleeping and heard a noise, looked down just in time to see a racoon grab his boot and take off. Never did find the boot.

>>847078
As opposed to what happens when a fish dies of natural causes??

Simple. Barbless hooks. You might looses few more fish but it definitely makes it easy on the fish. I know in some parts of Canada it's illegal to use a barbed hook

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>>847165
There's some law in FL where you are only allowed to use circle hooks on the Atlantic coast further north in the state. I guess the shape makes them easy to get out and hard to gut hook the fish.

If I'm going for panfish with live bait, I prefer to use those Aberdeen hooks with really long shanks. Even if the thing hooks them deep, the end of the hook will normally still be sticking out of its mouth and it is really easy to get out.

>>847037
circle hooks bend the barbs.

if i'm using treble hooks I intend to eat them. treble hooks can wreck a fish's mouth.

>>847055
This.

Circle hooks are design to only hook in the corner of the mouth, even if the fish swallows it. There's no need to remove the barb.

>>847044
Not if you fly fish, the true master race of angling.

>>847309
this