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Sometimes, releasing a fish after it's been caught is relatively easy. You simply remove the hook and the fish wiggles vigorously, which lets you know that it is ready to take off for freedom. Sometimes, the fish won't wait for you to release it. Instead, it will wriggle free and hightail it.
Often, however, the fish is totally exhausted. If you simply released it right away, you would have a belly-up, soon-to-be-dead fish on your hands. Before you release, you need to revive.
A good rule of thumb to follow in figuring out if a fish needs reviving is this: If the fish lets you hold it and doesn't struggle, revive it. After all, any self-respecting wild animal will take off like greased lightning to escape the clutches of a strange creature. To a fish, a human is a strange creature.
Follow these steps to help ensure that a caught-and-released fish survives:
Hold the fish gently and keep it under the surface of the water.
Cradle it from below if you can. If you cannot, hold it gently by its sides. You may grasp some mid-size fish (salmon and stripers, for example) by the tail.
If you are in heavy current, move to gentler current. Point the fish upstream.
On lakes or in the ocean, however, current usually isn't a factor when reviving a fish.
Move the fish backward and forward so that its gills are forced to open and close.
When properly done, this technique delivers oxygen to a heavily oxygen-depleted fish. Reviving the fish so that it can swim under its own steam may take a few minutes. It lets you know that it is ready to be released when it starts to wiggle.
Release the fish.
It should swim slowly away. If it rolls over on its back and lays there, this is not a good sign. Bring the fish back under your control and continue to revive it.
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