Tips for reviving muskie?

The time and care taken while removing the hooks are perhaps the greatest determinants to post-release muskie survival. Ideally, the fish should be kept in the water during this process. Fish that are brought into the boat may injure themselves and lose protective mucous from their skin. Moreover, one should recognize that a played out muskie has already incurred an oxygen debt in its tissues and that this may be lethally compounded by time out of the water during which the fish is unable to respire. The time required to remove the hooks, measure the fish and perhaps take a snap shot can stretch from seconds to minutes without the angler (whose brain may be temporarily addled by adrenaline) realizing it. Before the hooks are removed the fish should be secured using a lip-lock hold, release cradle or, less desirably, in the bag of large net with rubberized mesh. Ironically , injuries to muskie anglers occur more frequently with smaller fish which are cranked to the boat side and are still quite "green". These fish are more likely to thrash unexpectedly and most veterans can relate a horror story or two about being present in a boat when a feisty muskie and an angler have become impaled on the same bait. Long-nosed pliers should always be close at hand when muskie fishing. Grab the shaft of the treble hook with the pliers and gently rotate your wrist to allow the hook to reverse the path of entry. If the hook doesn't slide out easily, you must quickly cut it out using the compound bolt cutters. Try not to leave any cut portions of hook embedded in the mouth. Contrary to popular belief, hooks do not rust out quickly in fresh water and they render the fish vulnerable to infection. Now and then, a muskie will absolutely inhale a bait and getting close to the hook's point of entry may involve running a gauntlet of razor sharp teeth. In these instances, a long-shafted hookout tool is just the ticket. Usually,a muskie will clamp it's jaws shut as soon as it feels any added hardware in its mouth and this is the time to use the spring-loaded jaw spreaders. The ends of most spreaders should be padded with duct tape to keep them from penetrating the mouth. Hooks in the gill arches. Here the hook isn't embedded in tissue but rather, it is hooked around one of the delicate gill arches. It's successful removal involves very gently grasping the shaft of the treble with the hookout tool and aligning it paralled to the axis of the gill arches. The hook must be pushed back a half inch or so and then lifted free from the groove between the bony arches. The underside of these arches is where the delicate gill filaments are situated and thus it not uncommon for some bleeding to occure. Generally the bleeding is temporary. Be Careful and work as fast as possible. Hope this helps you and the Water Warrior ( thy muskie....) h2o