The Postrelease Survival of Walleyes Following Ice‐Angling on Lake Nipissing, Ontario

Abstract

Natural resource agencies have developed catch-and-release regulations for Walleyes Sander vitreus of prohibited size and number to reduce mortality in many recreational fisheries. The efficacy of such regulations is contingent upon the released fish surviving, but survival data on Walleyes captured by ice-angling are lacking. We estimated the survival of Lake Nipissing (Ontario, Canada) Walleyes that were captured by both active and passive ice-angling methods using a variety of hook types and lures baited with Emerald Shiners Notropis atherinoides. We also assessed the role of de-hooking methods on the survival of deeply hooked Walleyes. After the angling event, Walleyes (n = 260) were held for 24 h in a submerged holding pen to estimate postrelease survival. Average mortality after the 24-h holding period was 6.9%. Fewer Walleyes captured by active angling were deeply hooked (9.3%) than passively caught fish (50.4%), and deeply hooked Walleyes were observed to have more frequent postrelease mortality (14.8%) than shallow-hooked Walleyes (3.0%). There was no significant difference in mortality rates of Walleyes caught by passive angling (9.8%) or active angling (2.8%); mortality rates of fish caught on circle hooks (6.1%), J-hooks (8.2%), and treble hooks (5.6%) also did not differ. Neither air temperature nor the presence of barotrauma had a significant effect on mortality of captured Walleyes. Survival did not significantly differ between deeply hooked fish that had the line cut (11.1%) and those that had the hook removed (22.6%). Results from this study suggest a relatively high incidence of Walleye survival after catch-and-release angling through the ice.

Impact of Ice‐Angling and Handling on Swimming Performance in Bluegill and Largemouth Bass

“…When exhaustive exercise occurs at low temperatures, many physiological disturbances can be reduced relative to exercise that occurs in warmer water (Wilkie et al 1997;Davis 2004). This includes angling scenarios where exercise is followed by prolonged air exposure (Louison et al 2017a;Twardek et al 2018). The FIGURE 2.…”

“…The cutoff for acceptable r 2 values from the regression between O 2 concentration and the time for each measurement was set at ≥ 0.9 (Svendsen et al 2016a(Svendsen et al , 2016b. Following this swimming challenge, Bluegill were returned to their holding tanks for 48 h to quantify any postprocedure mortality before being stocked into an on-site pond; this monitoring duration is longer than other studies of fish used in ice angling studies (Twardek et al 2018;Logan et al 2019). A total of 30 Bluegill were tested for swimming performance and oxygen consumption following angling simulations from January 20 to 26, 2018.…”

“…The magnitude of physiological disturbances following capture have been shown to correlate with water temperature during summer conditions (15°C and above) (Gustaveson et al 1991;Klefoth et al 2008;Cooke et al 2013). However, examinations of how fish respond to angling at cooler water temperatures (10°C and below as with ice-angling) have only recently been conducted, with the few studies on this topic generally finding a muted stress response and low postrelease mortality relative to angling in warmer water (Louison et al 2017a;Twardek et al 2018). No studies have quantified how winter capture impacts the swimming performance of fish during recovery following angling.…”

Catch-and-Release Ice Fishing with a Mormyshka for Roach (Rutilus rutilus) and European Perch (Perca fluviatilis)

“…Once such factor is climate conditions, especially when air temperatures are below freezing, which is the condition necessary for ice formation. The formation of ice cover is also associated with winter recreational angling activities and the popularity of particular fishing techniques that are used in northern countries and Central and Eastern Europe and in North America (Nuttall et al, 2004;Lehtonen, 2008;Wiśniewolski et al, 2009;Twardek et al, 2018). One of the specific, traditional fishing techniques used in Northern and Eastern Europe is ice fishing with a so-called mormyshka, which is a combination of artificiallive bait rig (Kekäläinen et al, 2014).…”

Natural and Anthropogenic Factors Influencing the Pre-Spawn Migration of Steelhead Trout

“…Anatomical hooking damage to the gills, tongue, or esophagus can lead to substantial blood loss and is generally considered the greatest source of mortality in angled fish (Bartholomew and Bohnsack, 2005;Hühn and Arlinghaus, 2011). Hooking injuries appear to impact mortality rates relative to the type of lure/bait used (High and Meyer, 2014), and fishing method employed (Twardek et al, 2018), indicating that angling practices can modulate the severity of these injuries. Both entanglement in nets and handling can disturb the mucous layer, damage fins, remove scales, and ultimately increase disease and pathogen susceptibility following release (Anderson, 1990).…”