So, killing a fish to eat it....

[sonicsink]

I have been doing catch and release with my kids and haven't had any problems so far. I crimp down the barbs on my hooks to make sure we can get the hook out quickly and get the fish back in the water as soon as possible.

However, the other day I ran into my first snag. I caught a good sized perch, but I came to find out that he had swallowed my hook really deep. I got out my pliers but I just couldn't get far enough down to unhook him and I panicked a bit. I know I should have just cut the line and let him go with the hook still in there, but I guess I just felt bad for doing that and thought if I tried a bit harder I might be able to get it out. I did this all in my bucket of water and when I finally got the damn hook out, he went belly up in the bucket barely breathing. I brought him back to the water to try to revive him, but nothing was bringing the poor guy back. I killed him

I thought, you know what, people fish all the time and end up killing and eating their catch, so that's what we're gonna do. I told the kids we killed him, we're gonna have to eat him. No waste. My husband is from Newfoundland so he took care of filleting him, I fried him up, and he was delicious.

Now, my question is, if I have a hankering for perch again, how do I go about killing my fish quickly and easily? I have seen people on the pier with a bucket full of fish that they are taking home to eat, but they are all belly up, so I'm thinking these fish probably died of stress from being crowded in a small bucket. Surely there is an easier and quicker end for them?