Pier fishing and grappling hooks

[MuskieBait]

(08-22-2015 10:04 AM)OldTimer Wrote:  Also note......Releasing larger fish from a high elevation position can cause severe internal organ damage or inflict system shock that may cripple or kill.

I depends on the type of release. Dropping the fish down from the pier can cause severe damage. Lowering the fish down using the pier net, gently and in a controlled fashion, greatly increase their chance of survival. The bonus to the pier net release is the ability to revive the fish in the water until it is strong enough to swim away. A weakened fish struggling to swim will not survive long against predators, especially in areas like Florida where sharks pick off the weak and injured.

You can easily adapt an existing net into a pier net. A friend of mine who fishes the Center Island pier often simply made his own pier net from a regular large hoop net and landed fish with it, including some big Common Carp.

I have used the Frabill collapsable landing net. If you decide to get one, I would recommend that you superglue the junction between the tube ends shut. That junction tends to open causing structural failure during use. The junction also allows water to seep in causing the metal wire inside the tube to corrode. If you superglue it shut, you will avoid both issues and should still be able to fold the net down. The only downside, in that case, is that you would not be able to change the mesh in the future should a fish ever tear through the net. You will also need to weight the net down with some sinkers since the tube holds air and cause the net to float on the surface. The first time we needed to use that net was on a Southern Stingray with a 24" wingspan. Trying to net the ray with a floating hoop was rather interesting and stressful...