The Wolter Report : How do fish react to Catch and Release?
The Wolter Report (Max Wolter, DNR fisheries biologist, Hayward): Catch and release angling for many Wisconsin species has become common and anglers practicing catch and release have plenty of reasons to pat themselves on the back. Still, some might wonder what the fish do after their release. Do they go right back to what they were doing before? A pike study in Germany might shed some light. Researchers used radio tags to track pike in a lake, noting their movement and the habitats where they spent time.
The researchers then caught the pike on hook and line and tracked them after release. They found that for a period after catching, pike moved less before getting back to their normal behavior. Biologists believe this period of lower activity is a response to the non-lethal physiological stress of their capture. After a fight with an angler, pike, much like an exercising human, have elevated blood lactate, blood glucose and heart rate levels, all of which take time to return to normal levels. The study showed that angling typically causes a disruption in a fish’s routine, but one from which it can recover without too much difficulty — provided the angler follows good catch and release practices.
