 Well Thursday Thursday it's that time again another segment of fishing tips tonight Ray and Mandy will demonstrate how to safely release a fish. Tonight we're going to talk about the importance of a proper way to release a fish. Mandy and I both believe that these are limited valuable resources and we need to do everything we can to take care of them in the best manner that we possibly can. That means not just throwing it overboard or banging along to top the water. There's a lot of ways to take care of fish. Fish get their oxygen through water and a good test sometime is when you catch a fish hold your breath take the fish out of the water and see how you start feeling before you get that fish off the hook and put them back in the water. You'll see that time is very important but so is technique so Mandy's going to show us a little bit about technique. As Ray said previously time is all of the essence when you're you know safely releasing these fish so you want to do it easily you want to do it quickly and you want to do it safely. I got a little buck on here let's get them up here safely grab large mouth bass under the bottom lip be careful you know to take the hook out easily. Larger fish I would say if you want to take a photo support them underneath but most importantly don't ever grab them by the eyes don't grab them by the gill plates obviously that's where they get their oxygen it's their lung system. Try not to drop them or grope them too much on their body they have a protective slime and we want to make sure that they're happy and healthy. When releasing them don't throw them over the side of the boat get down and release them gently into the water. So Mandy has shown you a proper way to release a bass if you're catching northern pike or if you're catching a musky and you don't want to take it in the boat for any reason it's better to try to release it right in the net and not actually even put it in the boat. In fact the bigger these fish are the more stress we put on them when we pick them up and it's highly recommended if you're taking pictures of bass to do what Mandy did said but if you're taking pictures of northerns or muskies usually we hold them underneath to support their bodies so we don't put too much pressure on them so also remember not to put your hands around their mouths you can put your hands around the mouth of a bass but please don't do that around a northern pike or a musky. I'm Ray Gildaw with the Niswa Guides League and I'm Mandy Erick the Bassin biologist. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.