When you book a fishing charter, one of the things that you'll need to think about is whether you wish to keep what you catch or release it. The nature of your charter may partially dictate how you wish to proceed. If you're deep-sea fishing, for example, you may long to catch a huge fish that you can have preserved to hang on the wall of your home. In other cases, you may be keener on a fun day out on the water with friends and not have any desire to keep what you catch. If catch and release is your primary strategy, there are several considerations to follow so that you don't unnecessarily harm the fish you catch. Here are some tips.

Buy The Right Hooks

You'll conventionally find that the hooks on your fishing lures have barbs, and with good reason. Barbed hooks are designed to stay in the fish's mouth, allowing you to reel it in with more ease. If you don't plan to keep what you catch, however, barbed hooks can cause unnecessary pain to the fish. The simple solution is to buy lures with barbless hooks; you can commonly find such lures at any major fishing shop. The lack of barbs on each of the hooks will result in less trauma when the hook pierces a fish's mouth.

Get The Camera Ready

One of the exciting parts of being on a fishing charter is getting photos of you and your catch. However, some anglers make the mistake of keeping their fish out of the water for several minutes as they get set up to have someone take their photo. Doing so is unnecessarily harmful to the fish you catch, and largely unnecessary. When you catch a fish and begin to reel it in, you should be able to assess its size. Generally, the more fight that the fish gives, the larger it is. If you feel that the fish is large and thus worthy of a photo, call out to a friend or charter employee to get ready with your camera. When the photographer is set, you can pull the fish out, have a photo taken, and get the fish back into the water quickly.

Be Firm When Removing The Hook

One of the big perks of using barbless hooks is that they're quick and easy to remove. Still, you want to take a conscientious approach to this task. Don't be wishy-washy when you handle the fish. If you hold it lightly, it can flail around and the hook can get deeper in its mouth. When you hold the fish firmly—in the water, if possible—it will remain mostly still and allow you to remove the hook quickly.

For more information, talk to companies such as OAHU DEEPSEA FISHING.