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Best depth to release a musky


mroyten

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Ok, so is there an ideal depth that a musky should be released in? Or doesn't it matter? I've heard not to release a fish into really deep water because the fish tends to slide to the bottom after a release and that this can harm the fish. I'm not sure, for all you experts out there, what's your take?

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We always just release them where we catch them. Sometimes they stay up though and swim on the surface for awhile...or just stay there and tread water. This seems to happen in the case of a long battle/unhooking session/warm water or basically a more stressful than average encounter for the musky. In this case I always stay beside them and "protect" them so they don't get run over by another boat, jet ski, etc. Plus I just want the satisfaction of knowing they went down.

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Exactly.....just get them back in the water and swimming. They will go to whatever depth they want to be at. Like Tim said, some fish will sit on the surface for a while, some take off to the depths immediately.....all depends on the fish I guess. But get the water going through the gills as quickly as possible and all is good.

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I have talked to many people about this and everyone seems to have a differing oppinion and some different thoughts. I agree with the release it where you are and make sure it swims away.

one guy that I talked to had actually made a device out of a cradle and weights and he would lower the fish down into the cooler water. Another guy rigged his livewell so it would hold a 50 incher and he put extra airation in it to revive the fish. I don't have a clue how either of those work or not but thats what they told me. I wouldn't try it.

As said above the most important thing is proper release tools and a short time out of the water.

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