Northwest Fishing Reports

I'm a catch and release guy. Not only so I can do my part to see fish populations grow and keep bigger fish in the gene pool, but because I'm simply not a fish eater. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against fish eaters.
A subject that has me intregued in when I read the word "Bonk" mainly used in the salmon posts. My question is, is there a right, or politically correct way to "Bonk" a fish??
For example, should a fish be "Bonked" more than once to insure it's sufficiently dead?
Should an angler "Bonk" said fish with a mighty blow, or several slight blows?
Is there an official fish "Binking" tool?
Is it acceptable to "Bonk" a fishes head on the side of the boat?
I dropped a pike one time while I was trying to release it. That fish "Bonked" his head on the edge of the boat and started quivering. I tried to reveve it but it just laid there in the water doing nothing. Would that count as an official "Bonk" or just an accidental knock on the head, causing the fish to expire. (By the way I gave that fish to a guy that ate it).
Do you have a preferred method of "Bonking"? If so, lets hear the different ways to effectively "Bonk" a fish.
(Just for fun)

dead is dead

I cut the gills let em bleed, then I bonk with a salmon club. One good whack will make the eyes look straight instead of down.

I give them a whack with a rock or piece of driftwood til the eyes look straight then pull out the gills.

First I give them a mild wack on the head and yank out the gills to bleed them. You want them a bit alive to bleed them.Once you yank the gills out they bleed like crazy. Keeps your fish fresher tasting.

I got a fish nobler I made from 2" dowell but I prefer to bare knuckle box humpies, one solid punch to the back of the head and its all over. Warning, do not try this with any other salmon, I tried to punch out a 16lb coho and just about broke my hand.

NFCustom wrote:I cut the gills let em bleed, then I bonk with a salmon club. One good whack will make the eyes look straight instead of down.

This is what I do.

I cut the gills, and then give a quick stab through the skull. I used to bonk fish, and it was never really effective for me.

BlakeP wrote:I cut the gills, and then give a quick stab through the skull. I used to bonk fish, and it was never really effective for me.

This is what I do now, too. Used to bonk, but watched a video on the through the brain technique. I forget the Japanese term for it.

I let my kid bonk 'em enough to stun them but the heart still pumps, then I cut the gills and bleed'em while the heart is still pumping that blood out..

oneshot wrote:I let my kid bonk 'em enough to stun them but the heart still pumps, then I cut the gills and bleed'em while the heart is still pumping that blood out..

That just looks like a broken finger waiting to happen.

A couple sharp bonks, cut the gills and let them bleed out in the motor well.

BlakeP wrote:I cut the gills, and then give a quick stab through the skull. I used to bonk fish, and it was never really effective for me.

I do not understand how bonking is not effective?

wolff wrote:

BlakeP wrote:I cut the gills, and then give a quick stab through the skull. I used to bonk fish, and it was never really effective for me.

This is what I do now, too. Used to bonk, but watched a video on the through the brain technique. I forget the Japanese term for it.

The Japanese technique is called "Iki-jime" Works great for me!

At my fave spot on the Puyallup, there is a tree near by. I get a good hold of the fish, whack it's head against a tree branch and slit it's throat all the way up to the backbone to bleed it. I also gut them on the river and get them on ice.

Here's me having a little fun with the photographer on one of our recent outings. This is my "killing tree". After I slit their throat, I'll run a thin branch through the gill opening and out the mouth so they are hanging off the limb. Makes it much easier to let them hang there while I gut them.

A good bonk just knocks em out. Then bleed them. Bonking doesnt kill them so the heart keeps pumping.

schu7498 wrote:A good bonk just knocks em out. Then bleed them. Bonking doesnt kill them so the heart keeps pumping.

Remind me never to cross you shu...

Are you critizing my user name now? Haha I do the old fashion rock to the noggin or take a large stick to aplly the shampoo

The knock on the head paralyzes them, but doesn't kill them. Bleeding the fish removes the fishy blood taste from the meat of the fish, if it stays in the meat it coagulates and give the "muddy" taste that you'll find. If you are going to eat the fish, you want to bleed it out.

If I am fishing from the bank sans-cooler, I like to keep my fish alive on a strong stringer and then do the killing at the end of the trip or when I move. Be careful though, because they'll revive on the stringer and have just as much fight in them as when you caught them if you're not careful.

When I was a kid we used to kill them with a pen knife into the brain, quick and painless for the fish, but that doesn't allow the heart to pump the blood out of the meat. I find that if you don't bonk the fish, they bleed out better when you just cut the gills and throw them in the box.

natetreat wrote:The knock on the head paralyzes them, but doesn't kill them. Bleeding the fish removes the fishy blood taste from the meat of the fish, if it stays in the meat it coagulates and give the "muddy" taste that you'll find. If you are going to eat the fish, you want to bleed it out.

If I am fishing from the bank sans-cooler, I like to keep my fish alive on a strong stringer and then do the killing at the end of the trip or when I move. Be careful though, because they'll revive on the stringer and have just as much fight in them as when you caught them if you're not careful.

When I was a kid we used to kill them with a pen knife into the brain, quick and painless for the fish, but that doesn't allow the heart to pump the blood out of the meat. I find that if you don't bonk the fish, they bleed out better when you just cut the gills and throw them in the box.

A bonk to the head does kill them. If you notice when you land your fish the eyes are looking down when our of the water. As soon as you take one good whack the eyes look straight and the fish us dead.

Its much better to kill your fish immediately. Leaving a fish on a stringer creates Lactic acid in the meat and lessens the quality. Lactic acid is created when muscles in animals are over worked, exactly like the feeling in your muscles after work out.

Cut out a gill or just cut the gill near the top and toss in the box, no bonking for me! I love the sound of a thrashing fish in the box! I believe they do bleed out faster that way and I don't give a hoot about all of these politically correct va jay jays that think the fish or crab or raccoon or deer suffers too much during harvesting. LOL I don't eat raccoon but I kill plenty!