How to Land a Fish

I took my kids deep-sea fishing in our last trip at Cape Cod (MA). One of the greatest pleasures is seeing them catch a fish. The tug of the bait, the anticipation of reeling it in, and the pride of landing a fish. Unless it gets away. For a child, that's worse than your ice cream dropping off from the cone.

I never thought there's more to landing a fish than just feverishly reeling it in. But according to www.takemefishing.org, there are some tips to increase your chances of landing a fish. You can view the full instructions here: How to land a fish. Here's a summary:

1. Set the Hook – Snap the rod sharply to force the hook into a fish's mouth. One snap will do. Striking too hard or repeatedly with a soft-mouthed fish can pull the hook through the mouth.

2. Fight the Fish - It's possible to land many small fish just by reeling them in. They'll fight, but the strength of the line and the rod should be able to pull them in slowly. FIghting larger fish requires a technique called "pumping the rod" with the idea of exhausting the fish.

3. Land the Fish – have a net handy to scoop up the fish. There are long-handled nets for boat fishing or fishing from docs. Short-handled nets are used for stream fishing. They also come in many sizes.

Occasionally, you realize you need to return the fish you land back into the water, either because it is too small, or you don't have the license to take home that particular fish. Here's a helpful video (below) on how to revive the fish before you throw it back into the water.