Hooking Mortality of Lake Trout Angled through the Ice

Abstract
Lake trout Salvelinus namaycush were angled through the ice in shallow water (2–7 m) with live minnows on still lines and held for 48 h to observe short-term hooking mortality. Air temperature varied from –14 to –8°C while angling took place. Five of 50 lake trout (10%) died within 48 h of capture. All fish that died were hooked deep in critical areas (gills, deep mouth, and stomach) and showed signs of bleeding. Three of four fish hooked in the gills died. Of the 23 fish hooked superficially in the mouth, none died.

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