Thump or no thump

I whack them. I keep fish in the tankwell, if the sun is out I cover them with a wet cloth.
The whacking stills lings and rockies so they don't flop around. halis, I beat them so they don't surprise me. If I am pulling or cutting the gills i do that after the fish is stunned.

I think bleeding them is indeed the way to go, and I would do it if I weren't so
para-shark-anaoid.

Agreed Sean. I once bled a 30(+-) inch Ling from the kayak about 1.5 miles out.  Created a considerable blood spot in the water and made me so paranoid I had to leave the area.  The spear guys are probably laughing at us but I dont care.  Its serious. 

I have always kept rockfish alive as long as possible, either on the clip or in a wet sack.  Rockfish will stay alive a long time, especially if you drop em back in the water while jigging.

I bleed them out only just before beaching.  A club is one extra thing to carry.

I take my frustrations out on the cranial cavity of the fish! I happen to use a bonker, made by none other than the great EWB! My only complaint, two years ago I caught a hali, and in the bonkin fest, smacked my ankle bone! Pretty sure I raised the tide with the stream of urea leaking out of my wetsuit!

bonking doesn't necessarily kill a fish immediately - it stuns it first. it does not stop the heart from pumping. I don't really bleed rockfish, but i do salmon, trout, etc (and my one and only wsb)

my normal process is:
game clip through the gills
bonk
put the fish in the water, do a hard pull up, which will pop the gill and start bleeding the fish. letting a fish bleed out is not more humane than bonking it before bleeding it out.  bonking is probably more "savage".

After petting and kissing, I whack the crap out of em with an EWB gaff (serves a dual purpose) and laugh maniacally while doing so.

 

When diving a knife to the brain through the top of the skull puts Lings, rockies and cabs to sleep pretty darn fast, so if you end up with no whacker and just want the fish to die quick that is an option as well.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

PS. 

The spear guys are probably laughing at us but I dont care

I agree with you 100%. The one or two big Lings that I have ripped the gills out of in the water made quite a mess...

PPS.  a couple years ago fuzz turned me onto gutting and scaling rockfish (just gut and gill for Lings and cabs) OTW before heading back in...gets all the guts and gills and scales taken care of so you don't gotta mess with it at home, and I think the less time the guts sit in a dead fish the better.  Also creates a fun little bird feeding frenzy ritual at the end of the day. 

Once the blood flow to the brain stops the fish becomes unconscious immediately and death soon after. They will twitch for several minutes, longer if you have your shark shield on but it is a reflex. As far as relative pain and humaneness compare cutting your wrists vs hitting yourself on the head with a hammer several times.  I am not opposed to bonking in fact I am amused watching guys bonking those poor little rockfish. 

Andy is correct that bleeding in the water is the way to go and I pump the fish up and down so the water movement keeps the blood flowing.

Maybe I'm just cold-hearted (I like to think not), but I dont stress much about the manner in which I kill a fish...

Big ones (hali's and lings), I prefer to slit the gills while still alive. I feel like they bleed out more fully when they still have a pulse.

Small ones (rock fish) I give a whack to the head and then cut the gills.

Either way, you don't want your fish flopping around and bruising the meat.

I whack the crap out of em with an EWB gaff (serves a dual purpose) and laugh maniacally while doing so.

i see an infomercial in the making!

I whack the crap out of em with an EWB gaff (serves a dual purpose) and laugh maniacally while doing so.

i see an infomercial in the making!

Do I get any royalties? You can pay me in beer if you want.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

or pay me in beer if you want.

or this....C'mon you walked into this one!

maybe this winter I will work on the signature model "BigJim Whaff" (whacker gaff combo model)

Game clip, then cut gills.
I only bonk halibut. But don't bonk them to death...or else they won't bleed properly. Although, it's pretty hard to bonk em to death--they're like zombies. Just ask Alien and Splashdown hahaha! 

or pay me in beer if you want.

or this....C'mon you walked into this one!

maybe this winter I will work on the signature model "BigJim Whaff" (whacker gaff combo model)

Yeah, I saw that coming a mile away. 

The gaff I got from you is already a fully functional whaff...I beat some of those lings heads at Shelter Cove and down at SWS as hard as I could with that thing...no sign of cracking or breaking or weakness...pure EWB power.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

thx...you could always resort to hand shaking them to death

thx...you could always resort to hand shaking them to death

I save the squeeze for the monkeys.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

In sharky areas I'll keep rockies and cabs on the clip in a bucket of water in the tank well. Otherwise I'll cut the gills using a - as seen on TV - dike like cutter to cut the gills. You can get them at Fry's, Bed, Bath and Beyond or, As seen on TV stores. They are made for cutting heavy plastic clamshells on electronics. They are great for cutting off spikey fins  if you want to serve whole rockfish or where filletting wastes too much meat on smaller rockies.  They also save your fillet knife and maybe your hand when cutting through heavy breast bones.