The golden rules

What you need

• Unhooking mat (or a soft, wet mat)
• Pliers / disgorger
• Landing net with a rubberised, knotless mesh
• A bucket of lake water

Steps

1. 1

   Prepare the mat, the pliers and the water BEFORE you bring the fish to the bank, not after.

2. 2

   Wet your hands and the mat: dry hands and towels strip away the slime that protects the fish from disease and fungus.

3. 3

   Hold the fish low, over the mat, kneeling -- if it slips, it falls a few centimetres, not a metre onto stones.

4. 4

   Remove the hook with the pliers, quickly. If it's deeply swallowed, cut the line as close to the mouth as possible: a hook left in the fish does less harm than one ripped out.

5. 5

   The photo: planned in advance, a few seconds, the fish held horizontally with one hand under its head and one under its belly.

6. 6

   Put it in the water, head into the current or towards open water, and hold it gently until it flicks its tail and swims off by itself. Don't throw it.

Tips

• How long it stays out: as long as you can hold your breath -- ideally under 30 seconds, and in summer, when the water is warm and low in oxygen, as little as possible.
• Don't put your fingers in the gills and don't squeeze its belly: fish organs aren't protected the way mammals' are.
• A barbless hook (or one with the barb crushed with pliers) comes out in seconds and does much less damage.
• Don't weigh it hanging from its mouth: use a wet weigh sling.