“A quick, nonviolent death by stunning and bleeding causes the least damage,” the report said. “A violent, protracted struggle has a negative impact on quality. It causes a series of rapid chemical changes that directly control rigor mortis and affect freshness and storage life.”The key verb here is stun, said Unalakeet dipnetter Wade Ryan, who is careful not to use his fish whacker to kill the salmon.“I just stun it and pull the gill,” he said. “The fish is knocked out, but the heart is still pumping.”When a fish is still alive,Ray Ban Sunglasses Outlet, chemical breakdown and buildup remain in balance, but the moment it dies, the system repair stops, according to the report.Many sportfishers and dipnetters believe clubbing is the most ethical way to control the chaos of a flopping fish -- plus the easiest way to get it out of the dipnet -- but Anchorage dipnetter Brian Pierce disagrees.“They die just as quickly if you just tear their gills,” he said.It’s also important to note that the method in which gills are ripped also affects the quality of the meat.I was recently told that a fish bled dry (out of the water) is a partially bled fish, and Doyle’s UAF report backs up that claim. It says that bleeding is more complete if salmon are placed in the same water in which they were caught. Doing that removes twice as much blood from the flesh as bleeding in the air. It also slows down clotting and prevents the temperature of the fish from rising.I asked Dan Bosch, a fisheries biologist for Fish and Game, what he thought about clubbing vs. non-clubbing. His answer was simple.“I just bleed and chill ASAP,” he said.Homer areaA new leader in the emerged late Tuesday when Oregon angler Ned Friedman landed a 277.8-pound halibut aboard the FV Quintessence.Anglers are still waiting for silvers to arrive at the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon, said Jim Lavrakas of the Homer Chamber of Commerce, but they are still catching kings. Drift salmon eggs near the inlet channel on flooding or ebbing tides.Lavrakas also mentioned that lingcod and feeder king salmon fishing has been good, especially around Pogie Point near Seldovia and Port Graham.Kenai River/Upper KenaiOn the Upper Kenai, fishing for reds can be good from Jim’s Landing upstream and is expected to pick up. A boat vastly improves your odds of landing a salmon. Fishing for trout and Dolly Varden has been good — and other fly patterns imitating salmon flesh are good bets.The bag and possession limit for reds at the Russian River/Kenai River fly-fishing only area, downstream to Skilak Lake returned to three per day, six in possession Tuesday.Dipnetting for reds downstream of the Warren Ames Bridge is good if you time your visit to the Kenai River with the incoming tide. Be sure to check Fish and Game regulations before heading out.Resurrection BayFish and Game biologists report that lingcod fishing outside of the bay is fair to good. Anglers are being reminded that it’s illegal to use rockfish for bait while fishing for lingcod. That means if you catch a rockfish and a lingcod grabs a hold of it, anglers must release the lingcod.