Catch and release best practice
Landing
Use a landing net sized for the species you're targeting, and get the fish into it as soon as it's beaten rather than playing it to exhaustion. A fish played too long builds up lactic acid and struggles to recover even if it swims off looking fine, so a quicker, well-controlled fight is genuinely better for the fish than a long, cautious one.
Handling
Wet your hands before touching any fish — dry hands remove the protective slime coat that guards against infection. Support the fish's weight properly rather than gripping it by the tail or gills, and keep it low over a wet unhooking mat or, better, over the water itself so a slip doesn't mean a drop onto the bank. Minimise time out of water: if a photo takes more than a few seconds to set up, put the fish back in a keep sling or net while you sort the camera.
Unhooking
Forceps or a disgorger remove hooks faster and with less fish damage than fingers, especially for a hook taken deep. For pike and other predators, a proper unhooking mat and long-nosed forceps or pliers are not optional — treble hooks and sharp teeth make careless unhooking genuinely dangerous to both angler and fish. If a hook is swallowed deep and can't be removed cleanly, cutting the line as close to the hook as possible and releasing the fish gives it a far better chance than forcing the hook out.
Release
Hold the fish gently in the water, facing into any current, until it swims off under its own power — don't just drop it and assume it's fine. In cold water especially, a fish can take longer to recover than it looks like it should; give it the time it needs rather than rushing to cast again. If a fish seems to struggle to stay upright, keep supporting it until it regains balance and swims away strongly.
Know before you go
Some venues have their own specific rules — keep-net restrictions, no-barbed-hooks policies, or specific handling requirements for certain species. Check the individual spot's access notes or the venue's own rules before fishing somewhere new, since these vary a lot between waters even for the same species.