How much mud is too much?

[JDTuna]

Originally Posted by justin1982

Earlier today I did some pike fishing. I landed a nice 25 incher, which leads me to my question. The fish was landed safely, quickly and cleanly. While returning it to the water, I slipped and completely busted my ass. The pike landed in the mud and then flopped itself over, completely covering it's self in Passaic River mud. I was very upset so despite the softball that was growing off my ankle, I grabbed the pike and got him back in the water. I resuscitated him for at least a minute and he slowly swam off and disappeared. I waited for a couple of minutes to see if he bellied up and he didn't. I then hobbled home to get some ice. Will this pike survive? It wasn't a long fight and he was out of the water 30 seconds tops...

It's fine. Fish shed their slime coat periodically and any mud will be removed with it. Slime protects the fish and it sheds from time to time to remove foreign bodies and bacteria.