Stop the bashing!
lol
Yeah my dad did the same cr@p when we were salmon fishing in the Puget Sound when I was a kid...He would slash open (gut 'em) any 'dog fish' sharks I was catching with the live bait I was using...I didn't really have a choice with this and thinking back on it know now this is not the correct way to deal with unwanted fish... ie: switch to a lure or simply by more bait!
A catch is a catch-fun whether or not it is kept once landed.