How To Fizz Fish...
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Rapid removal of fish from deep water to the surface by traditional angling techniques does not allow an ample time for depressurization. Effects of depressurization can include, over inflation of the swim bladder, inability to submerge when released, abnormal swimming behavior, eye bulging, gas bubbles in the blood, organs protruding through the mouth, and death. Other factors include stress of the fish due to a number of issues.
These issues include the following; Time it takes to land a fish, the longer it takes to land the fish, the more stress it experiences, just like us, fish build up lactic acid in their muscles when they use them. This acid is what makes our muscles sore the day after we work them hard. Hooks and lures play a role in stress as the fish that's hooked in the front of the mouth does not have the stress put on them that a fish that swallows the hook, or gets a hook into it's gills. Temperature will also effect the stress level, the warmer the temp the more stress to the fish. If you hook a fish that is in deeper water that is cooler, and you bring it to the surface where the water is much warmer, you will increase the stress level.
Changes in depth rapidly will cause a high level of stress in fish. Fish have a gas bladder that enables them to adjust their buoyancy and depth much like a submarine. Pressure increases as water depth increases. A fish caught in 30 feet of water and is brought to the surface will have it's bladder expand quickly and double in volume putting severe pressure on the internal organs. A fish caught in 60 feet will have a great chance of the bladder protruding out of the mouth and the eyes bulging from the head.
A fish that is unable to swim upright in the water because of high stress and or overinflated bladder, stands a poor chance of survival if released. "Fizzing" is a technique where the gas is released from the bladder by insertion of a needle.
Following are the techniques used to "fizz" a fish.
I prefer the through the mouth technique, but you must be careful as you may puncture the heart. If you have addressed the fish and feel that "fizzing" is needed
hold the fish by the lower lip and look straight down it's mouth, you will see the "crushers" in the back of the throat. Locate the horizontal line formed by the "crushers" and insert the needle just above the line ( see photo) . You will feel a slight pop when you have entered the bladder, submerge the fish under water and watch the gas bubble out. You DO NOT NEED and SHOULD NOT let all the gas escape. You only need to let enough gas out to allow the fish to stay upright on it's own. If you allow all the gas to escape, the fish will not have any buoyancy and will lay at the bottom not being able to swim very well.
The second technique is to "fizz" through the side of the fish. In this technique you must take care not to puncture the kidney or intestine. To complete this technique you will draw a verticle line from the notch formed by the dorsal fins to the anal vent. At the intersection of the lateral line and the line you have drawn you will move down to a point approx. 1/2 inch below the lateral line, at that point, you will lift a scale and insert a needle under the scale at a 45 degree angle towards the fish's head. As you insert the needle you will feel a pop when you enter the bladder, and hear the gas escaping. Hold the fish upside down under the water and watch the gas bubble out. You may be required to gently squeeze or stroke the bladder to use this technique. Again you DO NOT and SHOULD NOT let all the gas escape from the bladder.
Here are a few suggestions to help with your catch
1. Continuously run the boats freshwater aeration system to introduce new, fresh water into the live well
2. Lower the temp in the live well by adding ice, frozen water bottles work well for this
3. Use an oxygen injection system ie. Keep Alive, Oxygen Edge or Pure Oxygen are a few to look at.
4. Add non-iodized salt to your live well to achieve a .05 percent solution.
(approx; 1/3 cup per 5 gallons)
5. The use of water conditioners made for live wells such as Rejuvenade, Please Release Me. Most of these conditioners add compounds to allow the water to hold more oxygen, as well as relax the fish and protect the slime coat.
Hope this will help you with some understanding and ways to keep your fish alive and healthy.
Ron620DVS๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ธ๐ฆ
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YUP all the boats I am ever on at Coast have them as well in Oregon.
Jeremy wrote:
YUP all the boats I am ever on at Coast have them as well in Oregon.
Fizzing actually illegal in some states, could be instructing to break the law
Friends donโt let Friends Fish and Fizz
๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ธ๐ฆ
I guess the best is not to fish more than 12โ deep. That will resolve all of these problems.
Ron620DVS ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ธ๐ฆ
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I have found in lake fishing that crappie are the most effected fish. As they move into the coves and creeks, they stage in 30 to 40 feet of water and if you pull them up from deeper than 30 feet they will die if not fiZZed. U carry several hypo needles on the boat in the spring and simply fizz the crappie at the pertoral fin and that seems to solve the problem. As for the laws, is it better to throw a blown up fish back for certain death of try a procedure that works most of the time?
Jakestake83 wrote:
I have found in lake fishing that crappie are the most effected fish. As they move into the coves and creeks, they stage in 30 to 40 feet of water and if you pull them up from deeper than 30 feet they will die if not fiZZed. U carry several hypo needles on the boat in the spring and simply fizz the crappie at the pertoral fin and that seems to solve the problem. As for the laws, is it better to throw a blown up fish back for certain death of try a procedure that works most of the time?
Itโs not fizz or nothing, Fish descender better, safer option puts them back at depth, recompresses, spend the $6.99 and get better survival rate
https://www.fishermanswarehouse.com/product/shelton-fish-descender
Shutupandfish wrote:
Fizzing actually illegal in some states, could be instructing to break the law
Friends donโt let Friends Fish and Fizz
Anyone ever had a RootBeer FIZZ?
Jeremy wrote:
Anyone ever had a RootBeer FIZZ?
Iโd rather have stock in Fizz, National Beverage Corp. doing well
Oh sure...popping a "biological tissue balloon" is SO VERY GOOD for most any species of any animal. I highly recommend it to those scuba divers who are worried about "the bends"......if the dummies would only carry a big hypodermic needle and poke their lungs on the way up, those nasty bends would not exist.... just common sense, don'tcha agree ?
Hehehe....Ron White Syndrome.....abounds in all walks of society....even fishermen who claim they "know what's 'best' for the fish"......yeah.... sure you do, you educated ichthyologist/physiologist, you.... hehehe.
Ron620DVS wrote:
๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ธ๐ฆ
I guess the best is not to fish more than 12โ deep. That will resolve all of these problems.
Ron620DVS ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ธ๐ฆ
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Correct, if you won't do it right don't do it...
Jakestake83 wrote:
I have found in lake fishing that crappie are the most effected fish. As they move into the coves and creeks, they stage in 30 to 40 feet of water and if you pull them up from deeper than 30 feet they will die if not fiZZed. U carry several hypo needles on the boat in the spring and simply fizz the crappie at the pertoral fin and that seems to solve the problem. As for the laws, is it better to throw a blown up fish back for certain death of try a procedure that works most of the time?
Who says it works "most of the time"? You do your thing, pop it back in the water, and don't have a clue whether it lives or not, of course you like to believe everything was hunky dory....but the reality is you do not have a clue what lives or doesn't.
There is one thing that is certain. If you put it back in the water and it floats on its side it will die, thats a certainty. Fizzing it and watching it swim away is a better signal of success that sudden death.
Hello maybe you missed or didnโt bother with link to venting vs. fish descender but here it is again
https://www.globalfishingreports.com/fish-descender-vs-vent-tool/#:~:text=Using%20a%20fish%20descender%20is%20the%20preferred%20way,the%20area%20becoming%20infected%20and%20the%20fish%20dying.
And a snippet from it
Fish vent tools are one-way that anglers can remove excess air from a fish that is brought up from a deep depth. The hollow needle is inserted into the swim bladder by lifting a scale and then puncturing the fish. Studies that were done in the gulf showed that vent tools were somewhat helpful with survival rates. However, most people now agree that using a fish descender rather than a vent toll leads to much higher survival rates of fish. I would strongly discourage anglers from using vent tools when releasing fish. It is the lazy way to do it and leads to a high mortality rate of the fish. It is much better to use a fish descender and bring the fish back close to its original depth for a proper release.
Cโmon high mortality rate with venting or as high as 98% recovery with descender-what is possibly left to discuss
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