A Question Regarding Swim Bladders

[vic n]

I read an article espousing puncturing the swim bladder of fish brought to the boat from deep water. I guess it wouldn't be illegal if the fish is legally caught and going into the livewell, so I guess my question is more along the lines of whether the practice is frowned at by biologists? Or is it actually helping the fish stay alive after being brought up?

As a diver, I know the dangers to humans who surface too quickly. In severe cases, the Decompression Illness results in what is known as "the bends".....but there are several forms of DCI that are less severe, but still serious. I understand the science for people.....what about fish?

That brings up another related question.....If the fisherman wants to release the fish immediately, would he be breaking the law (fish must be released "unharmed"), if he punctured the air bladder? But the fisherman believes the fish won't survive unless he does this.

Thanks!

[springhillwantabe]

that's why I don't like to fish deep summer or winter somewhere I saw where they had weighted clips to keep the fish upright in livewell after a while the bladder regulates it's self remove clips fish swims away?? still would not work if they were the dinks??

[beagle man]

good question

[Jigging15]

Interesting post. Can't wait for results.

[G.Gordon]

The parallel between the fish and humans is a non-issue. I haven't heard of any of us bringing up crappie from below 35'. A diver can surface from that depth without fear of anything other than being ran over by another dive boat.

It is a good question, I have wondered as well about the "bladder puncture" practice for fish preservation.

[south point]

I have heard the same question regarding catching catfish in deeper water water. some guys use a plastic hypodermic needle, more or less a "worm puffer" needle, and suck the air out of the fishes swim bladder. I sometimes fish in holes in the river nearing 50 ft deep but for cats the trick is to bring them up slowly, a few feet at a time then let them swim around some then reel up a few more feet and so on. when they get up to around 10-15 feet deep they start burping bubbles out, this is the air sack decompressing air. I don't know if this would work for crappies or not, but my catfish almost always take right off when I release them. the ones that don't get released into grease...

[sbrooks1985]

They recommend against it here in ca. Something about it causing infection and the fish end up dying. There's clips that you can use to send them down that release when you jerk the rod, or some use milk crates weighted upside down.

[MOfishmgr]

The practice is known as fizzing among anglers catching bass deep in Table Rock. They use a hypodermic needle to release air from the swim bladder. However, there are probably more botched attempts than there are successful ones. The best practice is to retreive deep caught fish slowly to the surface. We sometimes set trap nets deep in the fall and if we bring the net up too quick the crappie can have a hard time getting back down to depth. Just take your time getting them in and they'll be fine. If they are floating on the surface, they usually recover in 5 to 10 minutes. The faster you retrieve them the more likely they are to die. Generally, you don't have to worry about it until you're 25 feet down or more.

[vic n]

The parallel between the fish and humans is a non-issue. I haven't heard of any of us bringing up crappie from below 35'. A diver can surface from that depth without fear of anything other than being ran over by another dive boat.

It is a good question, I have wondered as well about the "bladder puncture" practice for fish preservation.

The "parallel" is that in both SCUBA divers and fish, gas (air) that is compressed by one atmosphere for every 10' of depth, expands as the depth decreases. If not done slowly, it causes problems.

[vic n]

CORRECTION........gas is compressed by one atmosphere for every 33' of depth. Sorry