Belly/Fin Weights

[Danny Lang]

OK, I've never heard of this. Forgive my ignorance but what are they used for and how do you use them?

me neither I never heard of these.

[Ketchn]

Crappie in an upright position stand a better chance of staying alive longer in the livewell , they often lay on their side when put in a livewell and expire . Of course you have to want to keep them alive in the first place for this to be a need , have heard of it before is me , never done it

[CrappiePappy]

They are used to keep fish upright. Usually fish caught from deep water get the "bends" and may tend to float upside down in the livewell, stressed fish sometimes float on their side. The weights are clipped onto the anal fin to keep the fish upright AND below the surface of the water in the livewell, so that both gills are underwater.
Fin weights are also used for fish caught from deep water, instead of "fizzing" them (fizzing is running a hypodermic needle into the side of the fish to puncture the air bladder and release the air). Fish brought from deep water, where the atmospheric pressure is greater, will have their air bladder expand as they're brought to the surface, where the atmospheric pressure is less. Sometimes the air bladder can protrude from the fish's mouth when brought to the surface from great depths.

[keeferfish]

Seen them for Bass, never thought about Crappie but I'm taking them home to eat and not a weigh in.

Fin Clip Belly Weights For Bass Care | Southwest Custom Tackle

[ezgoing]

They are used to keep fish upright. Usually fish caught from deep water get the "bends" and may tend to float upside down in the livewell, stressed fish sometimes float on their side. The weights are clipped onto the anal fin to keep the fish upright AND below the surface of the water in the livewell, so that both gills are underwater.
Fin weights are also used for fish caught from deep water, instead of "fizzing" them (fizzing is running a hypodermic needle into the side of the fish to puncture the air bladder and release the air). Fish brought from deep water, where the atmospheric pressure is greater, will have their air bladder expand as they're brought to the surface, where the atmospheric pressure is less. Sometimes the air bladder can protrude from the fish's mouth when brought to the surface from great depths.

Will keeping them in the livewell with the weights allow them to recover so you can release them? This is one of my concerns as I start to fish Lake Washington. Many of the crappie will be found 40-70 foot deep in this water and I do not plan on keeping very many of them. So I have been concerned about how to keep them alive when I release them over the next few months.

[CrappiePappy]

Will keeping them in the livewell with the weights allow them to recover so you can release them? This is one of my concerns as I start to fish Lake Washington. Many of the crappie will be found 40-70 foot deep in this water and I do not plan on keeping very many of them. So I have been concerned about how to keep them alive when I release them over the next few months.

EZ .... I've never used them. Just spouting bits & pieces of info I've picked up over the years. The principal is sound, but not sure about the results. You might check with some of the WA state members and see how they deal with fish caught at those depths.

[Gone Fishin']

Thank you guys, I learned something today!

[slabeye]

Depends on the size of fish. When I fished tourneys I used 1oz 1.5oz and 2oz depending on the size of fish.

[Eagle 1]

one oz. were /are used for bass . Concept was lowered for crappie .

[Ketchn]

EZ .... I've never used them. Just spouting bits & pieces of info I've picked up over the years. The principal is sound, but not sure about the results. You might check with some of the WA state members and see how they deal with fish caught at those depths.

If you reel a deep water crappie up fast , it will blow it's eyes right out of it's head , not sure they can survive that part is me
hence the winter law on fork and few other places where it whacks them so hard they just simply do not recover , first 25 ANY SIZE HAVE to be kept on them lakes .
when fork first opened many moons ago the winter crappie folks would leave a "chum" line of dead crappie in the hundreds of fish that were slightly under the 10-inch min.