Air bladders

[JoshS]

Has anyone ever had to fizz a big pike or musky? I caught some big pike at a pike tourny a few weeks ago and one fish looked like it needed to be fizzed. I did not want to mess around poking holes into the fish, nor did the tourny members (or they didn't want to show us to bump us down!). I guess I should of at least tried because the fish had to be given away for dinner unfortunately. It was in the livewell for 30 mins and went on a 15 minute run in the boat back to the weigh-in.

 

I've heard of this happening to musky too however it hasn't happened to me yet. I'd love to know what to do if it does.

 

Has this happened to anyone and what do you do if it does?

[BillM]

What was the depth of water it came out of? I wouldn't think the bladder would be expanded if it came out of shallow water. This usually only happens to fish that come out of the deep stuff.

[esoxansteel]

When fish are hooked in deep water, and come to the surface quickly, the air bladder will expand, and not expell the air that it needs to as it comes up through the water column, hence lake trout will usually burp as they come to the surface, but other fish ie esox might not be able to expell the air they need to during the fight to the net, this can happen any time fish are hooked in deep water, and come to the surface too fast, whether its the fish or the angler. The longest musky I caught in the Kawarthas came to the surface, immediately after the trolling rip, in 55 degree water in October, and swam across the surface as the bloated airbladder wouldnt allow the fish to dive, and fight as she normally would have, ultimately leading to her demise after almost 90 minutes of trying to revive. I was running a 10 inch believer on wire at about 25 feet over 75 feet of water, which ive done many times before with no release issues, this fish just immediately bolted to the surface, unlike the others.

 

 

[Roy]

This had nothing to do with its bladder. The stress of the fight and the 45 minutes in the well..15 of which were very bumpy will do it. I don't recommend that anyone try to fizz any fish.

[JoshS]

The fish came off an edge, probably was sitting at depths over 15ft. Water temps were around 68 that day.

 

The stress from the livewell and boat ride probably did it in however the reason why I thought it was a bladder issue was because the fish tried to swim down numerous times but would come back belly up, it definitely looked like it had a belly full of air. It still had a lot of kick in it coming out of the livewell and weigh-in was quick. Still going to have to re-think that tourny and making the run to weigh in the big ones before it's too late.

[craigdritchie]

The practice of "fizzing" fish should be outlawed. Most "fizzed" fish die within a few days of being released, partly due to the additional rough handling they receive, partly from the extra time spent out of the water, and partly from having some clueless idiot who's convinced they can perform fish surgery in a rocking boat poke a dirty hypodermic into the thing's liver, kidney, stomach or spine while blindly searching for the swim bladder.

 

Sad, but true.

Edited June 18, 2012 by Craig_Ritchie

[Terry]

15ft will not cause a problem with fish

it takes more then one atmosphere to have the air bladder expand enough to cause a problem

[misfish]

During my pro/am bass fishing,I watched the pros fizz bass. This was on Simcoe and Erie. The fish swam right down. I was amazed how well they treated the bass while doing this.

 

Seems to be a common practice from what I seen and heard.

 

 

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[mike rousseau]

I've fizzed fish and from what I can tell it works...

 

Got a 30 inch walleye jigging in 45 feet of water...

 

Bladder came up... So I "fizzed" it with a needle I keep in my box... Fish stayed alive and well and upright in my livewell for several hours before I figured it would survive... When it was released it took off like a bullet...

 

I've also done it with smaller fish I wanted to keep alive till I was done fishing... Works fine...

 

 

Mind you I hope I never have to do it again on a big fish... But I wasn't gunna eat a 30 inch walleye... So I figured there was no harm in trying...

[JoshS]

Sounds like it's a bad idea. I am thinking this would be a very last resort if necessary.

 

What do you do if the fish cannot swim back down? Anything that can be done to help?