02-19-2003, 04:44 PM
[cool]Have taken lots of fish from water deep enough to result in the expanded bladder. The aforementioned deep water rockfish situation is fairly common on the California fishing boats. I have also dredged up a bunch or largemouth from winter depths while spooning in several lakes...including Deer Creek. Largemouths and smallmouths both develop the protruding bladder syndrome. Yellow perch from the depths of Deer Creek and Yuba also get floaty.
I was told by a fisheries biologist in California that the preferred method of releasing the expanded air in a fish's bladder was with a small hollow needle. But, he said that a quick small puncture with a sharp knife point will serve almost as well. It will allow the fish to return to the depths, and the small opening will heal closed quickly, with no loss of blood or permanent trauma to the fish. I verified this to my own satisfaction by catching previously released perch from about 50 feet beneath the ice on Deer Creek. Several re-catches were easily recognizable by unique anatomical features, and the remaining hook holes in their lips...as well as the fact that on their second trip out of the hole they did not have a protruding bladder.
I have used a hollow needle when I had one, but have used the knife point on many other occasions, with no visible casualties...even when deep spooning in open water. A small hole in the air bladder is less damaging than floating on the water, waiting for Utah's state bird to find the fish...or some freezer filler who doesn't care where the fish comes from.
One of the deep water species off the California coast that apparently suffers no harm from depressurization is the ling cod. You can bring them up from 200 feet or more and they can turn around and swim all the way back to the bottom, without having to release a swollen air bladder.
[signature]
I was told by a fisheries biologist in California that the preferred method of releasing the expanded air in a fish's bladder was with a small hollow needle. But, he said that a quick small puncture with a sharp knife point will serve almost as well. It will allow the fish to return to the depths, and the small opening will heal closed quickly, with no loss of blood or permanent trauma to the fish. I verified this to my own satisfaction by catching previously released perch from about 50 feet beneath the ice on Deer Creek. Several re-catches were easily recognizable by unique anatomical features, and the remaining hook holes in their lips...as well as the fact that on their second trip out of the hole they did not have a protruding bladder.
I have used a hollow needle when I had one, but have used the knife point on many other occasions, with no visible casualties...even when deep spooning in open water. A small hole in the air bladder is less damaging than floating on the water, waiting for Utah's state bird to find the fish...or some freezer filler who doesn't care where the fish comes from.
One of the deep water species off the California coast that apparently suffers no harm from depressurization is the ling cod. You can bring them up from 200 feet or more and they can turn around and swim all the way back to the bottom, without having to release a swollen air bladder.
[signature]