beyond fizzing for deep bass....

cedwong · Post by **cedwong** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 3:24 pm

I wanted to see what others thought about the possibility of DCS (decompression sickness) in fish. AS a former recreational scuba diver, I find this particulary interesting, especially with all the posts and articles about care of deep bass and fizzing. Any of you divers or pilots are particularly encouraged to reply.

DCS occurs when you surface from depth too fast. Dissolved gases in the blood form bubbles and can block blood flow to muscles, brain or other vital organs. The only way to get rid of them is to go back to pressure so that the air bubbles can dissolve again. This can happen in fish or humans. the way divers minimize this risk is to ascend slowly. WE can apply this to fish too.

Using a diver rule, I submit that a fish caught at depth (and I mean deeper than 30 feet) should be retrieved at a rate at less than 1 foot per second. for example, a fish caught at 50 feet should be landed in 50 or more seconds; 70 feet -> 70 or more seconds to bring to the surface; etc.

I feel that it is something that we can do, in addition to fizzing, to preserve our resource. so you may loose a fish occasionally. A lost fish has a better chance to survive than a caught one....

As in a prior post, science is not clear regarding fish and DCS (it is regarding air bubble in blood and depth). Who is going to pay for research on that? but unless we hear otherwise, it is another way that we can help save more fish.

Thoughts?

RogerB · Post by **RogerB** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 6:01 pm

In his excellent book, Knowing Bass, (The Lyons Press, 2002), noted fisheries biologist Dr. Keith A. Jones says, on Page 255, about bass caught from depths of 33 feet or more causing them to have grossly distended swimbladders:
"If no damage is apparent, you might be able to depressurize the swimbladder by inserting a hollow needle through the flank."

He explains that the visible damage might be when "the bladder protrudes out the mouth."

Since the distention occurs in the swimbladder, not the lungs, could it be that DCS is not a problem? If it were, I would have expected Dr. Jones to elaborate on that, since he was discussing how to minimize the stress induced on bass from angling, from such stressors as confining them in a livewell, for example. He did not mention DCS as a stressor.

And, your point is an excellent one...we bass anglers could probably do a better job of protecting the resource if we paid more attention to possible stressors like DCS.

mark poulson · Post by **mark poulson** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 7:21 pm

Your idea sounds like a good one. But I would guess that fish, unlike humans, are designed for depth changes. That's why they have an "adjustable" swim bladder. They probably don't suffer the bends, or they wouldn't be able to chase prey to different levels, or evade bigger fish. But it wouldn't hurt to reel deep fish in more slowly. They typically pull down, anyway, so keeping tension shouldn't be a problem.

sTony · Post by **sTony** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:26 pm

Problem is you can retrieve as slow you want but when a fish starts charging towards the surface you've just lost all control. I've had this happen more times then I can count. I like to bring fish up slowly but sometimes they just don't allow that to happen.

sTony

JW Wheat · Post by **JW Wheat** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:02 am

We here about fizzing all the time. Hank Parker did a show not to long ago which he demonstrated a new technique in which you insert a needle through the mouth. You hit the swim bladder everytime.
Has anyone done this? If you can you please ellaborate on how it is done.
This technique is far better and safer than sticking the fish in the side and guessing.

Jon

mark poulson · Post by **mark poulson** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:21 am

cedwong · Post by **cedwong** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 3:29 pm

Good input! thanks!

Yeah, those fish that swim up from deep we can't help. all you can do is keep tight lines!!

that is an interesting point....if a suspended fish 30+ feet deep comes up to nail a spook, then maybe it doesn't get bent the way we can. I think the key is....the fish is swimming up. we are not pulling her up (at least, not too fast!!!)

for those deep fish swimming deeper, I would still bring her up slower (just in case, and it usually is within my control to do so).

Mark Langner · Post by **Mark Langner** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:25 pm

JW Wheat wrote:We here about fizzing all the time. Hank Parker did a show not to long ago which he demonstrated a new technique in which you insert a needle through the mouth. You hit the swim bladder everytime.
Has anyone done this? If you can you please ellaborate on how it is done.
This technique is far better and safer than sticking the fish in the side and guessing.

Jon

Yes Jon, you can go through the mouth. I've only had to "fizz" fish a few times and so I'm not so accustomed to doing it that I can describe it particularly well but I'll try.

You open the bass' mouth...and in the back of their throat above their gullet (entry to stomach) there is sort of a notched area....reminds me of seeing two bumps side by side in the back of their throat towards the top...you stick the needle in the middle between the bumps ..... pushing straight back. You do this with the fish below the water surface so that you see the bubbles come out of the needle. It works great and you don't go insane trying to figure out where in the hell to stick the darn needle in the side.

Mark

JW Wheat · Post by **JW Wheat** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 7:18 am

Mark,

Thanks!

Like you, I am not good at fizz'n fish. I saw this demonstrated on Hank Parkers show, but forgot thedetails. You definately do not miss the swimbladder this way, and you do not harm the fish as you might doing it the old way.

Jon

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 6:46 pm

So far in any of the studies I have reviewed or participated in, I have not heard of a case of bass developing decompression sickness. Likewise, I have not been able to correlate or document an incidence in which slowly playing a bass has decreased swim bladder distention, or delayed mortality.

As sTony has noted, often the bass rockets to the surface and doesn't give one a chance to play the fish slowly. Maybe this is good for survival in that the swim bladder takes time to "inflate" after the pressure reduction...getting the bass back into the water quickly may allow it to return to the depths that prevent excessive bladder distention.

Not saying DCS doesn't happen, but to date I'm not aware of any documented case that applies to bass. It is an interesting point, and I wish that states would spend more Sport Fishing Restoration Act monies to study topics like this.