Thank Scott Shambre! For this information on fizzing.

[Kelly Ripa]

DaKine had a great question on his earlier post about the other more accurate method of needling or "fizzing" your fish. You need to go to the photos page of this website and scroll down until you find Scott's post titled " Any deep clearwater lake". There you will find a detailed illustration of how to take care of your deep water fish. It is really a great post and I have printed it out and carry a copy with me for the further edjumication of anglers who need to learn this technique when I'm giving my weekly spoon lesson.

[Brian D.]

Rip, can you post a link to it...for the life of me I can't find it. I went thru the list 2x. Uhg.

Mucho

[macinckirk]

Here you go

http://www.westernbass.com/scalifornia/ ... ml?id=3270

Oh and Thanks Scott this looks like the easy way and I like easy as long as it works

[DeltaBound]

Brian, you can find a real detailed PDF file on Fizzing here >>>http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/pubs/Fizzing.pdf

[Kelly Ripa]

I think the through the throat method is best as you can't hit any vital organs that way. How many guys have you seen skewer the fish with a neddle? I don't have this problem to often as I release immediately but I am a usta wuzer so I thought this might be timely for the deep fish that are about to start coming over the side at a tournament near you real soon!

[Scott Shambre]

This technique like anything else takes practice. If you go out and practice the throat technique, killing fish while fizzin' them will become a thing of the past. I must say though, I have eaten a few while getting the hang of it, so get out and practice a little.

Glad to be of help to everyone that fishes deep, this is a skill that needs to be passed on to anyone that catches these fish out of 20+ ft. of water. If they're floating in the well and you caught them deep, they need your help. If we don't take the time to learn this thinking that;

"Oh someone at the weigh stage will help me".

Then we are gonna kill alot of fish. Catch one deep early in the day and drag him around all day in the livewell floating like that and I guarentee that fish will be dead when you weigh it no matter what the guys at the weigh stage do.

Scott Shambre
FOLSOM BASS LEAGUE
www.folsombassleague.com

[Scott Shambre]

This technique like anything else takes practice. If you go out and practice the throat technique, killing fish while fizzin' them will become a thing of the past. I must say though, I have eaten a few while getting the hang of it, so get out and practice a little.

Glad to be of help to everyone that fishes deep, this is a skill that needs to be passed on to anyone that catches these fish out of 20+ ft. of water. If they're floating in the well and you caught them deep, they need your help. If we don't take the time to learn this thinking that;

"Oh someone at the weigh stage will help me".

Then we are gonna kill alot of fish. Catch one deep early in the day and drag him around all day in the livewell floating like that and I guarentee that fish will be dead when you weigh it no matter what the guys at the weigh stage do.

Scott Shambre
FOLSOM BASS LEAGUE
www.folsombassleague.com

[Brian D.]

I got the lateral line fizzing technique down pretty good, but want to try a new method. I have a handy fizzing diagram decal (that I got from the BBAC) in my boat. This illustration seems to show good detail as well.

[Scott Shambre]

<img src="/shared/photos/photos/resized/3270_resized.jpg">


Scott Shambre

[DAKINE198]

I think I asked this question before but I don't think I got a response is there a certain angle that the needle has to go in and how deep? I've tried it a couple of times with limited success then I fizzed one and blood came out and I went back to the lateral line ever since.

[mark poulson]

A club member showed us an alternate technique to fizzing.
You put the fish in the livewell after weighin, relaunch and move out to 20+' of water, gently bent the lead weight from a bouy over their lower lip so it is like a clamp, lower them down to depth, and then shake the lead loose from their lip. It worked at Cachuma.
Someone else mentioned putting a heavy torpedo sinker directly into their mouths, lowering them, and then shaking them off. I haven't tried that, so I don't know if it works.

[JeffJ]

Yea the heavy torpedo wieght works great! I have been using it for most of this year especially on bigger fish. All you do is lower the torpedo weight (10oz's) down into the throat of the fish. You will be amazed at how easy it slides in. Then lower the fish slowly down to the bottom. You will feel the line from the bouy start to move around as that is the fish. Then gentle lift and the fish will spit up the weight! This is the best method I have used! This was taught to me by the makers of the Stocker Trout, the Thigpin's in Santa Paula.

[DAKINE198]

But what about if your in a tourny? I can see doing it if I was fun fishing.

[JeffJ]

Of course you can't use this method for tourney fishing. But if you don't want to kill a big toad this is the best method. I find it hard to needle a fish over 10lbs thru the side. Maybe its due to there size and the short length of the needle. I haven't tried thru the mouth yet but will in a tourney in order to help keep my big fish alive.

[Scott Shambre]

That technique will not work for a fish that you have caught in a tournament at 8 AM and it is now 3 PM weigh-in time. The damage to that fish has been done by dragging it around bloated all day.

For tournament anglers......
Learn to pop your fish, place the fish in the well and after about 10-15 minutes that fish should be good and bloated. Take out your needle and bleed the air out then, DO NOT WAIT!!!!!! If you carry that bloated fish around all day without helping it out, it is gonna die no matter what you do at weigh-in time.

Scott Shambre

[mark poulson]

*NM*

[Big Ed]

Will somebody who has used this technique successfuly answer the question if there is a certain angle that the needle has to go in and approx how deep? I have lost a few recently and would appreciate an answer to the above question. Thank you in advance for your reply.

[mark poulson]

Scott,
It looks from this illustration that you penetrate the lining of the mouth, above the throat hole, between the crushers. Is that right?

<img src="/shared/photos/photos/resized/3270_resized.jpg">


Scott Shambre

[Scott Shambre]

Sometimes you can go straight thru the gullet too, but I usually go just above the opening.

Scott Shambre

[mark poulson]

Does this work for all floaters, or just those that are really bloated?
I worry that I may hit something vital if the swim bladder isn't really pushed forward.

[Big Ed]

Is the gullet the white part that kind of looks like a clean 'a' hole? That is an honest question, not a funny one. I never heard of a gullet before? Would you penetrate the gullet up towards the top near those chompers as well? This topic has been an educational topic for me and it is someting i can pass on to others. Ive been there to often when not only mine but the other guys around me were unsure how to fizz their fish correctly while others who said they knew did not have success in fizzing a bass from the side in the livewell. Does it help any if you are able to accomplish this task with the fishes mouth under water? Thanks again, this is why i read these forums, to learn. Sometimes i feel like alot of these topics are for the "in the click" guys only. Im just a regular family man who has fun as a club fisherman and enjoys competition and occasionaly pulls a rabbit from the hat at the weigh in. The club i am in competes at a very high level and occasionally we lose a fish or two upon release due to this problem like we did last month at El Cap. I am however very serious about protecting our fishery. Thanks, Big Ed!

[MikeD]

his topic has been an educational topic for me and it is someting i can pass on to others. Ive been there to often when not only mine but the other guys around me were unsure how to fizz their fish correctly while others who said they knew did not have success in fizzing a bass from the side in the livewell.

<snip..>

I am however very serious about protecting our fishery. Thanks, Big Ed!

Big Ed,

Look at it this way - you've got nothing to lose really, if you don't pop the fish its as good as dead after being in the live well all day upside down since the mortality rate is near 100%. While some may be alive when you release them the internal damage has been done and they will perish after a few hours. not a very compassionate way to go, lots of suffering involved.

Even if you don't know what you are doing - if you at least make the attempt to pop the fish you may get lucky and worst case you'll learn what not to do next time.

So again, nothing to lose. print the pictures and take them with you on the boat, have a needle, knowledge comes from experience.

[tunaman]

Last Saturday, while pre-fishing DVL, I found a 4# floater by the saddle dam... looked like someone caught it deep and kept it in the well for a while, then finally decided to cut it loose after the point of no return. It was severely bloated, and didn't show any real signs of life, but it's eyes were still bright and I thought I might have seen some weak fin movement so I decided to try to fizz it and see if it would recuperate in my livewell. No such luck...

It is such as sad thing to see, and what a waste. At least they could have taken it back to the ramp and given it to someone to clean and cook, since it was toast.