Lane

Matt, I have caught rock snapper in Alaska at depths between 160ft to 180ft, and they were basically dead when they reached the surface. The eyes were popped out and it looked like a bomb had exploded inside them when we opened them up. I have only seen two largemouth bass with this and both were DOA. Both of the bass were caught at Lake Amistad and the angler reported that they were caught in approximately 75ft of water. We dissected one of them and there was massive internal damage to vital organs. Studies have shown that some saltwater species can be fizzed or vented then released, but probably not the ones with protruding eyes, airbladders, etc.

TommyBass, An exact depth in which barotrauma occurs has NOT been scientifically established, but it seems to occur more often at depths below 45 ft. We have documented bass caught at shallow depths that exihibit the inablity to maintain an upright position. This is frequently associated with shock due to a prolonged capture time. Sometimes a fish will go into shock as the result of capture. Before fizzing a fish we recommend that the fish be placed in a cooled, treated livewell for 20 minutes in order to calm and begin the process of stablilizing blood chemistry such as lactate, glucose and cortisol levels. In many cases, if the fish can be quickly stabilized, fizzing is not necessary. As Mattlures mentioned, you can use the weight method to release a bass that is NOT going to be retained for tournament or photos. That procedure works best if done QUICKLY after fish is landed. While infection can occur from fizzing, the risk is low compared to the mortality associated with barotruama and or shock. FourBiz, I miss you too! I wish that we could have attended the Heavy Weight Bass Classic III, but we are just TOO BUSY. I have way too many irons in the fire! Keep sinking your fish, it works! Lane

First off, If you are going to use my statements as quotations, please do it in an accurate manner, and don't skew what I post. I did NOT make any comments about the Bush Administration or their environmental policies, NOR did I post that I agreed with their environmental policies. I printed the political petition that was sent to us by Sierra Club. We do not appreciate receiving any UNSOLICITATED political material, either to the left or to the right! Second, I did not state that global warming was a theory, I CLEARLY stated the HUMAN INFLUENCE of climatic changes is STILL a theory! Global warming is not the, "controversy", the theory that human influence is to blame is, and scientists are divided over this. Accuracy please. If you would like to believe Sierra Club's statement that their organization has a large membership of hunters and recreational anglers other than flyfishermen targeting trout, so be it. I don't buy it for ONE MINUTE! We support habitat conservation for ALL USER GROUPS, not just hikers! Anglers and hunters fund most of those efforts, NOT SIERRA CLUB. Here a breakdown of funding that Sierra Club included: Influencing PUBLIC POLICY 40.2% Information and Education 11.9% Outdoor Activities 8.7% Membership drives 21.1% Chapter support 0.7% Fundraising affliations 3.7% Fundraising Sierra Club 6.6% General Administration 7.1% Looks like their political wheel is WELL FUNDED! Who did you call a political pundit????? As far as endangered species go, maybe you should check out my bio at, www.sure-life.com I was one of only a handful of scientists in the US granted permission to export CITES Appendix II chameleons from Madagascar. I support conservation for habitat of endangered species within reason in conjunction with good science and stakeholder interests consideration. Closing access to a river due to a few albino salamanders without involvement from all stakeholders, combined with good scientific data is RADICAL! I would also like that our company provides FREE OF CHARGE various chemical formulations to US Fish and Wildlife hatcheries for use on endangered species that assist with survival rates during transport and in treatment of disease. There is a lot of lip service about endangered species, but what about invasive species. Invasive species are the number one threat to aquatic ecosystems. Both myself and my husband spend countless hours working with state and federal biologists on these issues. We have flown to various parts of the country on our OWN DIME to assist with some of these problems. I am not the type of person to be railroaded by personal attacks. Nor do I condone the activities of groups or organizations that put their agendas above the HUMAN life and well being.

Here is a link to an official STATEMENT from Sierra Club and other organizations on the Aminal Liberation Front website. www.animalliberationfront.com/AR_orgs/Wildlife%20Organizations%20Positions%20on%20Hunting.htm Here is the condensed version of Sierra Club's position just in case entire link with not print out. "....We should respect the moral right of all creatures to exist, to maintain basic and successful breeding stock, to have essential habitat protected, to be free of unnecessary predation, persecution, and cruel and unduly confining captivity....regulated sports hunting may have a place for those who choose to pursue it, but there are more pressing concerns..." My guess is that those pressing concerns deal with ENDANGERED SPECIES! UPDATE!!!!!!!! I sent an e-mail to the ASA, and the phone rang within 2 MINUTES. It was Gordon Robertson, who is head of Government Affairs for ASA. I worked with Gordon on many issues in the past. He stated that he DID NOT KNOW that Sierra Club was listed as a member and was SHOCKED! He also stated that Sierra Club's position and actions have been in DIRECT OPPOSITION to the sportfishing industry. He stated that ASA DOES INDEED CONSIDER Sierra Club an animal right group, due to their actions, such as closing of coastal marine areas to sportfishing, closure of roads on FEDERAL LAND (NOT NATIONAL PARKS) that restrict access to recreational fishing opportunities. Gordon called me back again, and stated that Sierra Club applied for membership into the ASA in May and their application HAD NOT BEEN APPROVED! He also stated that is would NOT be approved in the future. For some reason both the ICAST Buyer's Guide (Addendum) and the ASA newsletter had them listed as new members, when they were NOT. He was even MORE SHOCKED about the materials that they sent us. They are going to investigate this matter, to see how they obtained our name and address. We believe that they obtained it through the ICAST Buyer's Guide, even though Sierra Club was not listed as a registered attendee of ICAST, many people are able to obtain badges without the proper credentials. Something that will probably change. IMO, Sierra Club is MORE DANGEROUS than PETA!

BINGO! Now they are members of ASA. At the very least, they will fracture the organization. Here in Texas, we are taking matters into our own hands by getting a petition signed for a consitutional amendment that would protect Texan's right to hunt and fish. I am not going to wait for the other shoe to drop!

Here is the VILE petition that they sent. Petition to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi Petition to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Having failed to outright destry the Endangered Species Act during their more than seven years in office, officials within the Bush Administration are now attempting to greatly weaken this important protective measure by cutting funding for the Act and delisting threatened species like the WOLF. For the benefit of their special interest friends in the oil industry, the logging industry, and commercial development, they are making it more difficult to protect species, while making it easier for these special interests to exploit the habitat of endangered species. I urge you to act, and do everything in your power to thwart efforts by the Bush Administration to weaken and destroy the Endangered Species Act. Thank You, My husbands name and address Sorry, but using our membership to ASA to gain access to our private mailing address is OFFENSIVE to us! I currently agree with the delisting of several species from endangered to threatened including the wolf. This delisting was based upon sound science from wildlife biologists within the US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE. I agree with firefightn15 links that were provided, they don't even stick to their OWN policies, which they STATE are based upon VAILD BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE! AT least with PETA, what you see is what you get!

When you go to the link, go to the left of the page and click on Policy of sporthunting and fishing. I do not support closure of public access due to endangered species, unless absolutely necessary.

Sorry Paul, I disagree, which is my right! While I do support several of the environmental issues, I do NOT support their stance on recreational sportfishing and hunting. I especially do not support their political agenda, and we don't appreciate being spammed by them. I do not support the closing of access roads on federal lands, nor do I support the reintroduction of wolves in certain areas that surround PRIVATE agricultural ranches. Conflicts that result in casualties on both sides have resulted in some of these introductions. I am a scientist, and I do support good management practices, which include sportfishing and hunting to control populations and provide wholesome recreation. There will always be a few bad apples in every group, but most of the public funding for conservation and management comes from sportfishing and hunting. We are the ONLY user group that provides the majority of the funding to support fishery stocking programs, management, and habitat restoration. I used to be a member of Sierra Club ( back in my young and dumb college days), and I was disappointed to learn that a large amount of their funding goes to political candidates. Here is where you can view their position on sportfishing and hunting. www.sierraclub.org/sierrasportsmen/ As a scientist, I do not support their stance on global warming. They present their postition that human influence is responsible for global warming as fact, and in the scientific community it is still considered a theory. With that being said I do support efforts for curtailing emissions due to human health. The jury is still out on global warming, and I for one am not willing to state theory as fact. Last but not least, I am a member of ASA and I seriously doubt that most of us will support their membership.

We are members of the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) which hosts ICAST. We received our ASA newletter yesterday, and Sierra Club is listed as a new member. Thats not all we received. Tony also received a very disturbing envelope from Sierra Club asking him sign a petition that would protect endangered species ON THEIR LIST. They also solicited his membership, they sure didn't waste any time spamming the ASA membership for the disguisting propaganda! The Sierra Club is against most forms of recreational sportfishing, with the exception of fly fishing for trout. They are against ALL hunting on public lands. They opppose tournament angling, live bait angling,etc. The wolf is in the hen house! Their agenda is to fracture the only influential organization that they sportfishing industry has (ASA) with their membership. IMO, this recent event is major blow to recreational sportfishing and the industry! I AM LIVID! >

Roadwarrior, I don't see why not. There will be some open slots after the first 20 in the standing decide if they are coming to Texas. I know for a fact that Butch Brown and Shuan Bailey will be down at Amistad, there are a few others out in California that are working on coming to Texas. Tony wants to fish it, and I am going to be a VTO for the event.

HBC is going national, so Texas is going to be the first stop.

We are very excited about HBC 3! We attended HBC 1 and 2, now it is coming to one of our home lakes! We are national sponsors, but I am going to be a VTO for this event, and I know somebody in my household that wants to fish in the event. Kudos to Ken Huddleston and Ron Cervenka for putting on a great event dedicated to the trophy hunters.

crazy4bass1, No it can't be transmitted to humans, ONLY FISH. I suspect it will make BIG national news if and when it is found in commercial hatcheries down south. It could devastate the commercial hybid striper hatcheries, etc. There has been an ongoing panic within the USDA and other federal agencies about the arrival of this multispecies strain of VHS. It has already forced many state hatcheries up north to cease the stockings of several fish.

Eddie, The VHS virus is indeed serious. My prediction is that it will indeed reach the Mississippi River system. As scientists we have kept up with the virus and it's spread since 2005. The deadly VHSV is the reason why we introduced a new formula that includes two disinfectants known to kill viral particles in hauling containers such as bait buckets, livewells and hauling tanks. The collapse of the ecosystem in the Great Lakes due to environmental pollution and invasive species make that body of water prime for various pathogens. Many species of fish have found to have lowered immune responses that are linked to changes in the ecosystem. While I don't think we can STOP the spread or even further mutations of the virus, but hopefully we can slow down the spread. This will give biologists and fisheries managers time to strengthen the forage base and ecosystem in public waters. Healthy fish with good immune systems can develop antibodies against the virus faster. Anglers need to do their part by making sure that boats and equipment are disinfected, clean and dry after EACH USE. You are right, the VHSV in fish can be likened to the Ebola Virus in humans.

The chances of survival are probably slim, but this has happened to most all of us at some point in time. As others have suggested, crimping or cutting the barb is the best thing to do. I use a device called the HookEater that cuts the barb. The magnet removes the metal barb. Hooks do not rust out, so it is best to remove the hook. There have been various articles written about this based upon scientific studies. Noted biologist Ralph Manns wrote a very good article on hook removal and why it should be done. Even when we are fun fishing, we always have a livewell ready for emergency situations. If you have a bleeder, place the fish in a cooled livewell with either Catch And Release or Please Release Me. Both of these formulas can be put directly on the area that is bleeding as well. The ice and the chemicals will work together to stop the bleeding. After the bleeding stops, let fish recover for at least 30 minutes before releasing. I like devices that can quickly cut the barb so that the fish does not have to endure the stress of prolonged handling. The HookEater is not a cheap tool, but IMO well worth the cost. Here a link for more information on the HookEater. http://www.hookeater.com