Fizzing A 4.5+ Largemouth

[soopd]

My fishing partner caught 2 fish from 30' of water. When He released them they floated on there side. He ried everything to get them to go down. he put them in his livewell.

i showed up a couple of hours latet to fish with him and they were about dead. I have witnessed the procedure numerous times on smaller fish but never on fish this large.

I tried fizzing the fish without any luck. I even watched the Doug Hannob video before I tried the procedure.

What changes on bigger fish? Do you go in closer to the fin?

[Bluebasser86]

Nothing changes that I've ever noticed except it's a larger area on bigger fish. More than likely they were just too far gone by the time you got there. Another way you can do it is to take a heavy weight (heavy enough to pull the fish to the bottom). Rig a hook above the weight like a big dropshot and pinch the barb down. Wrap the line around the hook shank several times until the line is down to the bend of the hook and the hook is upside down (so the point is actually pointing towards the weight. Then you can put the hook down through the fish's top lip and lower it to the bottom. Once the weight hits bottom you should be able to give the line a quick jerk and the hook will pop out and hopefully the fish will be back to the right water pressure so it doesn't float back up again. I know there is a company that makes a tool that is the weight and hook combined but can't think of the name of it at the moment. I think it's designed more for lake trout but it works for bass also. 

[WRB]

Get a 12 oz torpedo weight, tie or clip onto your line, put the weight into the basses mouth push down the throat about 1" so it doesn't fall out, then lower the bass down to about 30. Now lift the rod up firmly and reel up the weight., the bass will come off the weight and stay down.

You must release or needle the bass as soon as possible, before they become over stressed.

Tom

[J Francho]

 

You must release or needle the bass as soon as possible, before they become over stressed.

 

This is absolutely CRITICAL to successfully releasing deep water fish.

[buzzed bait]

Question about this topic, would bringing the fish up slower make a difference?  Just wondering if this is a natural thing that can't be avoided or if you could slow the ascent of the fish down to avoid this problem?

[gobig]

Make sure that the needle is clean and not plugged. 

[J Francho]

Question about this topic, would bringing the fish up slower make a difference?  Just wondering if this is a natural thing that can't be avoided or if you could slow the ascent of the fish down to avoid this problem?

 

No, immediate release or fizzing are the only remedies.

[Kevin22]

Question about this topic, would bringing the fish up slower make a difference?  Just wondering if this is a natural thing that can't be avoided or if you could slow the ascent of the fish down to avoid this problem?

 

 

Yes, you can reel them up slowly to avoid it. But it will take you 30 minutes to an hour to reel up the fish. 

[soopd]

What about the flip clips? Has anyone had success using them first?

[WRB]

Bass fool over for a few reasons, the number 1 being over stressed, weighted fins do nothing for stress but add more.

Tom