Is Bleeding From Gill A Dead Sentence No Matter How Much?

[Loop_Dad]

I went out fishing a couple of days ago before the storm. I don't usually do much deep dive cranking, but that morning I started throwing and it was working well for me. One of the fish got the lure's rear hook on the gill from out side and started bleeding.

 

Is bleeding from gill a automatic death sentence no matter how much? I've heard people cut gill to kill fish. I don't have live well so I let him go, but started to wonder about this.

[OntarioFishingGuy]

Nope. I have caught fish with rusted crankbaits all hooked up in their gills. Certainly not ideal, but it wont necessarily mean that the fish will die.

[Catch and Grease]

Well he has a zero percent chance in a frying pan!

As long as he wasn't pouring blood he should be fine, bass have a small amount of blood so if ones bleeding get him back in the water ASAP so it can clot up and quit

[bighed]

Ive put a few in the live well and by weigh in they were fine as far as I could tell

[South FLA]

From my experience its pretty much a death sentence most of the time. 

[WRB]

If you stop the bleeding right away with Please Release Me powder on the gill racker, put the bass into a livewell with Catch & Release, both Sure Life products, or release the bass and it may survive.

Don't try the Mountain Dew trick, put the bass back in the water without pouring soda in the mouth.

Tom

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

 

Get it back into the water ASAP.  Bass blood coagulates very quickly when in contact with water.

 

Josh

[Fishing Rhino]

No it's not always a death sentence. 

 

I've caught bass with a gill trailing out beyond the gill plate, having been parted at the upper end.  One of them I caught twice, a month apart.

[Driftb]

 

Posted Today, 06:05 PM

No it's not always a death sentence. 

 

I've caught bass with a gill trailing out beyond the gill plate, having been parted at the upper end

Me too.  And I have caught trout with a gill raker hanging out but healed. I think it will be iffy for that fish whether or not he survives, but some of them do.

[OK Bass Hunter]

Pour some Mountain Dew on the bleeding. The citric acid will cause the blood vessels to contract and stem some of the bleeding, giving the bass a chance.

[Catch and Grease]

Pour some Mountain Dew on the bleeding. The citric acid will cause the blood vessels to contract and stem some of the bleeding, giving the bass a chance.

Sorry but this is a load of bull.

You'd have just as good a chance at stopping the blood by pouring water on them. Just get them back in the lake/live well ASAP to stop bleeding

[geo g]

I agree with the posts above. I too have caught health bass with gill injuries that have completely healed. These guys eat some critters that can put up a good fight. I'm sure they get some gill injuries in their normal activities, and survive.

[Fishing Rhino]

Fish blood clots instantly in water.  The next time you catch a bleeding fish, lip it, and place it in the water.  Watch the blood clot instantly when it hits the water.

 

Fish bleed when fighting because the blood does not get a chance to clot, or the hook keeps injuring the tissue causing it to bleed.

 

Get a good lip grip on the fish to stop it from thrashing.  Dip it underwater, then carefully remove the hook to keep damage to a minimum.  Use a long nose instrument, I prefer curved forceps, others like needle nose pliers, for the procedure.

 

Your results will improve with practice, so don't be discouraged if you occasionally butcher the job when you are starting out. 

[jaysen]

this was a question that had been bothering me for a while as well. i have gill hooked trout watching some die and others just rebounding and swimming off. severity of the damage plays a major role.

[FrogTosser88]

Just toss him back.. If he dies, the critters will eat him. Then a bass will eat the critters. Cycle complete

[slonezp]

Tongue hook is a death sentence. That bass goes in the frying pan

[Catch and Grease]

Hooking a fish in the tongue is worrisome, but not an automatic death sentence. Atleast from my experience...

[hoosierbass07]

 I went kayak fishing Sunday and got three small bass.  The largest of those bass were throat hooked.  I was using a 3/0 hook with the barb crushed down.  I've not hooked a bass in the throat since early summer so I was not expecting it and had my long nose pliers behind me in my tackle bag.  So after a minute or two of getting out the pliers and scissors I was able to cut the line and go through the gill to turn the hook on the side and pull it out.  Ever since I did it the first time in early spring I'm getting quicker at it.  I guess I should always have my scissors and pliers handy even when I don't expect to catch any bass.  I really don't know if the bass I've throat hooked and removed the hook from have survived or not.   Thankfully all the bass I have throat hooked have been on the small side.  

[mjseverson24]

if you remove the hook in a timely manner and get it back in the water quickly it should be just fine.

 

Mitch

[Basswhippa]

Pour some Mountain Dew on the bleeding. The citric acid will cause the blood vessels to contract and stem some of the bleeding, giving the bass a chance.

You should never pour Mountain DEw on a bleeding fish.  Sun Drop works a whole lot better.