How long will bass live out of water / fish handling

[mvanstr]

Just curious as to how to keep fish alive and healthy while still getting pictures and weight ect... 

[Paul Roberts]

Depends on water temp, depth pulled from, and condition of the particular fish. But LMB in particular have been found to be surprisingly anoxia resistant. They can suffer pretty severe 02 deficits and handle it.

 

Of course it's best to handle fish reasonably carefully: keeping them in oxygenated water as much as possible, not compromising the slime layer too much, not squeezing small fish to protect inner organs, not torquing mouth tendons (esp on large fish).

 

Post-spawn is an especially stressful time when fish could be most vulnerable. They only live so long, but I have seen fish I thought were goners turn up the next year fat and healthy.

 

I like my fish and so I'm respectful. Guess that's my bottom line on fish handling -whether I'm going to release them or eat them.

 

 

[Scarborough817]

how long can you hold your breath? generally that's what i use as a rule of thumb

[IndianaFinesse]

Try to get them back in the water as fast as you can, but most studies indicate that it often takes 10+ minutes to build up dangerous levels of CO2 and ph in the blood.

[Sword of the Lord]

1 hour ago, Scarborough817 said:

how long can you hold your breath? generally that's what i use as a rule of thumb

Horrible reasoning in my opinion. I've had gut hooked fish out of the water for upwards of 5-10 minutes while I work hard to remove the hook, and then when I put them back, they splash and swim off ferociously. You and I would be dead at that point, or at least unconscious.

[kiteman]

37 minutes ago, Sword of the Lord said:

Horrible reasoning in my opinion. I've had gut hooked fish out of the water for upwards of 5-10 minutes while I work hard to remove the hook, and then when I put them back, they splash and swim off ferociously. You and I would be dead at that point, or at least unconscious.

i'm with this guy.  i don't like killing fish even though i love the way they taste.  my pond is just too small to take many, so i try not to.  but i gut hook them and i know if i don't pull the hook they will die.  i've had many that die.  but sometimes, especially the little ones who seem quite tough, may take a deep hook and 5-10minutes i remove the nasty hook and they still swim off and i don't see them floating 15 minutes later.  usually the ones i return i see floating a big later.  throw a topwater and take them home

 

the biggest issue is bleeding.  i think if you don't harm a fish on the hookset then it will probably be OK out of water for some time.  but, for me, i throw them back or if they are over 3lbs, set them back in the water almost immediately. conceptually catching a fish has to be extremely tough on them.  it might be the equivalent of you being chased only to have your nose and mouth taped up for 2 minutes before being let go.  i'm sure it's no fun, so i try to be nice to the fish i choose to catch another day

[Scarborough817]

37 minutes ago, Sword of the Lord said:

Horrible reasoning in my opinion. I've had gut hooked fish out of the water for upwards of 5-10 minutes while I work hard to remove the hook, and then when I put them back, they splash and swim off ferociously. You and I would be dead at that point, or at least unconscious.

it's just my opinion i know they will be okay for longer but i tend to worry more the longer i have them out of the water 

[Turtle135]

I strive to keep them out of the water for no more than 15 seconds. I have a Fish Grip on a paracord tether attached to my kayak. For our kayak tournaments I will clip them on and let them swim while I get my camera, identifier and Hawg Trough ready to go. While a bass may swim off you never know if that fish has been over stressed with the fight and handling and die later.

 

[riverbasser]

no idea for sure but ive had bass that I was sure would live, die, and bass I thought would die, live.

[Hog Basser]

3 hours ago, riverbasser said:

no idea for sure but ive had bass that I was sure would live, die, and bass I thought would die, live.

^^^This

I just try to get them back in a reasonable amount of time while making sure to remove the hook properly. 

[Angry John]

I am all with the reasonable time thing.  If I have a hook to remove I hold them in the water until I am ready.  High water temps have them stressed already so in the dog days I don't even bother with a picture unless they are over 4.

[Paul Roberts]

3 hours ago, Hog Basser said:

^^^This

I just try to get them back in a reasonable amount of time while making sure to remove the hook properly. 

Man, this is an important point. Knowing how, and taking the time, to take the hooks out without undue trauma to mouth parts is a big one for me. Too many mangled jaws in my waters. Doesn't have to happen.

1 hour ago, Angry John said:

I am all with the reasonable time thing.  If I have a hook to remove I hold them in the water until I am ready.  High water temps have them stressed already so in the dog days I don't even bother with a picture unless they are over 4.

If I have to take extra time I'll do this too.

 

[papajoe222]

8 hours ago, Sword of the Lord said:

Horrible reasoning in my opinion. I've had gut hooked fish out of the water for upwards of 5-10 minutes while I work hard to remove the hook, and then when I put them back, they splash and swim off ferociously. You and I would be dead at that point, or at least unconscious.

Don't let yourself be fooled just because that fish swam off.  Odds are that fish went belly up in no time. Two minutes is the longest I'd ever keep a bass out of the water.  If it's going to take longer, I'll cut the line and let the fish rest in the live well before I attempt to remove the hook again.  That being said, I can't recall it ever taking more time than that.

[Bluebasser86]

13 hours ago, Sword of the Lord said:

Horrible reasoning in my opinion. I've had gut hooked fish out of the water for upwards of 5-10 minutes while I work hard to remove the hook, and then when I put them back, they splash and swim off ferociously. You and I would be dead at that point, or at least unconscious.

I've seen deer take an arrow throw both lungs run 4 football fields at a dead sprint before expiring. Probably dead before they even stopped running but operating on pure adrenaline. Animals have a survival instinct to get away from dangerous situations, even when mortally wounded.

 

14 hours ago, Scarborough817 said:

how long can you hold your breath? generally that's what i use as a rule of thumb

This is the same I try to do. If I need to work a hook out of fish, I'll dip them back in the water for a moment between trying to get the hook out, although it rarely takes more than a few seconds to remove even the worse hooked fish if I have the proper tools with me. 

[JustJames]

Last time I gutted hook fish, take me not longer than 5 mins to remove the hook, in the between I dipped the fish back in water a few time. I saw no blood and the fish swam off just fine. I continued to fish the same cove for another 30 mins or so and heard some splash close to shore line. I went in and sure enough it was the same bass laying sideways.

[gim]

On ‎9‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 11:19 AM, Sword of the Lord said:

Horrible reasoning in my opinion. I've had gut hooked fish out of the water for upwards of 5-10 minutes while I work hard to remove the hook, and then when I put them back, they splash and swim off ferociously. You and I would be dead at that point, or at least unconscious.

I think your 5-10 minutes is a ridiculous exaggeration.  There's no way you kept a fish completely out of the water for 10 whole minutes and then returned it to the water and it swam off ferociously.  5 minutes is an absurd amount to keep a fish out of water, 10 minutes is incomprehensible.

 

The longest I have fish out of water is MAYBE 30-60 seconds.  I prefer to not even weigh fish unless they are noticeably heavy and normally I measure them instead.

 

[WRB]

As a general rule not any longer then 1 to 2 minutes without putting the bass back into well oxygenated water. Bass can't breath air, it must be dissolved in the water to breath. 

Every second the bass is out of water it can't breath, how long it takes that particular bass to suffocate depends on the health condition of the fish at that moment.

Really big bass tend to get stressed very quickly from being caught and need TLC from the moment it's out of water. I have had big bass roll over after 30 seconds of being caught and it can take a lot of effort to get them to swim upright. I keep a weighted 10' long stringer with stainless steel clip to revive big bass, rarely put them in a livewell until I know the are OK and usually release as soon as they are swimming upright and have good color.

 Bass between 1 to 5 lbs are tough and more likely to survive poor handling by the anglers but those arn't the fish being weighed and photographed and shown off to other anglers.

Tom

[Sword of the Lord]

4 hours ago, gimruis said:

I think your 5-10 minutes is a ridiculous exaggeration.  There's no way you kept a fish completely out of the water for 10 whole minutes and then returned it to the water and it swam off ferociously.  5 minutes is an absurd amount to keep a fish out of water, 10 minutes is incomprehensible.

 

The longest I have fish out of water is MAYBE 30-60 seconds.  I prefer to not even weigh fish unless they are noticeably heavy and normally I measure them instead.

 

It's not an exaggeration at all. I use Gammy octopus hooks for wacky rigging. Those things can be brutal when they swallow them. Once in s blue moon I'll have a fish out for a long time trying to get it out. Just a few days ago I had one like that. My buddy and I were floored when it took off like a bat out of hell immediately.

[Marshfly]

On 9/16/2017 at 6:54 PM, Sword of the Lord said:

It's not an exaggeration at all. I use Gammy octopus hooks for wacky rigging. Those things can be brutal when they swallow them. Once in s blue moon I'll have a fish out for a long time trying to get it out. Just a few days ago I had one like that. My buddy and I were floored when it took off like a bat out of hell immediately.

You know, you can just cut the line and leave the hook in the fish. Sometimes that's the right thing to do. You spend more time removing the hook than it would take to retie.

 

 

If you are going to be taking pictures and don't have the camera/phone right there ready, you can quickly put the bass in the live well and get it filling up while you get stuff together. I do that often. Then you can take the pics and put the bass back in the live well to recuperate before releasing it. That way you can watch it periodically to make sure it doesn't flip over.

[Dwayne]

For those who see gut hooked fish PLEASE try "Circle Hooks".

As for fish out of water, just remember that they just finished fighting for their life and are exhausted. 

[J Francho]

1. DO NOT LEAVE HOOKS IN FISH.

 

2. Anything more than 90 seconds is an eternity.  You can't manage that, start eating your catch.

[scaleface]

Heres what I do ever since I got a Fish Grip . Clamp the fish on the Fish Grip  , hook a stringer  onto it and put the fish in the water . Then I set  my camera up for a photo on a tiny tripod . set the timer for ten seconds then retrieve the fish and unclamp it .Fast and  easy . I even leave the lure in the mouth . You can hook the scale onto the fish grip too .  Its one of those products that I thought unnecessary . I use it  a lot .

 

Theres the fish grip setting next to me along with the rope stringer attached to it .