Fizzing fish

[billmac]

Is fizzing necessary if the fish is immediately released?

[J Francho]

No.  I've caught them as deep as 45' and they swim back down fine.  It's when you put them in a livewell that fizzing becomes a necessity.  I don't bother fishing that deep if I need to put them in a livewell.

[WRB]

Depends on the bass specie and depth the bass was acclimated to. Small mouth bass tend to higher resistance to bladder inflation from pressure changes then largemouth bass. If the bass can swim back down without surfacing it should be ok.

I caught LMB in 35' that instantly had their airbladder extended out the mouth and struggling to stay righted before landing it. If that bass was at 50' and came up to strike the lure the pressure change is from 50' not 35'.

You can use a 8 oz torpedo weight clip onto your line, put the weight in the basses throat and lower the weighted bass back down to the depth you caught it and reel up the weight quickly, the weight comes out of the bass leaving the fish down deep.

Fizzing releases bladder pressure deflating the bladder and the bass no longer can suspend without swimming constantly until the wound heals and gas can inflate the bladder and that takes several days.

Tom

[J Francho]

10 minutes ago, WRB said:

Fizzing releases bladder pressure deflating the bladder and the bass no longer can suspend without swimming constantly until the wound heals and gas can inflate the bladder and that takes several days.

That only happens when you let all the air out.  You just remove enough to keep them from floating up, and they're neutrally buoyant.

[Oregon Native]

When I lived out west and fished California lakes did some fizzing...Tom is right smallies and spots are more resilient.  Largemouth...not so much.  Now I'm a fan of the weights on the lower fins for a fish struggling.  Seems to work real well for fish kept in a live well.  They release real strong.

[WRB]

Fizzing should be done as a last resort not something with every bass caught deeper then 30'. When stick a needle into the side of bass trying to blindly hit the airbladder there are several other organs that can be damaged if done incorrectly, the hole doesn't automatically resell after the needle is removed. When the bass swims back down with a needle hole the pressure at 30' depth exceed 29 psi on the entire bass body, gas continues to leak until the hole heals. 

We can debate if fizzing is good or bad, it's necessary if the bass can't swim down own it's own or it can't be returned back down to a depth it can maintain upright swimming.

The vast majority of bass angler never fish deeper then 20' a depth bass don't need to be fizzed.

Tom

[J Francho]

Agreed, it should be a last resort, but it's not done blindly, and the hole from needle does seal up immediately, just like when you get a shot.  I actually use leftover needles from when I injected insulin into my self.  If the hole doesn't seal up, where would all the insulin go?

 

Here's how:

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/how-to-fizz-a-bass.html

 

 

[WRB]

Fizzing needles usually have a wire plunger to prevent plugging the needle with flesh, not exactly a small diameter needle like used for injecting meds. 

I have needled a lot of bass and it isn't as easy to get the needle under the correct scale and into the airbladder as the video appears it be. Sometimes you miss and get blood instead of gas for example.

It's pressure put on the bass that sqweezes the bass after they swim down forces more gas out. It is common in late winter to see what I call zombie bass dark colored that have been caught from deep water and released that haven't recovered. Out west some lakes the largemouth bass are down 60' to 80' and the quick pressure change apparently does permanent damage to some bass.

Fizzing is better then letting the bass swim belly up and becoming seagull food.

If the bass can go down on it's own or with help after catching it and not putting it in a livewell no need to fizz it. Tournament anglers that need to put bass in a livewell , then fizzing may be a good option.

Tom

 

[J Francho]

13 hours ago, WRB said:

Out west some lakes the largemouth bass are down 60' to 80' and the quick pressure change apparently does permanent damage to some bass.

Unless you're fishing for dinner, don't fish that deep.  60-80' seems unusually deep for bass.  It's shallow for salmon and trout, but bass?  I don't think most bass anglers even consider that depth, even Great Lakes smallmouth anglers.

[WRB]

My depth limit is 40' but I am not fishing tournaments. iIf you want to win or earn a check it's necessary to fish where the bass are located. The big difference from California to nearly everywhere else is the majority of the bass tend to be very deep compared to other regions. Outside of the spawning cycle the average depth zone during the summer is between 20' to 35' just above the thermoclines R wherever the Shad Shad are located.  Winter there isn't a thermocline and the bass go where the bait is...deep. Right now the bass are somewhere between 25' to 50' moving up, it's a late spawn cycle do to the cold weather we have had, the core water temps are around 50 to 53 degrees and warming.

Tom

 

[J Francho]

I don't need to fish that deep to cash a check, and there penalties for dead fish.  I don't think it's as big a deal as you're making it out to be.  If you're CPR fishing, you probably don't need to carry fizzing needles.  If you're fishing tournaments, then you want all the tools necessary to keep the catch alive.  Water below the thermocline up here is far from dead, as most think.  It's just never occupied by bass.

[WRB]

My point is the vast majority of bass that roll over in a livewell result from stress caused by water temperature change and dissolved oxygen levels, not over inflated airbladder.

It takes 1 quick atmosphere depth change (about 30') to begin to affect a largemouth bass air bladder. Livewell maintenance by keeping the temps near the same as the bass body and DO levels. Today's bass boats have good aeration systems so DO levels are not a big deal but thermal stress isn't well understood.

There are always some shallow bass to catch.

Tom

[J Francho]

This is the first time you brought up livewell temps and O2 levels.  We have videos that detail that aspect of fish care, too.  This topic was about fizzing.  Hopefully the OP has the info.

[WRB]

Sure-Life Labs has good videos on all these livewell topics and I believe BR has links to them.

Careful handling of bass goes a long way to survival rates as you are well aware of,

Peace,

Tom

[zeth]

I fizz if I caught the bass deep and it looks like it's having trouble going back down. Or if they are belly up in livewell and fin clips don't seem to do the trick. fin clips seem to work on bass that have been in livewell all day but if they are in there for a short time it seems to not be enough for time for the bass to fix itself. 

I don't like fishing deeper than 50' but they will go down to over 100' in the winter where I live.  You can still catch them in 30-50 though so just because the bass are deep doesn't mean you should catch them that deep if you even can. takes about a minute for the 1/2oz dropshot weight to get that deep. 

[TnRiver46]

On 2/28/2019 at 8:59 AM, J Francho said:

Unless you're fishing for dinner, don't fish that deep.  60-80' seems unusually deep for bass.  It's shallow for salmon and trout, but bass?  I don't think most bass anglers even consider that depth, even Great Lakes smallmouth anglers.

I've heard tale of people video game fishing with a damiki and catching fish down that deep on some tributary lakes. They do it in winter when the water is about 47-50 degrees top to bottom and the fish roam around following alewives. In summer, the water stratifies and that deep water is cold and nearly void of oxygen

[RingWorm]

All good comments in this thread. I worked for a national bass tournament trail for several years and spent a lot of time fizzing fish in the release boat especially in the summer months. I always fizzed through the mouth with care as to not over-fizz the fish using a specific needle marketed for this purpose. 

[J Francho]

On 3/2/2019 at 6:59 AM, TnRiver46 said:

I've heard tale of people video game fishing with a damiki and catching fish down that deep on some tributary lakes. They do it in winter when the water is about 47-50 degrees top to bottom and the fish roam around following alewives. In summer, the water stratifies and that deep water is cold and nearly void of oxygen

Water below the thermocline is far from devoid of oxygen.  Much the opposite on the Great Lakes.  It's cold and saturated with high O2 levels.  Perfect for the salmonoids that lurk there.

[Glenn]

On 2/26/2019 at 11:20 AM, billmac said:

Is fizzing necessary if the fish is immediately released?

No.  They usually have no issues if they're released right away.

 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Water below the thermocline is far from devoid of oxygen.  Much the opposite on the Great Lakes.  It's cold and saturated with high O2 levels.  Perfect for the salmonoids that lurk there.

Hm, maybe it's different on the rivers with dams. I don't know, I'm not going down there !!! It just seems the fish can be caught extra deep in winter and rarely below 25-30 in summer. We have zero natural lakes, with the exception of reelfoot out west. And I think it's about 5 feet deep max haha

[J Francho]

It matters little, the fish anyone catches that deep, is for the table anyway.

[Team9nine]

This just came through my FB feed, so thought I’d add it to this thread...

 

[geo g]

Not a problem with Florida bass, deep water is no more then 20 feet deep.  Most caught in 4 or less feet.  Enjoyed the read though!

 

[WRB]

^^^this^^^

This applies to 90% of the country as the vast majority of bass are caught within 50' of the shoreline in water less then 25' deep.

Bass roll over in a livewell for reasons not related to over inflated air bladders, it's a stress issue that indicates the bass is in a serious stressed condition. Common causes are quick water temperature change exceeding 10 degrees can be fatal, low dissolved oxygen levels less then 3 ml/g or a combination of both. Sticking a needle into the bass only creates addition stress if the air bladder isn't extending out the throat.

Tom