How long can a person hold a bass out of the water

[dirtybirdnation]

Before it dies? The reason I ask is, I had caught a lunker and I held it out of the water for like 5-10 minutes. Long enough for my Dad to make his way over to see it. I released it and it swimmed off. But I kinda hope I didn't make it retarded by holding it for so long. Anyone have any ideas?

[roadwarrior]

As a rule of thumb, hold your breath. When you run out of air, the fish is out, too. Next time you have to wait for your dad or are just waiting to take a picture, leave the fish in the net in the water or put it in your livewell.

[Guest argyll]

Someone once said  'never keep a fish out of water any longer than you would like to be kept under it'

Works for me.

[dirtybirdnation]

Thanks for the reply fella's. Makes sense to me. Pray for the fish. :-/

[deep_waters]

Not to play devil's advocate, but what about big t's like bassmasters and FLW?  They seem to keep fish out of the water holding them up in the air for quite some time for pictures and the likes.

In addition,  I've always wondered about the fish after each T we fish.  Do they make it?  I mean, I really love this sport and try to do everything I can to preserve it by taking care of the fish I catch.    

[Kana]

ive often wondered too, but i try to release a soon as i take the picture, ive gotten good at it and the fish look good and take off imediately when i release them.  i feel guilty if i keep them out of water too long, and dont plan on keeping them.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

I've heard that bright sun can hurt their eyes also.  Some species have it worse like trout who have a sensitive slime coat.

Always be sure the fish is ready to be released by holding it by the lower jaw and moving it back and forth to move water through it's gills.  You'll be able to tell when it's ready to take off.

[Will]

Whatever you do don't follow Iaconelli he is a great fisherman, but he holds his fish out of the water for long periods of times.

[SBM-RL]

If I have to keep a fish out of the water for a long period of time (2-10 min) to get a picture or get a hook out I always put the fish back in the water every minute/minute and a half and thrust it back an forth to rejuvinate it I couldnt a imagine a fish being ok after being out of the water for anywhere near 10 min

[JPBiGFISH]

I dont know but ive heard that moving a fisha backa nd forth in the water ( the backwards part) can damage their gills so i move them in the figure eight motion actually i think it was a television show that said that..   Just thought id say that  cause you can never be to safe to keep the fish in good health

[Muddpuppy]

http://bassresource.com/fish_biology/caring_for_bass.html

[Bass_junky]

I have to put my 2 cents in on this one.  I took my son river fishing for smalley's, this was years ago.  We caught plenty of fish and decided to keep 5 for supper.  At the time the house I owned had a well.

The trip from the river to home was about 30 min's.

When we got home I asked my son to put them downstairs in the utility sink and run some water over them, I will fillet them shortly.  30 min's later  I went to fillet the fish and yes they were all alive!!

I don't know if it were the temp of the water or the well water, all I know is that they were alive.  I decided not to fillet them and let them loose in the creek (which fed into the same river we caught the fish) and they swam away like they had never been out of the water.  True story!!

[Guest the_muddy_man]

depends on how long the fish has been out of the freezer ;D

[BAMA_BASS]

I like the way Jeff Foxworthy described taking fish out of water as it being an out of body experince for the fish.

Butt I read that the bright sunlight doesn't effect the fish's eyes at Bill Dance's site.

[senko_77]

rejuvinate the fish bout every 30secs to a minute.