Reviving a Fish

[gotarheelz14]

Ok, so the other day I hooked a fish and the hook had gone through one of its gills. When I pulled it out, the fish was bleeding pretty badly.

I then put him back in the water, however he just began to float up.  :'(. The last thing I want to do while fishing is killing a fish, so I remembered watching a TV show where a fish was floating up, and the guys rocked it back and forth to put water through its gills.

Remembering this, I grabbed him by the tail and started rocking him back and forth.The fish eventually recovered, got stronger, and swam off to the bottom and then started swimming back out into open water. 

After explaining this in another thread, I was told that it was actually the worst thing I could do in this situation.

So, why was this such a bad thing to do? What should I do if I ever gut hook a fish or hook one through the gills?

I have no clue as to these things but I am hear to learn. I want to be able to return my fish into the water doing the least amount of damage if at all possible.

Thanks yall.

Carlos

[hmongkidBee]

From my experience if I gut hooked a bass I cut my line by the hook eye and let the bass swim away.  From what I heard the hook is supposed to rust away.  I don't know if it's true or not, but this is how I prevent a bass from dying (I BELIEVE  :-/)

[b.Lee]

I usually leave the hook, if I have wire cutters I will cut as much off as possible. Or if you see the barb cut the barb and back it out.

[SirSnookalot]

I would prefer to remove the hook. If the fish lives that's great, but if not I don't want another fish or bird swallowing that hook.  A good chance that fish is a meal before the hook has a chance to rust out.

[Red Bear]

the problem isnt that you revived the fish, its that you moved it BACK and forth. apparently a fish can be harmed by moving him backwards as his gills only work one way or something like that, someone else may be able to explain it better.

also theres an image somewhere around here about how to remove a gullet hooked bass and it works well.

[Crestliner2008]

Bring a bottle of 7-Up with you. Remove the hook as best you can - or cut it so that the least amount of steel is left in the fish. Then if it's bleeding pretty good, pour the 7-Up in it's mouth.

Believe it or not, suppose to curtail the bleeding significantly. I read this somewhere; but then again, I tend to read too much! 

[J Francho]

Its works with Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Coke Classic, and a few other soda pops I enjoy.

[NateFollmer]

I usually just hold the fish upright by it's tail and I'll push it forward a few times. They will swim away when they are ready.   Although, I have never hooked a gill yet, I have hooked fish close and sometimes in the eye (hook came OUT in or near the eye). I try not to mess with getting the barb back through when that happens. I'll cut it off and push the hook through. 

[Glenn]

Here's how to remove a swallowed hook (gut hooked)

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1128002349/16#16

Don't move the fish backwards, you can damage his gills.

Do put "Please Release Me" directly on the wound as well as in the livewell. Then place the fish in the livewell with some ice and allow him some time to rest up before releasing him.

Hope that helps!

[tyrius.]

As mentioned in the other threads that touch on this the hook will NOT rust away.  Leaving the hook is not the best thing to do!

Learn the technique that Glenn posted and also carry side cutters.  If you can't get the hook out with the through the gill technique then cut the hook and remove it that way.

When reviving a fish do not pull it backwards.  A fish NEVER goes backwards and its gills are not designed to have water flowing that way through them.  You can just lightly hold it by the tail keeping it upright.  When it revives enough it will swim out of your hand.  A fish doesn't have to be moving to be able to "breath".

[.dsaavedra.]

why does it cause harm to the gills to move the fish backwards in the water?

[D4u2s0t]

why does it cause harm to the gills to move the fish backwards in the water?

gills are designed to flow one way, not 2 ways. It may not kill the fish or anything like that, but if you're trying to release it as unharmed as possible you want to just move it forwards, or even in a circle. fish build up lactic acid when they're stressed, and too much will kill them. Ever catch a fish, release it and it swims away strong, then 5 minutes later it's belly up?  Could take minutes, could take days to die.

  so especially after a good fight, or if the fish is out of the water for a while, (it's usually one of these 2 reasons why a fish won't swim away) you don't want to stress it any more than that. Most fish CAN swim backwards, but it's not something you'll see often. Usually in a pinch, if it is in a hole or something like that and can't spin around.

[.dsaavedra.]

why does it cause harm to the gills to move the fish backwards in the water?

gills are designed to flow one way, not 2 ways. It may not kill the fish or anything like that, but if you're trying to release it as unharmed as possible you want to just move it forwards, or even in a circle. fish build up lactic acid when they're stressed, and too much will kill them. Ever catch a fish, release it and it swims away strong, then 5 minutes later it's belly up? Could take minutes, could take days to die.

so especially after a good fight, or if the fish is out of the water for a while, (it's usually one of these 2 reasons why a fish won't swim away) you don't want to stress it any more than that. Most fish CAN swim backwards, but it's not something you'll see often. Usually in a pinch, if it is in a hole or something like that and can't spin around.

yeah but WHY is it harmful? like what specifically happens when water flows backwards over the gills?

[D4u2s0t]

because it's letting significantly more air and water into the gills than they're designed to handle.  It would be like if someone was trying to revive a person, and stuck  a tube from an air pump down their throat and turned on the pump.  You don't do that... you lightly blow in the mouth with cpr.  Same concept.

[.dsaavedra.]

okay, so is pushing the fish forward still harmful since it will flush more water/oxygen over the gills than normal too?

[D4u2s0t]

okay, so is pushing the fish forward still harmful since it will flush more water/oxygen over the gills than normal too?

no.  when water goes through the mouth, it gets pumped into the gills, the oxygen gets taken out, and it gets expelled through the back.  It just doesn't work the other way.  Think of it was a one way pump.

[0119]

I do know from experience that hooks do rust out. Ive seen a bass I could ID by unique markings caught just a week after I cut off a hook in its upper troat.  A small nub of metal was visable and a small wound around it.  Apparently it didnt stop it from feeding again.

[gotarheelz14]

Thanks guys. Got it. Will do the removal technique from now on. I will carry side cutters with me when I go fishing.

[slonezp]

How about reviving a tounge hooked fish? I tounge hooked a fish in a tourney last week and lots of blood was coming out of it immediatly. It survived in the livewell for about 3hrs. Is there any way of stopping the tounge from bleeding?

[J Francho]

If its for a tournament, I leave the hook in the tongue, until just before weigh in.  I've removed them before, and fish did not fair well, and there was a weight penalty.  If its just a dink, and you think you'll probably cull, then I'd say remove it, and release the fish.

[tyrius.]

I do know from experience that hooks do rust out. Ive seen a bass I could ID by unique markings caught just a week after I cut off a hook in its upper troat. A small nub of metal was visable and a small wound around it. Apparently it didnt stop it from feeding again.

That hook was likely in the fish's stomach.

If you think a hook will rust away in a week, go take an old hook and put it in the water in a place that you can find it back.  Go back after a week and see if it has rusted away.  They don't.

Ever find a lure that someone else lost?  Hook's still there isn't it?

[tyrius.]

yeah but WHY is it harmful? like what specifically happens when water flows backwards over the gills?

Think about the physical makeup of the gill and you can see that water is only designed to flow one way.

Let's use the letter E to represent a gill.  The vertical bar being the gill arch (bone/cartiledge) the horizontal lines are the gill filaments (where the capillaries are and the O2/CO2 transfer takes place).

The flow from left to right across the E will allow the filaments to remain "rooted"/supported in the flow.  When the flow is from right to left the filaments are no longer supported at their "base".  Instead they will be twisted and or smashed against the gill arches (vertical line of the E).

Now what's the force necessary to actually cause damage?  No idea, but there really isn't any reason to move the fish back and forth so why risk it?

[Crestliner2008]

Am I the only that's ever seen a bass back up?

[D4u2s0t]

Am I the only that's ever seen a bass back up?

nobody said they can't back up, it's just not something they do often, and there's a difference between a fish backing up and getting more stressed after a hard fight.  Hold your breath for 10 seconds, not so hard.  sprint around the block at full speed, then try doing it... not the same.

[tyrius.]

Am I the only that's ever seen a bass back up?

Seen it when they use their pectoral fins to slowly back up.  That's a bit different than them swimming forwards though. 

Guess I wasn't clear enough in my initial post.