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How to bleed a fishes air bladder

3K views 21 replies 11 participants last post by  tim 
#1 ·
Much like the "Benz" humans experience when emerging suddenly from a deep water dive, fish experience a similar event when caught out of deep water. There have been several folks inquire about how to bleed a fishes air bladder properly when catching fish in these situations. I found some information on GYCBs site and thought I would share.



How to bleed a fishes air bladder



God Bless & Good
 
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#2 ·
Yea... I hate to see those big fish die. This method works pretty well. I've used it a lot. There are just some of them you cant save though.
I think I would have put that fish on the wall before I ate it...
 
#4 ·
JigNJon taught me another way to do this the other day on SH. He took the needle and put it down the fishes mouth through the crunchers....then, lightly put pressure on the inflated area of the fish......you could hear the air rush out of the fish and could notice how the fish was now "deflated". That trick seemed to work really good!
 
#7 ·
JigNJon taught me another way to do this the other day on SH. He took the needle and put it down the fishes mouth through the crunchers....then, lightly put pressure on the inflated area of the fish......you could hear the air rush out of the fish and could notice how the fish was now "deflated". That trick seemed to work really good!


I think this is what you are talking about Dale... I found it on another site.



There is a new method, well new to me anyway, for bleeding the fish's air bladder. It is much easier than trying to align fins and spots on the side of the fish and it works for all species. With the fishes mouth open, place a #16 hypodermic needle, attached to an open syringe body directly at the upper part of the throat muscle. There is a small yet visible indention or crack at the top of this muscle. Slide the needle approximately 1/4" max into the throat. Be certain the needle is SLIDING not puncturing the muscle! Lower the fish under the water to see that the air is being released properly. This new technique is MUCH easier and a lot less invasive to the fish than previous methods. Keep in mind that there are vital organs in this area and that if done incorrectly, it could be lethal to the fish. This applies to all methods for bleeding the fish's air bladder. Also, it should be noted that this method, while much simpler and easier is not yet recommend by many fisheries biologist. I have also included a picture of the standard method that is the accepted and recommended method.
 
#11 ·
JigNJon taught me another way to do this the other day on SH. He took the needle and put it down the fishes mouth through the crunchers....then, lightly put pressure on the inflated area of the fish......you could hear the air rush out of the fish and could notice how the fish was now "deflated". That trick seemed to work really good!




I've been using that method for years. It has always worked out great for me. One main thing is when you "Fizz" a fish, you don't want to take much air out. In the winter when they are suspended or deep 30ft or so, they have air in them to stay buoyant at this depth. You could actually do more harm than good if you take out too much air. I just gently release a little air. You can tell when it's about right. It's stomach will be a little soft and not tight as a drum.
 
#12 ·
I could not count the times a few buddies and I have been standing in waist deep water deflating bladders at tournament weigh in releases. Many tournaments that just don't care about your fish will not take the time to deflate bladders, especially if they don't use release boats. They don't care because they don't live there. Flipper has one of the best equipped release boats I have ever seen and he uses it every Sunday Morning in his tournament and he has anglers that assist in the weigh in watching the fish in the release tanks for bladder difficulities and they deflate the bladders while the fish are in the tanks and make sure they are all healthy as possible before release. The tanks are filled with lake water by pumps 1 hour before the weigh in and then the chemicals are added to help promote slim coats, sedate the fish so they don't hurt themselves in the tanks and also adds salt and peroxide to help with any infections the fish may have.

Now when out of town big events show up to fish a tournament they will rent Flippers release boat and his crew do do the fish care because we have ways of making them feel very unwelcome if they think they are just going to throw the fish back in the lake without care being given. More and more of the larger tournaments are bringing release boats with trained personel on them these days. I guess we finally got our point accross down this way that we plan on protecting our fish.......
 
#22 ·
http://www.bassnedge.com/tips/airbladder.html



Relieving Air Bladder Distress

go to web site to see picture





I recently ran a tournament at Kerr Lake where most of the quality fish came from deep water. The sad part about summer patterns is the stress deep-water patterns cause the fish. During this tournament we had eight fish in severe distress and unfortunately there was no one at the tournament that knew how to relieve the air bladder pressure and save the fish. After the tournament, a spectator gathered the floating fish and took just a few seconds with each fish before he sent them on their way, safely back into the depths of the lake. Right then, I decided to learn how he did that.



All fish have an air bladder they regulate to maintain equilibrium at varying depths. They vary the amount of air in the air bladder as they go from one depth to another. The problem comes when they are rapidly taken from deep water to the surface, as happens when they get caught. The air in the bladder expands rapidly with the decreased pressure at the surface, and the fish is unable to expel the air. It becomes trapped and prevents the fish from regaining his balance. If left untreated, the fish will die. But, there is a way for you to help.



I found two sources of information on the Internet. First is at bassresource.com, quoting an article in Honey Hole magazine. The second is from an article in the library at Northern California Bass Fishing's site, ncbf.com.



The first thing you need is a suitable needle. You can obtain a biopsy needle from your veterinarian. Don't try to use your standard insulin needle, they will get clogged with flesh and scales and could be construed as drug paraphernalia. The biopsy needle is a large gauge needle. There are two schools of thought on where to place the needle.



Texas Parks and Wildlife recommends you "picture a line on the bass from the dorsal notch to the anal opening. The dorsal notch is the notch between the spiny dorsal fin and the soft rayed dorsal fin. Locate the sensor line above the lateral line and count down 5-7 scale rows along the imaginary line."



"David Campbell of the TP&W recommends a slightly different procedure. Draw an imaginary line from the fourth spline (dorsal fin points) straight down to meet an area even with the point of the gill flap and straight with the center of the tail. This is your starting point. "











With the first location, if you miss you could puncture a kidney, which is fatal for the fish.



"Gently lift a scale and insert the needle into the flesh. Be sure to tilt the needle so that it enters the bass at a 45-degree angle - The needle should be penetrating towards the front of the bass." When you feel you are in the air bladder, hold the fish in the livewell or over the side of the boat and observe whether there are air bubbles coming out the needle. Allow the air to escape for no more than about 10 seconds, as it is just as bad to let out too much air.



Now treat the bass with a catch and release formula for a few minutes, and if he is swimming upright you can release him. Sometimes you will need to deflate the fish twice, but keep in mind that you cannot put air back in if you let out too much.





Gary Conner

American Bass Anglers Tournaments of Virginia
 
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