Fizzing Fish

[Fishin is life]

Everyone knows this time of year when the bass push deep that a lot of times when you catch them, they go belly up in the livewell or when you put them back in the lake...The past 3 tournaments I've fished, I've had to fizz fish to get them upright in the livewell...I know a lot of people say you harm the fish when you fizz them, but I personally would rather take a chance with a fish that takes off when i put back in the water than one that floats belly up in front of the ramp....What are you alls opinions on fizzing fish?

[strat5150]

fizzing for sure

[Astrobass]

I fished Green a few weeks ago and came up on a fish that was floating on it's side, still kickin trying to get down. It was about a 15" smallmouth and the side of his body was sunburnt to crap. I didn't have my needle on me and I felt awful.

I always fizz fish if they need it.

[offdtop]

Fizz and they have a very good survival chance, don't fizz and they surely die from the gasses that they produce. I read studies that fish actually have a 10-12% better chance of survival if fizzed on the side and not thru the mouth

[Embrey]

at what depth caught does this start to happen?

[Fishin is life]

I've actually had it happen as shallow as 8-10ft....but usually once you get down to the 15-20ft range they really start needing it....About half the fish I've caught recently have needed it

[Embrey]

hmm...weird. never had that happen. i always thought it was for more like 30-40 ft or more

[Fishin is life]

You can catch 2 fish out of the exact same spot and one will flip up and the other one will be perfectly fine....Has everything to do with how much air they have in their swim bladder

[sweetwater]

Not fishing in deep water and catching and releasing quickly would be a better alternative than fizzing, also known as venting. Not having tournaments this time of the year would be the best practice, but we all know that's not going to happen.

[Fishin is life]

Like I said I've had it happen in water as shallow as 8ft...You can't very well go out and flip visible stumps and wear em out this time of year and if you want to be competitive in tournaments you have to go deep...So it's not a question of IF I'm going to fish for them deep, it's what gives them the best chance of survival when I catch them

[sweetwater]

Shorter tournament hours, lower bag limits, multiple required weigh-ins or better yet an honor system tournament format where you'd weigh the fish yourself then quickly release it. All the above suggestions would give the fish a better chance of surviving than poking their insides with a dirty needle after riding around in a tiny live well for 6 or 8 hours in 80+ degree water would. Like I said, the key to their survival is returning the fish to the water as soon as possible, in the best possible condition without any extra holes in their bodies. (besides the one their mouth of course)

[Fishin is life]

Shorter tournament hours, lower bag limits, multiple required weigh-ins or better yet an honor system tournament format where you'd weigh the fish yourself then quickly release it. All the above suggestions would give the fish a better chance of surviving than poking their insides with a dirty needle after riding around in a tiny live well for 6 or 8 hours in 80+ degree water would. Like I said, the key to their survival is returning the fish to the water as soon as possible, in the best possible condition without any extra holes in their bodies. (besides the one their mouth of course)

I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying, just that the tournaments are what they are and those of us that enjoy fishing them have to do what we have to do....Here's a good example for ya though...Friday night we were out fishing and my friend caught a 5lber out of probably 20ft....Got it in the boat, unhooked it, admired it for maybe 30 seconds, and put it right back in the lake...She flipped belly up and absolutely would not take off...Not the first time I've had this happen...So we picked her back up, fizzed her right there on the side of the boat, put her in the water and she took off like a rocket...No doubt she would have been dead had I just left her laying