What is meant by fizzing your fish

[Joe]

I was wondering what is meant by fizzing your fish and how is this done and when do you know it needs to be done.

[RANGER]

Joe,

Fizzing a fish means to deflate the swim bladder of a fish caught in deep water. A fish caught deep does not necessarily need to be "fizzed". This thread will be of great help to you:

http://www.walleyecentral.com/cgi-bin/dcf/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=7785&forum=generaldiscussion

Hope this is of help.

[Walleyeman]

As somebody who has studied fisheries biology and fish physiology, I would suggest not puncturing a hole in a fishes swim bladder. Yes they will sink and not float in you livewell, but if you release that fish, it has no control over changing its distance in the water column. They won't be able to rise properly and they will eventually die.

[SUPERTROLLER]

How long does it take for the bladder to heal itself?

[Dunn]

I don't want to egg on another "Fizzing" debate, but here's my thoughts.

I would personally atleast like to know I tried to help the fish survive. If you put a fish back into the water whos bladder is still full, they float belly up and almost never go back under the surface which leads to death. Atleast by fizzing the fish has a chance and for me a chance is better then a sure bet.

Just my thoughts.
-----------------
Marshall J. Dunn
N.P.A.A. # 701

[Walleyeman]

My opinion is if you are fishing so deep that the fish have trouble getting back down then fish shallower. I haven't done any research into the healing time of the the swim bladder, but my guess is that the fish probably expires at the bottom of the water column before it ever heals. Even if fizzing helped, most can't even tell where the swim bladder is located.

[Gumbo]

Dunn, if you have to return a fish, there's another method that's better than fizzing. The swim bladder will return to normal size once the fish returns to the depth it was caught at, so here's what to do. Take a very large hook, file off or pinch the barb closed, turn the hook upside down and hand a weight of 1+ ounces to the eyelet (which is not pointing down. Tie some line to the bend in the hook. If you can picture that in your mind. Then hook the fish with the inverted hook in the nose or even the lower lip (not too deep, just enough to hold it), then feed line quickly to return the fish to the depths. Once you're at the depth you caught it at, give a swift upward jerk and the fish is free. No punctured intestines or livers, no blood, no hole in swim bladder.

But I agree, if you're not going to keep them, don't fish deeper than 33'.

[Prime Time]

I was the one who showed the PWT guys how to fizz the walleyes at the first tourney in Put-in-Bay. I use this technique at the Ohio State Univ biology station there, Stone Lab to rejuvenate deep caught fish from our trawls. If the fish is not otherwise injured and/or overhandled, fizzing is a good option to allow the fish to get off of the surface of the lake away from the gulls. I REGULARILY keep fizzed fish in aquariums for weeks or even months for display/educational purposes and KNOW if properly done does NOT by itself, kill the fish! The air bladder puncture would will normally repair itself overnight or at least within 24 hours, then the fish swims around normally including up and down in the water column.

After the tournament I agree alot of the walleyes that looked well enough to release at the time died. And it caused a big stink (literally)! But, many of those fish spent way too much time in livewells during rough water conditions and sustained internal injuries that were not plainly evident right away. Others developed hand print shaped fungus across their backs from being handled with dry hands, etc.

I know fizzing works, but have someone show you how to do it right if you really want to make a difference or keep the deep caught fish or release them right away, not after they ride around in your live well

[s.f.]

Unbelieveable...when this came up on the board today again, I was going to reference you as the one who showed us that way back then.
Thank you for clarifying this. I would be more than happy to show anyone how to do this while at any of the RCL events this year.
Great that you replyed! I too have held fish for weeks in my bait tanks after fizzing and saw zero affects related to the needle.

#49
Steve Fellegy

[EyeJacker]

Fizzing evidently has more than one meaning.
Fizzing was explained to me as a good way to cook Sheepshead:
Take four fillets and soak them in champagne until the "fizzing" stops. Then carefully place the fillets in a very hot frying pan. Give them 2 minutes to the side. Garnish with a little lemon and tar tar sauce and WALLA, you are ready to enjoy! Personally I think they taste like S*** and I immediately throw them out....but, that marinade, now that,s another thing!:)
Jack

[Walleyeman]

I don't totally disagree with you Primetime, but I still wouldn't recomment fizzing to the average angler. In order to successfully deflate the fishes swim bladder you would need a sterilized needle or syringe and an understanding of the organ placement of the fish they are about to fizz. However, I don't know too many anglers that carry around sterilized needles fishing with them, if they did I would wonder why? Also, just because the fish lives for a few days or even weeks, doesn't mean you haven't infected the fish with an unsterilized needle. Here at the U of M, I don't know too many professors or biologists that recommend fizzing.

[Richard Mellon]

I took part in the first and to my knowledge - only study on fizzing walleye. It was conducted by Alberta Fish and Wildlife on Lesser Slave Lake in August 1994. The biologists all expected big mortality numbers from infected needle punctures. Not one mortality was contributed to that. About all the study did prove was that fishing in warm water (over 70 degrees F) was hard on walleye.
Rich

[stewart]

This argument can get as heated as rivets vs. welds, but I think walleyeman makes a good point.Large #'s of people fishing deep walleyes would not be a good thing. Walleye's pulled from deep water suffer more stress, and they are usually deep in the summer when the temperature is also a factor as Mr. Mellon points out. It's not like we HAVE to fish for them deep.Fish for bass or muskies for a while ;).

[Fishoil]

It's my observation that you can "over-fizz" fish. I've noticed that if you only let some of the air out, they will be able to right themselves and swim about in your livewell (including vertically). If you let all of the air out of their bladder, they sink to the bottom of the livewell and just lay there. I would assume that when released they would also sink to the bottom, which wouldn't be good if they were released in deep water. Am I correct in assuming that you should only let out enough air to allow the fish to right itself, but not sink?

[JCarp]

I'll go with Prime Time, S.F., and Richard Mellon on this except add I have read an article that suggests if your doing this over very deep water with low O2 below the thermocline the fish will suffocate unless you take it into somewhat shallower water with adequate O2 on the bottom.

If you want to fizz, you may wish to practice on "keepers" until you become proficient.

A lot to be said for never bringing a "release" fish into the boat. Unhook w/pliers in water if feasible (safe). In West and Central Erie (up to 65'over 72'), fish seem to go back down on their own if released immediately. Never fished deeper than 65'.

[Mark Sak]

Every tourney angler I know carries a set of needles with them as standard equipment....The rule on fizzing is go laterally two scales out from the anal vent and 6 scales forward. Puncture at a 45 degree angle until bubbles start seeping from the needle. The best way is to fizz the first ten minutes in the livewell as the fish doesn't get stressed too long from too much pressure. The more one fishes in events where live release is mandatory the more fizzing comes into play. The folks that are against this need to give some alternatives...If you work at U of M give us some more alternatives...We want to release as many as we can...most fish that are not fizzed are dead by the time we pull into port...Most tournament trails recommend it...Mark