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Forum nameTrophy Fishing Forum
Topic subjectDeflating a deep caught bass
Topic URLhttp://www.calfishing.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=6964
6964, Deflating a deep caught bass
Posted by SWMB8R, Sat Sep-24-05 05:13 PM
This is a subject that I can't recall has come up on this site and if it has, a little refresher won't hurt. Most bass fishermen know that when we catch a bass deep, there's a chance that the swim bladder can inflate if the fish is brought in too fast. There has only been one way that people have been tought to deflate that bass so it can return from where it came from and not go belly up. That method is to use a small needle to insert into the fishes swim bladder and "bleed" the air out. If you have not had much (any) experience in doing this, you can cause a lot of damage to that fish is you miss the bladder. There are a lot of internal organs that if hit, could kill the fish. The only method that I use now is safe for the fish and you don't have to poke any needles in her. Most of us carry marker buoy's in our boats. Most of these marker buoy's have a soft piece of lead that acts as a weight for the marker buoy and also to keep the line tight while storing the buoy. If you cut that piece of lead off and replace it with a 4 - 8 ounce torpedo sinker, you can use that system to get that deep caught bass back down. If you do catch one deep that wants to keep going belly up on you, simply drop the torpedo sinker down the gullet of the fish and into it's stomach. That little amount of weight will allow the fish to get back down to where the bladder can stabilize. As you drop the fish down, you can watch it on your graph to know how deep that fish is. Once it's at a depth you feel comfortable at, let the fish stabilze for 5 or so minutes. After that time, lightly pop the weight out of the fish and it should be fine. Stay in the area for a few minutes to see if the fish comes back up. If it does, repeat the process. I have only had one fish pop back up out of the 40 or so times that I have probably done this. This is a very effective method for getting deep bass back down.