Perch Flotation Bladder Expansion

I apoligize if this subject has been discussed previously but I have not found a good answer yet. I have found that almost every perch caught in water 20′ and deeper has their flotation bladder expand due to pressure change. This then pushes their stomach up and out toward the mouth of the fish. The question is, will this fish live or die when put back into the water? If they die, which I have witnessed many doing, is it not our responsibility to keep every perch that comes out of the lake? If they live, than no big deal and fish on. I can’t seem to get any real ‘study’ facts as to what is correct. Any help out there?

They are going to die. Keep them. We yank perch from 70-80 feet and I just keep them all. Sometimes, I put one on a tip up just under the ice.

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They are going to die. Keep them. We yank perch from 70-80 feet and I just keep them all. Sometimes, I put one on a tip up just under the ice.

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Definitely the right thing to do. Even if they swim away they’re toast.

That is what I believed and will continue to keep all from the depths.

At one time I was told that if you take a needle and suck the air out of the bladder that they would be fine to let go. Is this correct or are they still S.O.L?? Personally I have never tried this, but was just curious.

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At one time I was told that if you take a needle and suck the air out of the bladder that they would be fine to let go. Is this correct or are they still S.O.L?? Personally I have never tried this, but was just curious.

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That procedure, known as fizzing, might be beneficial for fish coming from marginal depths that show slight negative effects from the change in depths but I just don’t see how it will help fish suffering from extreme damage.

Releasing some of the pressure from the air bladder will help the fish swim away (to die later out of sight, out of mind) but the internal damage done can’t be undone by fizzing. Consider for a moment the damage done internally by an air bladder that expands so much that it pushes the stomach out the mouth and inverts it.

I’ve seen guys do all sorts of crazy stuff to get a fish to swim away. Like puncturing the stomach extending from the fishes’ mouth, which anglers often incorrectly think is the swim bladder, to relieve the pressure. All that does is create a hole in the stomach wall which would allow stomach acids and the remaining stomach contents to leak into the body cavity.

Best to keep fish caught from deep water that show obvious signs of damage due to the pressure change.

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That procedure, known as fizzing, might be beneficial for fish coming from marginal depths that show slight negative effects from the change in depths but I just don’t see how it will help fish suffering from extreme damage.

Releasing some of the pressure from the air bladder will help the fish swim away (to die later out of sight, out of mind) but the internal damage done can’t be undone by fizzing. Consider for a moment the damage done internally by an air bladder that expands so much that it pushes the stomach out the mouth and inverts it.

I’ve seen guys do all sorts of crazy stuff to get a fish to swim away. Like puncturing the stomach extending from the fishes’ mouth, which anglers often incorrectly think is the swim bladder, to relieve the pressure. All that does is create a hole in the stomach wall which would allow stomach acids and the remaining stomach contents to leak into the body cavity.

Best to keep fish caught from deep water that show obvious signs of damage due to the pressure change.

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Thats pretty much what I thought. Thanks for the clarification

Somewhere I recently read an article on “fizzing”. There study showed a higher mortality rate from puncturing the swim bladder than just releasing. Better to just keep your deep caught fish.

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Somewhere I recently read an article on “fizzing”. There study showed a higher mortality rate from puncturing the swim bladder than just releasing. Better to just keep your deep caught fish.

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Correct. Most anglers botch the procedure and do more harm than good.

I watched an episode of In-Fisherman where Gord Pyzer was catching crappies in 30 feet of water. He would hold his hands over the gill plates to keep the gills closed. He then put the crappie’s mouth in his mouth and gave a strong puff of breath into the crappie’s mouth – fish CPR. I believe Mr. Pyzer was a biologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources. He thinks this helps crappies.

Last winter my friend caught a 16″ fat crappie during late ice. He’s a catch/release guy. The fish didn’t want to go down the hole. I did the Gord Pyzer trick and the fish took off like a rocket. I’m not a biologist, so I’m not going to say the fish lived or the method works, just throwing it out for conversation.

Regarding perch, to avoid killing a lot of little ones, fishing with a camera is very helpful. You can pull the bait way from the little guys and give it to the pigs. Thank you MarCum.