So I fished deep water for the first time this weekend and found huge schools of crappies. When pulling the fish up from 33 feet of water they would come to the top of the hole with their mouths stuck open and then just lay on their side and not move, we would have to push them back down the hole with the ice scoop and then they would finally swim back down..was this the “Swim Bladder/Bends” issues I’ve read about?
we have had a couple like that also….we have started reeling in slower and then they are fine to return. I would totally assume it has to do with the bladder issue. 
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we have had a couple like that also….we have started reeling in slower and then they are fine to return. I would totally assume it has to do with the bladder issue.
That could be the case, the crappies were on the small side and that resulted in them getting pulled up faster than they probably should have..
Fish that are pulled from the depths ruin their swim bladder. You should keep them as they most likely will die. If you ever get a chance to see through the ice in the area where people have been fishing deep with a lot of catch and release you will see dead floaters under the ice. This is why they frown upon walleye fishing tourneys in the summer. It happens all the time when fishing the scour hole below dam 3 in Redwing. You are basically killing every fish that gets dragged out of that deep water.
Mwal
Most species when brought up from the abyss should be fizzed (air removed from the swim bladder) before release. As an alternative, if you have means to put the fish in water, you can clip a lead weight (like an ice fishing depth finder) to the anal fin to keep the fish upright until the swimm bladder pressure equalizes. Then you can pull off a live release.
Even though it seems many of those fish swam away I would bet a good number of them floated back up under the ice. Even at 20′ you see this every now and again.
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Even though it seems many of those fish swam away I would bet a good number of them floated back up under the ice. Even at 20′ you see this every now and again.
I was just going to say I had this experience in 20′ of water in October once.
That isn’t what I would consider deep water. If the air bladder isn’t coming out their mouths, you should be able to release them. Try throwing them not too hard face first down the hole and they will take off like a shot. I had like 40 of those on Waubesa a few weeks ago that I watched swim right down to the bottom afterwards. Waubesa is also around 30 feet.
While a different species I know, a DNR Fisheries study was done in the winters of 2006-2007 below Lock and Dam 3 with some interesting findings related to saugers. It was posted here by BrianK back in the day. Here’s also the direct link to the study.
Here’s a synopsis of the results:
-34% of sauger caught in depths greater than 30 FOW died within 72 hours of being caught; whereas less than 3% died in <30feet.
-Average size of fish caught in deep water (40+FOW) was about 11 inches and b/w 13-14 inches in shallower water
-Sauger size was not correlated with mortality at any depths
The lesson for crappies is similar, and I’ve found personally the 20-25FOW water range is the edge of where I’m comfortable releasing them. Even then, that requires the fish to be brought up slowly (not always possible) and to be in good condition before release.
Joel
good to know, like I said, I rarely fish in anything less than 15′ because I like to have good clarity with a camera.
Just a thought for all of these situations, especially if you are targeting these species. Maybe downsize your gear considerably so that you can’t bring them up too fast. 
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Most species when brought up from the abyss should be fizzed (air removed from the swim bladder) before release. As an alternative, if you have means to put the fish in water, you can clip a lead weight (like an ice fishing depth finder) to the anal fin to keep the fish upright until the swimm bladder pressure equalizes. Then you can pull off a live release.
X2 keep all fish from deep water like that they are going to die any how.
or look for the fish feeding higher up in the water column. Many times these will be the bigger and more aggressive fish. Just over the weekend I was fishing crappies where the main school was hanging 15 to 25′ down. These where mostly small fish but after hole hoping found the school I was looking for hanging 5 to 10′ under the ice. These fish where easily running a couple of inches or more bigger then the deeper school.
I’ll second that Mike We are on 38′ and the keepers” are in the 20-24 foot range
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or look for the fish feeding higher up in the water column. Many times these will be the bigger and more aggressive fish. Just over the weekend I was fishing crappies where the main school was hanging 15 to 25′ down. These where mostly small fish but after hole hoping found the school I was looking for hanging 5 to 10′ under the ice. These fish where easily running a couple of inches or more bigger then the deeper school.
This is the case on Lake Mendota.Found the larger perch and such about 22′ or so below the surface,in 70′ of water.Most of the fish that came off the bottom had their bladders hanging out of mouth.Plus they ran smaller,the size of Parker pens 
It’s going to sound weird, but when I want to eat fish-I go to a small local hole that’s 35fow at it’s deepest… I’ve found that when I get a “floater”, I can hold their mouth closed while releasing them head first and they always jet down the hole. Not sure why, but give it a try- Never fails for me! 
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Most species when brought up from the abyss should be fizzed (air removed from the swim bladder) before release. As an alternative, if you have means to put the fish in water, you can clip a lead weight (like an ice fishing depth finder) to the anal fin to keep the fish upright until the swimm bladder pressure equalizes. Then you can pull off a live release.
We used to fiss large walleyes to get them to go back down on hot summer days on LOTW. Later we were told by a credible source at the SD Game Fish and Parks that fissed fish would also die. As I recall he said they cold not re-pressurize. However I’m not sure if that was based on opinion or research.
Thanks for the link to the study. That was new literature for me. I am not a believer in the old “they all die anyways” story. For reasons that were clearly mentioned in that article the argument can be made the other way and I stand more so on that said side. I never shove the fish under the ice but if it swims away that is a good indication that it is going to be okay. Why? Because a bunch of people said so. Same reason I guess everyone else says it is bad…..
We were ice fishing at LOTW last week and there pretty much everyone is fishing eyes in 30-33 feet right now. When we caught a small sauger many times the eyeballs were bugging out of its head and the swim bladder/belly were popping out of its mouth. We kept all these fish simply because they were toast. We quickly learned to play fish slowly, especially if they felt small and this seemed to help. For some reason the walleyes never had this happen regardless of size. For some reason the eyes seemed much more hardy, and they were also a lot more aggresive on the bite too. If they came in on the scope, they didn’t waste time in nailing the spoon or bobber rig.
It’s a difficult topic, and more recent studies on the effect of “fizzing” show that the practice may only have a negligible effect in curbing mortality in deep water fish, if at all. There’s some good reads out there on the topic if you’re interested:
– Ontario Recommendations – Kerr Study
– Recent Collection of Studies
What is crystal clear from the decade or more of work on the subject is that most anglers don’t posses the knowledge to properly vent a fish for release without the possibility of harming other internal organs, introducing the potential for infection or organ failure. That includes myself! Every other year or so I watch someone randomly poke a hole in a fish, or worse, in its swim bladder/stomach that’s coming out of its mouth and throw it overboard, confident it will swim away unharmed. From the research, even fish that swim away un-aided have a much higher risk of mortality than the same fish hooked from shallower water.
The best advice I think is to plan to keep all fish caught from water deeper than 30 feet or so, or avoid fishing those depths if you’re legally or otherwise obliged to release fish. These are just my opinions!
Joel
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The best advice I think is to plan to keep all fish caught from water deeper than 30 feet or so, or avoid fishing those depths if you’re legally or otherwise obliged to release fish. These are just my opinions!
Joel
X2
That second link was interesting, thanks again. Fishing in no more than 5-6 meters for safe releases?! I guess I will have to keep than in mind.
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