Fizzing a Fish?

Have any of you tried this, are their any adverse effects???

This week on Ted's Tips, I will be describing the process of "fizzing", releasing deep caught walleyes. I know for sure that fizzing gives the fish the best chance of living vs lying on the surface for the seagulls or getting filleted for supper!

Nai-post ni Ted Takasaki noong Martes, Agosto 15, 2017

I don’t agree with it. IMO it’s just a way to allow the fish to swim to the bottom and likely die. If you’re fishing deep enough to require fizzing and not keeping the fish, you’re fishing too deep.

I wonder if they have done any studies of the effectiveness of it.

Seems to me you are rendering the organ useless, unless it heals quickly. That means they are going to tire themselves to death with a swimbladder that doesn’t work.

I didn’t stay at a holiday in last night.

They’ve done studies and fizzing is not great. Search barotrauma survival. The best method of release is using a fish descender.

http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/newsletter/2013/05/let_em_down_easy_returning_a_fish_to_deep_water.html

You don’t have to worry about fizzing a fish if you fish in shallower water. If you are catching fish at 32 feet deep and more it is going to be a problem and poking a hole in the air bladder doesn’t help the fish

This is the best info I could find. They basically state that there really weren’t any studies that support significant success. It also seems that walleyes are not a good species for this.

It is also not allowed in MN.

http://www.fishfactor.tv/documents/Swim%20Bladder-Vessie%20Natatoire/228130.pdf

Denny O wrote:

This week on Ted’s Tips, I will be describing the process of “fizzing”, releasing deep caught walleyes. I know for sure that fizzing gives the fish the best chance of living vs lying on the surface for the seagulls or getting filleted for supper!

It’s the best way to have your tourney caught fish stay belly down long enough for weigh in. Beyond that, not so sure….

The weekend angler has no business fizzing fish, IMO.

-J.

I saw a show where on a bigger fish he burped them by putting pressure on the mid section and massaging forward. I think you can only do that with certain fish because on most fish it is an enclosed bladder.

Thanks, I wish to know what James H. and Brian K. have to add on this as well?

It is not that I fish that deep but, even in 18 feet and so I have had walleyes and mostly perch do the belly up move in the live well after trying to bring them up rather slowly. I’ve had to swish them for some time holding their tail to get them back to feeling like life is right! UP!

Denny O wrote:

It is not that I fish that deep but, even in 18 feet and so I have had walleyes and mostly perch do the belly up move in the live well after trying to bring them up rather slowly. I’ve had to swish them for some time holding their tail to get them back to feeling like life is right! UP!

They’ll fizz. little oil and some heat. If you don’t feel comfortable letting them go eat them. That fizzing is way to much work for the benefits if there are any. Another make you feel good scenario. Cook it up and enjoy.

I get what you are saying River run.

Jon Jordan wrote:

It’s the best way to have your tourney caught fish stay belly down long enough for weigh in. Beyond that, not so sure….

The weekend angler has no business fizzing fish, IMO.

-J.

Organs in a walleye a very close together. Unless a person has been trained the chances to completing the procedure properly is slim at least that was the MN DNR biologists explanation to me 10+ years ago when I first heard about this.

They also said it was illegal in MN to “fizz” fish.

‘course there are those that feel fizzing gives them a chance…although small.

Paddlefish, Sturgeon and Lake Trout are the only fish in the US (fresh water) that can “burb” swim badder gas which is why they can be in 30 feet of water, then 3 feet in the air, then be back down to 30 feet of water all in the time a person can say “Holy Sturgeon Batman”.

If I would fish in water deep enough where I would need to fizz, I would be keeping the fish for a hot grease release as RiverRuns suggested.

From the 2017 MN Fishing Regulation handbook:

• Don’t angle for fish in very deep water, unless you plan to keep what you catch.
Fizzing of fish, or the act of inserting a needle into a fish intended to deflate the gas
bladder, caught from deep water can do more harm than good and is not legal.

I’m guessing Ted hasn’t been seeing enough activity on his FB page.

Jon Jordan wrote:

It’s the best way to have your tourney caught fish stay belly down long enough for weigh in. Beyond that, not so sure….

The weekend angler has no business fizzing fish, IMO.

I love it.

Not legal… Unless you’ve got money to grab in a tournament. LOL

munchy wrote:

I don’t agree with it. IMO it’s just a way to allow the fish to swim to the bottom and likely die. If you’re fishing deep enough to require fizzing and not keeping the fish, you’re fishing too deep.

X2 !

I have seen multiple tournament anglers fizz fish they plan to keep in their livewell for weigh-in at kill tournaments. it allows the fish to stay alive longer in the livewell, helping to retain a little extra weight. Not much, but every ounce counts…As everyone else said, you cannot release a fizzed fish in MN.

How long has the no release fizz fish been in effect? I remember hearing the recommendation of Fizzing by tournament directors on released fish not that long ago.

Fishing PWT tournaments in the 90’s at Lake Erie the DNR handed out needles and showed you how to do it. Tournaments in MN they were not even allowed to mention it.

mplspug wrote:

I saw a show where on a bigger fish he burped them by putting pressure on the mid section and massaging forward. I think you can only do that with certain fish because on most fish it is an enclosed bladder.

Trout can be “burped” because they have a more primitive air bladder system vs walleye. Trout have a physostomous swim bladder and can expel air easier than a walleye that have a physoclistous swim bladder.

Buffalo Fishhead

A fish descender is the way to go if you are serious about releasing a fish with barotrauma as said before.

I’d think you could use a cage without a bottom. Put the fish in and sink it to the bottom at which point he could swim upright again and when you pull the cage in he’d swim out.

Very unsanitary, you would need to use a sterile needle every time and also be able to disinfect the needle entry point. This would be highly unlikely that you could do this and not damage the protective slime coat.

Catch and kill only, you would not want the medical profession doing something similar to you.

I did a little looking around:

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) report on fizzing entitled A Review of “Fizzing” – A Technique for Swim Bladder Deflation (prepared by S.J. Kerr in Nov 2001).

The executive summary concluded with:

Pending further research and evaluation, the widespread use of “fizzing” should be discouraged in Ontario.

Within the report it is stated that “Based on a relatively small number of studies which have been conducted to date, depressurization of angled fish can be a significant source of mortality. Up to 45% of fish caught at depths exceeding 10 meters (33 feet) do not survive release”.

The same report states “Undoubtedly, the success of fizzing depends on the conditions at the time and also on the training and experience of the individual performing the procedure. It is a difficult procedure to perform accurately and, from an anatomical perspective, there is very little room for error.”

The report recommends that to maximize post-release survival, walleye should not be taken at depths exceeding 7.5 meters (25 feet). The report also provides the results of recent surveys on the administration and regulation of competitive fishing activities in both the United States and in Canada. In response to the question “Do you advocate fizzing”, 27 or 47 US jurisdictions (states) responded no, 8 jurisdictions responded yes, and 10 jurisdictions stated that they had no formal policy on the issue. In Canada, 7 of 12 jurisdictions (provinces) responding responded no to the question while 5 jurisdictions stated that they had no formal policy on fizzing.
Fizzed fish must be released where the bottom depth is less than the thermocline, otherwise the fish will die from low oxygen.

From the anal gland, count 5 scales up and 2 scales over (either side), and insert a hollow needle…. Insert the needle under the scale, and direct the needle on a 45 degree angle towards the bellyline. Go thru the skin with a quick jab, and then slowly move the needle inward, until you feel resistance. This resistance is the swim bladder. Poke thru that, and let the air out of the bladder. This should be done while holding the fish on his back, under water (in the livewell). You will see bubbles coming out of the needle. When the bubbles stop, the fish is done being fizzed.

For what it’s worth, here is some “biologist stuff” from the report of the 2000 meeting of the American Fisheries Society’s Walleye Technical Committee. To view all their proceedings — which centered on walleye tournaments — go to: http://ws3.coopfish.siu.edu/walleye_tech/sum2000mtg.htm

A couple of their reports dealt directly with fizzing. They are (and I quote via cut-and-paste):

6. Walleye tournaments in Wisconsin. Kendall Kamke, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, [email protected]

To assess delayed mortality for tournament caught walleye on the Winnebago system, two groups of tournament fish were held for 4-5 days after two tournaments, as well as a control group. One group of tournament fish was “fizzed” while the other was not. Control group fish were captured using electrofishing gear the day following the tournaments. Fish were held in live cages in the lake for one tournament and in DNR stocking trucks for the second tournament. During the 1st 48 hours for the cage-held fish, the “not fizzed” group had better survival than the “fizzed” group (78 vs. 24%). The control group had 96% survival for this same time period. However, past this columnaris developed in all three groups. By day 5, all but 1 fish from each of the two tournament groups was dead, and the control fish had suffered 44% mortality. Algae accumulation on the webbing of the cages was also a problem. The results from the stocking truck held fish were different. After 48 hours, both tournament caught groups had only 6% mortality, but the control group had suffered over 44% mortality. Past 48 hours, columnaris again developed and was a problem. Final mortality after 4 days for truck held fish was 18% for “not fizzed”, 39% for “fizzed”, and 56% for control. The experiment will be repeated again next year with changes in the number of fish held, different procedures, and better equipment to see if more reliable results can be obtained.

Kamke added later in his report that:
Ø Sixty percent of the states responding did not advocate gas bladder deflation or “fizzing”

**
Else where in Ohio in 1991…

7. An Overview of Walleye Tournaments in Ohio. Debra Walters, Ohio Division of Wildlife, [email protected]

The Division of Wildlife conducted several years of fizzing experiments on Lake Erie tournament caught walleye (Project Leader: Dave Insley, Castalia State Fish Farm, 7018 Homegardner Road, Castalia, OH 44824, (419)684-7499, [email protected]). During the calm, 1991 walleye tournament, a total of 1,597 walleye were fizzed with 1 % mortality prior to release 20 hours later. A sample of 100 fish were held for six months at the Put-In-Bay Fish Hatchery with only three mortalities. In 1992, a fizzed versus non-fizzed experiment was conducted each day of the three day tournament. Each day two groups of 30 walleye (N=180) were randomly selected; one group was fizzed and the other group not fizzed (control). The fish were held in the hatchery for 14 days. All three groups of non-fizzed fish exhibited 100% mortality within nine days. The three groups of fizzed walleye exhibited an overall survival of 47%. Autopsies of dead fish revealed high incidence of fish spine puncture wounds through the abdominal cavity assumed to be due to poor livewell conditions due to rough lake conditions (3 to 6 foot waves). Non-experimental fish released immediately after each tournament day exhibited very high mortality. In 1993, a total of 2,061 walleye were fizzed and held for 24 hours. Immediate mortality was low, however, three weeks after the tournament large numbers of fish began dying at the release site. Again, lake conditions were very poor for the duration of the tournament. In summary, Ohio does not recommend fizzing walleye after a tournament because; 1) in most years Lake Erie is very rough during the tournament, therefore, livewell conditions are poor, 2) very time consuming and requires extra manpower, and 3) fish mortality is too high.

Joe Scegura wrote:

How long has the no release fizz fish been in effect? I remember hearing the recommendation of Fizzing by tournament directors on released fish not that long ago.

I think the question to ask is “when was it placed in the regulation handbook?”
It hasn’t always been there.

A good long time as we had a post about this before. Buzz was unhappy that MN wouldn’t allow fizzing during any bass tourney’s back in 2012. I found references to it being illegal going back to 2006 (although I didn’t look to hard).

And Al Steven’s of the MN DNR sent an email to me in 2009 stating it was illegal.

It’s possible there are tourney directors that aren’t aware of this…more so after watching Mr. Talkasaki’s (sp?) video.

This seems practical

Super practical

Very interesting Pug! Is it really that easy to insure that a fish may survive?
Is that better than trying to revive them on the side of the boat or are we looking at two different issues for the fish?

That’s for barotrauma effected fish. I don’t know how successful it is, but I imagine it’s better than fizzing or just tossing them overboard.

The only time I sort of experienced it was crappies in just 30′ of water who got that lock jaw and were belly up. The crate would have been perfect for that. If in fact barotrauma is what causes that.

Yesterday I watched a show where the guy fizzed a Goliath grouper. I just shook my head as he poked away scales and gouged him. I have never seen that. From what I see, Goliath’s always go belly up but are powerful enough to overcome it and swim back down.

So after that fish swam away out of the milk crate did it survive? Why not keep it and eat it?

Seems crazy too me that if in doubt and legal, just keep it. I know turtles and eagles need to eat. I do that also. Kind of like a feel good king Fisher scenario.

There is always that option, but what if it isn’t legal or you just want to fish and not clean fish?