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Deflating fish the right way
Posted by AKCAPT on Feb 26 2006
Here is the deal with deflating rockfish or cod:
Yes, they will sink if you stick them with any sharp object. However they will not live unless you stick them in the right place. Returning them to die anyway is useless.
First rule, if you catch them deep and reel them up fast, they are always going to die. Look for gas venting under scales or in the their eyes. If they are that bent, keep them….
If you are catching them in shallower water and they come up looking okay with their STOMACH coming out of their mouth( no that is not their swim bladder), it may possible to puncture their swim bladder with a hypodermic needle. If you pop the stomach, they are going to die.
Where is the swim bladder? If you take their pectoral fin (the one near the gills) the lay that fin against their body, flat. Think of that fin as a clock, at the 2 o’clock position and a half inch towards the dorsal fin (top fin with spines) is the area where the swim bladder is. If you take the hypodermic needle and try to angle it towards the head, so it goes under the scales, not through them, the fish should be properly vented.
Sticking a nasty ice pick, knife tip, ball point pen, or gaff into a fish, it will let the gas out but it will leave a large hole, susceptible to infection. I say this only because these fish, are so old (now some have been dated to over 200 years old) that if you are going to keep catching them past your limit and releasing them, you need to understand that just cause they sink, they are not likely to live.
On our boats, once we have a limit, we move off the yellow eyes, no matter what. There are only so many 100 – 200 year old fish in our neck of the woods.
The milk crate trick or a salmon hook on 6lb test and lower the fish back down is a great method too.
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