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| The "How deep is too deep" tread got me thinking, is there any of you folks that are really into the biology part of this fish that know or have heard how long it takes them to adjust to a change in water pressure.
I have had fish develope problems coming up from the depths to take a shallower running bait, seems this only happens if I'm over 60 plus of water or more. And it only happens in gin clear water. I suspect that these fish are seeing baits well over their heads and are coming up to grab them.
Another question: Do you think that if those fish get back down right away after grabbing a bait (or baitfish), that they would not develope bladder problems? If not, it seems that they would have eliminated themselves from the gene pool long before I run across them.
I have heard of net pulls in some of Canada's gin clear trout waters catching musky at depths up to 80 feet. I have caught fish down to forty here in Wisconsin.
Thanks for any input.
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| No takers???????
Anyone even have a good suggestion as to where to start to look for this kind of information????? |
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| Joel- Great question.I wont even pretend to have any scientific answers to the depth question.I do know experentially that Ive caught muskies on the bottom in 50+ft,released them and caught the same fish a year or two later so they do survive.For me these have been cold water situtations,and how water temps exactly play into the equasion would also be interesting to know.Ive seen similar recovery problems being over deep water and having a fish hit a shallow running lure-Ditto -Ive felt that they came screaming up from way down.Conversely I Havnt had the problem afetr the fish hit deep and was worked gradually to the surface. Hope someone can help us out. |
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| Joel:
All soft rayed fish (fish that do not have spines in their fins, trout, northerns, muskies, salmon, etc.), have a swim bladder that is not fully enclosed, and that enables them to "burp". Classic examples of this are lake trout that are commonly caught in very deep water during summer months. It is very common for bubbles to come from the fish as they near the surface.
Spiny rayed fish (walleyes, bass, perch, etc.) have a fully enclosed swim bladder and will suffer from a swim bladder that expands when the fish is taken from deep water and brought to the surface. Walleye boys "fizz" their deep water fish (stick a hyprodermic needle into the swim bladder) which releases the pressure, and allows the fish to swim back to the bottom. This sounds dangerous, but if done correctly it has great success.
If it appears that a muskie is suffering from a water pressure change, hold the fish in the water, and gently stroke the fishes belly from the back to the front, pushing upwards in the area that has the swim bladder.
Many times this will help the fish expend any swim bladder pressures that have occured because of water depth changes. Usually the fish are able to do this by their selves.
I sometimes see bubbles coming from a fish that has "rolled" (porpoised), that I think is caused by pressure being released from the swim bladder.
I don't think I would worry too much about a deep water muskie from a swim bladder pressure change. I suspect that the great differance in water temperatures between where the fish was living and the surface temps are probably more of a problem, and there's not much you can do except try and get the fish back down to the area they came from as fast as possible.
Doug Johnson |
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| Doug,
Thanks for the reply. I think your right in that the bladder thing is probably not that common of a problem, but I have had a couple of fish tank on me that we never could get back down. Kinda makes a guy sick to not get a good release. These fish had bladder problems and no amount of "stroking" seemed to help. I wonder if on occasion these fish sustain some type of injury in their bladder function that prevents them from getting back down. Maybe due to rapid change in presure. At any rate I hate when it happens. I would like to learn how to "fizz", it would at least offer the fish some kind of a chance in those rare times when one will not go down. |
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