Baro Trauma

[Guest SnappaHunta]

Dont know if this is exactly right place to post this, but here goes.Was wondering what depth you need to start worrying about releasing SNAPPER.I know a lot of people are keen to take home two 60cm+ fish, but I prefer to release as many as possible.1. Because they are beautiful fish2. Because 2 big snapper are too much to eat3. You can catch more fishmy understanding is up to 10-15m it's fine to "spear" them back in.Over 30m or even 25m I've never tried it as I've been told their swim bladder inflates and they can not get back down. So my question is basically what depth is fine to release the fish and what is the proceedure for deflating the bladder if the water is too deep.Out at steamers off pt Hughes for example I would assume the fish are bugga'd once you bring em up, but I must admit I have never tried releasing them out there. On the fishing shows they seem to release fish in all sorts of water depth??

[Piranha 76]

Mate, i'm really only familiar with treating effected freshwater fish that suffer from barotrauma, the concept is similar I believe for saltwater species with different sucess rates for diff species. I think your best bet would be to get one of those weighted reverse hook devices (theres a couple on the market) to drop the fish back to the seabed, wait a couple of minutes for it's swim bladder to equalise and then a quick pull on the line and it's released.The other option is the piercing of the swimbladder which can take a bit of practice to get right but i'm not sure of the difference in survival rates between methods? I would guess spikeing would have to be worse?cheers

[Piranha 76]

On the fishing shows they seem to release fish in all sorts of water depth??

They edit out the bit where the boat drives off leaving all the floaters behind

[urhookedfish 12]

Hi SnappaHunta, this is a topic which is very close to my heart. I have released big fish strong and healthy and in prime condition in 33meters of water. :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: The simple key is to fight them to the top very slowly and really take your time with em.... Try and minimise the time the fish is kept in the boat. So its even better if you can get the hook out whilst the fish is in the water at the side of the boat. If you plan on releasing fish then it makes sense to use gamma circles so all fish are hooked in the corner of the mouth and facilitates a quick release.If you fight them extremely slowly and take about 5-10minutes plus to bring them to the boat, and you dont keep em topside for too long taking photos, you should be able to just swim the fish by the tail alongside the boat . Keep pushing and pulling the fish so oxygen goes through the gills unitl the spines are up and the fish is raring to go. I had an 11kilo plus fish nearly sprain my wrist on release a couple of seasons ago. I dont like to spear em back in but swim em until there ready to swim off. That way you can see em just cruise back down slowly which they need to do anyway.The other thing I think I will be doing is getting an environet too this season as this should reduce unecessary injuries to Big Reds

[voogoofish 1]

Piranha wrote:

I think your best bet would be to get one of those weighted reverse hook devices (theres a couple on the market) to drop the fish back to the seabed, wait a couple of minutes for it's swim bladder to equalise and then a quick pull on the line and it's released.The other option is the piercing of the swimbladder which can take a bit of practice to get right but i'm not sure of the difference in survival rates between methods? I would guess spikeing would have to be worse?cheers

I saw a blue groper released with a 'zip tie' and heavy weights to get him back down to depth. a quick pull and the zip tie broke... I assume it worked...???

[urhookedfish 12]

It seems alot of anglers are using the puncturing the swim bladder technique, but I am yet to see any data as to the survival rate of snapper with this method.I dont trust that the fish will survive infection and die some time down the track. Im just not willing to trust that method yet.would love to hear if any research has been done on any other species where this method is used. What I also find interesting is how Kingfish dont seem to suffer Barotrauma. It seems as if you can crank em from great depths and release em straight back. What a remarkable fish...but any would love to know if snapper are surviving the punctured swim bladder?

[archerfish 685]

SnappaHuntaI think you will find that FRDC have done a fair bit of work regarding barotrauma, but so far the only conclusion seems to be that different species of fish respond differently to different release depths and methods. This obviously doesn't help to answer your question - merely to highlight that a bit more work needs to be done in this area.You may also wish to check out this from the Recfishing Research site: http://publisher.onepixel.com.au/document_download.asp?service=4&set=3&document=47Cheersarcherfish

[dutchy 451]

I use a release weight Just a big sinker on a hand line with an old stainless hook moulded into the sinker upside down.Cut the point and barb off with wire cutters so no one gets hurt. Then tie an old handline to the U of the hook. When sinker hits bottom fish swims off :woohoo:

[Piranha 76]

I saw a blue groper released with a 'zip tie' and heavy weights to get him back down to depth. a quick pull and the zip tie broke... I assume it worked...???

Sounds like a good improvisation as does Dutchys solution