proper care for bass caught from deep depths

[merc1997]

since summer fishing is going to be here shortly, i would like to talk a bit about caring for bass that have been brought up from deep water and hauled around in our livewells. i so tired of hearing about "fizzing" bass at the weigh tanks. there should be no need of ever "fizzing" a bass. properly ICE YOUR LIVEWELLS!!! gas is expanded by pressure or by temperature. we expand the air bladder of a bass when quickly brought to the surface from as little as 20ft. deep. this will put them on their side in our livewells. also stress will do the same thing. typically bass caught from the thermocline will be in a 70-72 degree temp. range. you can cool your livewell temp 8 to 10 degrees cooler than that. colder than that range can shock the bass enough to harm or even kill it. in the case of an expanded air bladder, the cooler temps will shrink the air back to a manageable range for the bass. colder water also retains more oxygen. most livewells have enough insulation around them to keep your water temps once you get in the proper temp range. the trick to maintain this is to recirculate your water. also, a bubble is great!! this same trick will also work on bass caught in winter or any time of the year. lets quit having to "fizz" our bass, and take care of them properly to begin with. i have weighed in hundreds of bass that have been caught from depths to 111ft., and they have all swam off after weigh in without fizzing. there are other tricks such as using a small amount of hydrogen peroxide, rock salt to name a couple. just remember your livewell water needs to be in the 8 to 10 degrees range colder than the temp of water the bass came out of. i have used this method since the early 70's and know without a doubt it works. one last note, the cooler water slows the bass' metabolism down, and that means it will require less oxygen, and have less stress. when they are in this relaxed state in the livewell, they will often still be on their sides. let them warm up and you will see they will all swim off like they were shot out of a cannon. when we tourney fish, lets make every effort to take better care of our catch so the may be released unharmed.

bo