Message: Hello, Please forward this to Dr. Schramm.

I was disappointed with your response to the "Fizzing" Q & A. I do not see any benefit in pulling a live fish from depths that make them puke their air bladder. Then you proceed to tell them how de-inflate the air bladder with a needle. How many fisherman are going to carry a sharp STERILE needle to in able them to perform this procedure on a slimy wiggling fish? Much less using sanitary conditions to do the procedure on a already stressed fish. By the time the fisherman jabs the fish a few time and maybe hits the bladder how much damage has he done to the fish by excessive handling or inaccurate punctures. No I am not a doctor or biologist but a common sense individual who sees the whole fizzing idea to be nothing more than released killing. Best idea to the fizzing problem, DON'T FISH SO DEEP.  I feel the whole idea of fizzing servers no use except that the fisherman "tries to save them". The "basket" idea, c'mon how many fisherman do you really think are going to go that extreme. The fish that have puked their bladders are D-E-A-D fish and should be included in the fisherman's daily catch.

Lee D Gisvold   Life Member #90170382

lgisvold@southslope.net

Hi FishinFun:

I will forward your comments to Dr. Schramm, but first let me clarify that he never referred to a fish that had "puked its bladder," as you put it. There's a huge difference between a fish with a simple enlarged air bladder, and one with a bladder that protrudes from the gullet.

A fish with an enlarged bladder may appear normal, but go belly-up when you try to release it. Fizzing allows a successful release in such a case.

And with respect for your opinion, fizzing is actually a simple procedure that anyone can master.

Regarding the laundry basket method, I have to admit that I had second thoughts about it when Dr. Schramm first described it to me several years ago. Like you, I wondered about keeping a laundry basket handy. My solution was to add weights to a milk crate--the kind you find in any department store. Just wire sections of heavy rebar to the outside, along the lip of the open side. You could probably do the same with a 5-gallon plastic bucket that was thoroughly perforated with a 1 1/2-inch hole saw bit to allow water flow.