The beautiful largemouth you just caught is floating belly-up in the livewell. Now what? You understand the problem; its distended gut tells you the swim bladder is inflated, which prevents it from submerging and swimming to the depths. The term for this condition is: barotrauma, and it occurs when a fish is reeled from deep water, where intense pressures keep bladder gas condensed, to the surface, where the much lower air pressure allows it to expand.
You also probably know the solution—
fizzing. But if you’re like many fishermen, the idea of jamming a hollow, 18-gauge needle into a fish's vitals isn't exactly in your comfort zone.
Our good friends at the Texas Wildlife & Parks Department have produced what I think is the best instructional video on the subject. It shows you, step-by-step, how to safely and successfully release excess gas from a largemouth’s swim bladder, and it’s a skill every bass fisherman should master. Warning: While the video is very educational, it’s not for the squeamish!
I’ve rarely had to fizz a bass because I seldom fish waters that are deep enough for barotrauma to be an issue. But I know the procedure, and have performed it when necessary. How about you? -- Kurt