02-11-2013, 12:02 AM
[cool][#0000FF]If the air bladder is protruding from the mouth, you can simply poke a pinhole in it with the point of the hook and the perch will dive back down to the bottom. That tissue heals quickly and the perch has a good shot at survival.
In the first days of perch fishing on Deer Creek in the early 80's I was with a group of guys...including a DWR rep. He okayed a fin clip to mark any fish we poke fizzed to see if we caught any of them on subsequent trips. Amazingly, we actually recaught several of them on the same trip and more on subsequent trips to the same spot.
100% survival? I doubt it. But better than floating under the ice.
A couple of years ago I saw info on using a hook and sinker setup for sending bloated fish back down to the depths so they could repressurize. I fashioned my own "perch savers" as in the pic attached. I have verified on sonar that fish taken back down to deeper water and then pulled free will almost always return to the bottom. Even works on wimpy small crappies.
[inline "WIRE PERCH SAVER.jpg"][/#0000FF]
[signature]
In the first days of perch fishing on Deer Creek in the early 80's I was with a group of guys...including a DWR rep. He okayed a fin clip to mark any fish we poke fizzed to see if we caught any of them on subsequent trips. Amazingly, we actually recaught several of them on the same trip and more on subsequent trips to the same spot.
100% survival? I doubt it. But better than floating under the ice.
A couple of years ago I saw info on using a hook and sinker setup for sending bloated fish back down to the depths so they could repressurize. I fashioned my own "perch savers" as in the pic attached. I have verified on sonar that fish taken back down to deeper water and then pulled free will almost always return to the bottom. Even works on wimpy small crappies.
[inline "WIRE PERCH SAVER.jpg"][/#0000FF]
[signature]