Bleeding Keepers.

Wyndknot · 07-10-2001, 10:19 AM

In an effort to shed mantle of a Lurker and in reference to the fish box link i pose this question to the members of the board. Dad taught me years ago to always bleed the
keepers as soon as possible, but never bleed
them in water that you are fishing in. Scent
of the blood will put the free swimming fish
off the bite. Probably not a problem in the ocean, but what about rivers and lakes ?

Master Baiter · 07-10-2001, 12:23 PM

Wyndknot, Welcome to the board!

I know for a fact that I have bled fish in a hole and still caught fish. BUT I also may have not caught fish at times and just did not make the correlation. I guess if the fish are barely on the bite then it usually does not take much to turn the bite off. We all know how finicky salmon and steelies can be sometimes!

FEAR NO FISH! · 07-10-2001, 12:54 PM

This last April while fishing Springers at the Wind River, it seemed like everytime we cleaned a fish over the side of the boat, we would get a rip. It didn't seem to bother the steelies at Mcnary Dam when we were slaughtering them in October either. Blood in the water, feeding frenzy? [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

Eric · 07-10-2001, 01:07 PM

Good topic.

In oceans, lakes, or large rivers.....bleed away! There is simply too much water for the amount of blood involved to be a factor in the bite. Of course, try to keep the blood of your hands if your not done fishing and are still handling bait. What we often do is leave the fish in the net over the side of the boat and pop a gill until they are bled out. Only takes a minute or two and then they can be thrown in the fish box (on ice) for cleaning later.

Small rivers are an entirely different story; especially low,clear summer-run rivers. Years ago I witnessed first hand a fascinating example of what blood can do to fish. I was fishing a SW Washington river mid summer and the fish were in. My partner had just landed a fish in the riffle above me as I was working over 3 fish (all visible to me) in a shallow glide. He proceded to clean his fish, throwing the guts in the river to drift downstream towards my 3 fish. When the guts/blood hit the glide those 3 fish went nuts, zipping up and down the run totally freaked out. They finally bailed out down river. It was powerful evidence! Now, when I land a fish in these conditions, I bleed it on shore and then rinse it off about a foot from shore....hasn't been a problem.

Steelheadman · 07-10-2001, 06:26 PM

I always make sure to clean blood off the rocks, my hands, and throw the guts downstream. Also make sure the blood line is all scraped and the carcuss clean.

First Bite · 07-10-2001, 08:50 PM

When I bleed and clean a fish, I'll go down to the end of the drift where I'm fishing and clean it there in the shallow water away from where I was fishing. I don't know if it makes much a difference but I always clean my hands with soap before I rig up again.
Mark

www.firstcastjigs.com

Krome Brite · 07-10-2001, 09:51 PM

In lakes, I have cleaned trout in the water and afterward fish have acted like pirahnas just hitting everybody's rod hard and crazy.

SAUKit2em · 07-11-2001, 12:16 PM

To bleed or not to bleed? That is the question. In theory, salmon and steelhead are stupid creatures even though they can be finicky at times and not bite jack snot, they are still stupid. Reason being that they rely on instincts which help them to survive so think about what happens when a fish sees a ton of its buddy's blood or guts coming down river. They think "Whoa!!! Must be a sea lion upriver!!!" so they subsequently freak out like the ones that Eric mentioned. I do believe that in the larger rivers and open water areas that the blood and guts will disperse rather quickly and it probably will not make a difference, however, in smaller and clearer rivers and lakes it is more than likely to sound the "sea lion alarm" and cause fish to go postal.

ssteelheadsteve · 07-12-2001, 10:01 PM

Before modern day fishways Hatchery workers used bleeding fish to channel the fish to the area they wanted them in.You can stop a run with bleeding fish.I have seen this done on the Nehalem and Salmon rivers.

KrystalFlash · 07-12-2001, 11:17 PM

I've truly never noticed a significant difference in the bite after bleeding fish, however, I always bleed them in the boat directly after determining if they have too many fins or not, then wash it out through the bilge.
I do not think that this makes any differnce at all. I cannot, however, say for sure.

Best o' luck to you!

Better Lucky Than Good!
KF