Releasing Rockfish

[Stowaway]

It's getting to that time of year where the brine lays down well enough to get out for some good rockfishing. I'm sure alot of us would like to help preserve the resource and are looking for ways to do it. Since most of the rockfish brought up from the bottom have their swim bladders protruding from their mouth, releasing them to float and feed the birds is not the way to go. What are some techniques you use to get these fish swimming again?

I haven't had much experience with this myself. I have tried using an extra rod with a big barbless hook, tied the mainline to the bend instead of the eye. Off the eye I hung a weight, hooked the fish in the lip and sent it down slowly. Once I felt the fish move I give it a jerk to release it. Do you slowly or quickly lower the fish down?

[ron m]

I used a rig much like the one you mention, it works, but I had trouble keeping the hook in as I tried to get the fish back into the water and going down. Having the reel in freespool with the clicker on helped, but I still had trouble occasionally. As far as I know,it is ok to lower the fish quickly. Remember, the objective is to get it back down to depth so it recompresses.

I went to a weighted basket. My son got me a basket with vinyl coated wire and I put about 8 lbs of lead on it and a harness attached to 100 ft of rope. Now I just lower this over the fish and down it goes. I use the pot puller to bring it back up. With this rig I get the fish down much quicker and it's easy to use. Of course, the difficulty is the space it takes up on deck, but I can deal with that.

ron m

[retaliate]

I like the weighted basket idea, I've tried the light leader breakaway system, but found it takes a lot of weight to get a big bloated Yelloweye, or Canary down to the bottom, maybe using your downrigger for this method might work?
Since I've been using large slabs of Shad for Halibut Bait the last few years, I've noticed a large drop in the number of Rockfish being hooked, I'd say close to a 90% reduction, still some method should be used for the few you do catch.

[Pilar]

If you use a large jig head and a downrigger you can sink a yellow eye pretty quick. Clip the jig onto the same snap as the downrigger ball and wrap the wire around the curve of the hook so that the hook points down. Pinch the barb down for easy release. But as RonM said getting the hook to stay in while you drop the fish in is kinda tricky.

Then rocket ship to the bottom. You can tell when the fish starts to revive as the downrigger will start jerking. I just reel up fast and the fish pops off.

Having the rig, whatever it is ready is the key.

Just last weekend I was surprised to bring up what I thought was a canary in only 70 feet of water. It had the right marking and one extra .. a large black spot in the base of the dorsal fin. Never seen that before.

[hetchy]

Originally Posted by Stowaway

It's getting to that time of year where the brine lays down well enough to get out for some good rockfishing. I'm sure alot of us would like to help preserve the resource and are looking for ways to do it. Since most of the rockfish brought up from the bottom have their swim bladders protruding from their mouth, releasing them to float and feed the birds is not the way to go. What are some techniques you use to get these fish swimming again?

I haven't had much experience with this myself. I have tried using an extra rod with a big barbless hook, tied the mainline to the bend instead of the eye. Off the eye I hung a weight, hooked the fish in the lip and sent it down slowly. Once I felt the fish move I give it a jerk to release it. Do you slowly or quickly lower the fish down?

These Sheldon releases work really well the few times we have had to use them. We try not to fish that deep to begin with but sometimes it happens and different species are more sensitive depth changes. You can just put the release on the rod you are using or have another one rigged up just for releasing(preffered IMO) Works well on Macks and Cutts in fresh water also. Here is the link with a good video. Cheap and effective. Its great to preserve the resource for sure. And doesn't require a hole to be punched internally in the fish which long term survival is a long shot at best. Good thread, thanks for posting it.

http://www.sheltonproducts.com/SFD.html

[Greg516]

How come ive always heard your suppose to pop their bladder???
either the people are stupid or i dont get what their saying

[retaliate]

Originally Posted by Greg516

How come ive always heard your suppose to pop their bladder???
either the people are stupid or i dont get what their saying

A small hole in the bladder releases Air, & makes it easier to send them down, They say the survival rate with a small hole in the bladder is good, still you have to wonder if thats true, the survival rate is Zero, leaving them floating on the Surface, so practically any method to send them down is better, or avoid catching them.

[Pilar]

The research shows that recompression is better for the fish. Everything returns to normal size and the fish swims away. The key here is to limit surface time. Get em down quick.

The hole besides the obvious damage if you miss can cause infection and kill the fish.

[The Lucky Duck]

This is what we use, it is just a 7-9 0 hook tied and glued onto a dowell.

[hetchy]

Originally Posted by hetchy

These Sheldon releases work really well the few times we have had to use them. We try not to fish that deep to begin with but sometimes it happens and different species are more sensitive depth changes. You can just put the release on the rod you are using or have another one rigged up just for releasing(preffered IMO) Works well on Macks and Cutts in fresh water also. Here is the link with a good video. Cheap and effective. Its great to preserve the resource for sure. And doesn't require a hole to be punched internally in the fish which long term survival is a long shot at best. Good thread, thanks for posting it.

http://www.sheltonproducts.com/SFD.html

Really worth checking out the site link above. It has a lot of info. about releashing fish. And no, nothing about putting a hole in their bladder. Its a good one.

[blubeast]

More release info can be found at: http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/sgpu...bs/g05001.html

also check out:
http://www.oceaned.org/Education.htm

[StrikeFighter]

It is good that more folks are getting involved in saving our fishery resources. Over the last couple of days I have been working with even a much stronger SFD™ for those bigger fish. Light duty, heavy duty and now a super duty. I getting ready to send off some to Alaska for testing and to Texas where they are doing the red snapper barotrauma study of the SFD™.

A lot of folks thing that what sticking out of there mouth is the swim bladder.It is not their swim bladder it is their stomach.The swim bladder is internal so please don't Polk a hole in their stomach thinking you are punching a hole in their swim bladder..

Bill

[Stowaway]

Originally Posted by StrikeFighter

A lot of folks thing that what sticking out of there mouth is the swim bladder.It is not their swim bladder it is their stomach.The swim bladder is internal so please don't Polk a hole in their stomach thinking you are punching a hole in their swim bladder..

Bill

Yes, it is the swim bladder that pushes the stomach out of the mouth. So is the stomach filled with the swim bladder air also then?

[vudo]

here's anther good link:
http://www.ifish.net/board/showthrea...45#post1952545

[otterduck1]

Only someone skilled enough to use a needle and that has the right knowledge can relieve the pressure correctly within the bladder. And no you don't go in from the mouth.

[trollking]

Recompressing only helps some fish, and it only helps them partially. That is not the swim bladder protruding, it is the stomach lining. When the stomach lining blows up like that it tears and pushes organs around. There is a lot of research taking place trying to justify recompression as a 'saving' for the fish, but there is still a long ways to go.

I think a lot of the recompression is along the lines of 'out of sight, out of mind'.
Rockfish mortality is a huge problem, but I'm guessing that two decades from now when some of us look back and consider the problem, we will realize that this was, at best, only a partial solution.

Still, it's probably better than having them pecked to death by seagulls, but there is still a huge mortality on these fish.

[jimsbuddy]

Originally Posted by The Lucky Duck

This is what we use, it is just a 7-9 0 hook tied and glued onto a dowell.

Im no expert, but this looks like an excellent way to safely get them back down and quick..

[hetchy]

Originally Posted by jimsbuddy

Im no expert, but this looks like an excellent way to safely get them back down and quick..

Please for the health of the fish just check out Sheltons website for putting the undersized fish back down to their depth and live on. I don't know Bill except by reputation and using his products. For the amount of research and development he has put into this and the price of the product it is a deal, for the fisherman and mostly for the fish. Using a needle just isn't right and besides there are better ways to keep them alive for sure.

bill@sheltonproducts.com

or www.sheltonproducts.com

[otterduck1]

That looks awseome!

I think i can make one at home though.

[whatugetemon]

I'm fairly new to this, but I've got a crate rigged up with a 100' of rope to try for this year. I just need to figure out how much to weight to use to get the fish down and where to tie the weight to ensure that the crate stays on top of the fish. My plan is to start with a 16 oz lead tied to each of the corners.

I don't feel like I have enough expertise to poke a hole in anything and increase its chance of survival.

[StrikeFighter]

Originally Posted by whatugetemon

I'm fairly new to this, but I've got a crate rigged up with a 100' of rope to try for this year. I just need to figure out how much to weight to use to get the fish down and where to tie the weight to ensure that the crate stays on top of the fish. My plan is to start with a 16 oz lead tied to each of the corners.

I made the original Cage set up and then shot the movie with Bob Franko on the cage. I didn't use lead weights at all. I used rebar tie-strapped at all four sides to the top of case which is turned over for descend and the rope was saddle at all four corners to keep it straight.
You can see movie of it in use at.

http://www.sheltonproducts.com/Frankonator.mov

These reason I decide the cage wasn't doing a good job and continued on withe the SFD™ was that when I was viewing video the swells was banging the fish around in the cage with the eyes extended and causing damage to the eyes. The other problem was on rough days it was prematurely allowing the fish out of the cage because the fish couldn't rise as fast as the swells lifted the cage. The main reason is the real problem wasn't barotrauma but lack of energy. The fish has the power to swim down with barotrauma but not the energy. The cage carries the fish down sideways and don't cause water to flow through the gills like the SFD™ was designed to do to quickly re-energize the fish so he could defend itself and get on its way. The SFD™ does a good job of quickly descending the fish down and re energizing it with plenty of water flushed through its gills and easy to store. You can see them at http://www.sheltonproducts.com/SFD.html

The main thing is use what ever works for you to save the fish from being a floater.

[ron m]

Good point about water flowing past the gills, that's something I hadn't considered. I find the cage much quicker for geting the fish back down and it requires less handling if someone is ready to put it over the fish immediately. But the point about water running past the gills is a good one for further consideration.
ron m

[Lucky one]

Just a sidenote. When releasing rockfish no matter what method you use we still get no credit for the fish surviving. So if your out for a day of fishing and release say six bass, canaries, whatever and then go tell the fish checkers all those fish go against our quotas.

I'm not saying don't tell the fish checkers you released fish. I'm just saying if you get your limit of fish don't keep catching and releasing, I know its fun but it could contribute to our rockfish season being shutdown early.