Northwest Fishing Reports

If you ever catch a bass in deep water that needs to be fizzed, this is a great trick that works great. I don't have a fizzing needle but even if I did, I wouldn't use it. This trick does not harm the bass at all and is just as effective.

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I could have used that method yesterday when I found a 2 1/2 lb smallie with a bluegill stuck in it's mouth. It was flapping on the surface. It took a bit to get the bluegill out as the dorsal fin and such were all jammed in the bass' mouth and the blue gill was too big to swallow. The Bass still couldn't swim down, and I didn't have the fizzing needle in this boat. But I finally got the air out and she swam on down. Hope she will be ok. I have no idea how long she was floating on the surface.

I use a heavyweight milk crate to decompress fish, including bass. I just tie a thin rope to the top center of the crate, place the crate over the fish while it is in the water and watch the sonar while I pay out the line. Once I see the fish swim out, or the crate is near the bottom, I retreive the crate. It works prefectly and you don't need to handle the fish at all.

I don't know how deep that bass was caught in, but I've yet needed to fizz a bass. Got a kit that's still in its package.

Ive caught them as deep as ~45'.

I don't catch a lot of fish though.

Ive had issues with perch in as little as 20', but ill just feed the birds with those....


Edit.
Congrats on the new boat? Those Tracker looks nice.

A couple years ago I had a little 6" Largie bloat when I caught him on a shallow diving crankbait. He was in 8 foot of water. It can happen at any depth.

Yes, I can't say that I understand it, but I had a SM of about 3 lbs bloat up after being hooked on the bottom in what my depth finder said was 16'-17'. I decided not to fish tournaments when the fish were deep. The WDF&W guys said that whether fizzed or other, a bloated fish probably has ruptured organs and won't likely survive a week after release.