1
General Fishing Tips / Re: Descender Weight
« on: May 01, 2024, 08:37:46 PM »Has anyone tested retrieving what might be a larger fish at slower retrieval from deeper water? I will try and report when the time arises.According to this PDF from the DFG on barotrauma: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=36345
I have not had issues with barotrauma at inshore because most of my inshore fishing in a kayak is usually no more than 80 ft in places I frequent around the Monterey bay
Myth: Reeling a fish in slowly prevents barotrauma.
Fact: Rockfish cannot acclimate to the pressure drop even when reeled in slowly.QuoteMyth: You can tell by looking whether a fish will survive or die.
According to published results of a Sea Grant
study led by researchers at Cal State Long Beach:
The degree of barotrauma in a fish is not a reliable
predictor of its survival. The most significant
predictor of post-release survivorship is the time a
fish spends at the surface.
Descend them all please, regardless of what they look like.
-Allen
If a fish can go down on it's own, lets say quick release at the water line, does that also mean that it's being less subjugated to the stress of barotrauma?
The studies don't distinguish. Descend them all for maximum benefit. Also, how many times have you released a rockfish only to have it pop up 30 seconds later? That 30 seconds could mean the difference between life and death.
-Allen