To bleed or not to bleed....

I normally cut the gills of my fish to bleed them over the side of the yak after bonking their heads. A habit I picked up when catching stripers at the delta. My last trip to Rockaway, I caught my limit of browns and bled each fish after they were caught. I was told later that doing this would be ringing the dinner bell for mr. great white to show up. Didnt occur to me til after I was on shore due to sleep deprivation the night before.

Has anyone had any close encounters because of bleeding fish out in the deep blue?

Always bleed your catch. 

There’s always sharks in the water.  Encounters are rare, aggressive encounters are extremely rare.  Don’t even worry about it.  Get a shark shield if you think it will put your mind at ease.

I always bleed and keep my head on a swivel to make sure nothing comes for my fish. I just ordered a kill bag so I don’t have to leave the fish on a stringer the whole time I am fishing. Ive been more worried about seals trying to steal my fish than sharks.

The search feature is your friend.

You will find this topic discussed previously along with whether to use kill bags and ice, stringers and wet burlap and whether to bonk/bleed or Ike jime/bleed

 

The quality of the meat is a high priority.

When there were a couple of shark attacks on kayaks at my home port this summer, I had a thought for a minute about not bleeding fish.  My good friend Domenic reminded me, "we've bled every fish on every trip for years."

I bled every fish on every trip all summer.

Thanks all for the feedback. I'm a supporter in bleeding and icing the fish right away after dispatching them as the meat quality is greatly improved over something that wasn't. Just didn't want to attract any uninvited guests in the process. 

Thanks all for the feedback. I'm a supporter in bleeding and icing the fish right away after dispatching them as the meat quality is greatly improved over something that wasn't. Just didn't want to attract any uninvited guests in the process. 

I'd be more worried about a seal or sea lion tipping you over than an a attack by a shark.

Eric those shots really have the water turning red!  Makes me wonder if I'm doing it right, as I never see the water that bright.  I usually just rip the gills with my hand for small fish, and cut with a knife for larger ones (or clip them with my line cutter on my pliers for big lings where the knife has trouble.  Should I be doing it differently?  I don't have blood spots in my meat normally so I figure my method is working ok, but like I said those pics make me wonder if I'm getting all the blood out after all...

Eric those shots really have the water turning red!  Makes me wonder if I'm doing it right, as I never see the water that bright.  I usually just rip the gills with my hand for small fish, and cut with a knife for larger ones (or clip them with my line cutter on my pliers for big lings where the knife has trouble.  Should I be doing it differently?  I don't have blood spots in my meat normally so I figure my method is working ok, but like I said those pics make me wonder if I'm getting all the blood out after all...

I cut the tail to the spine as well.  There is an artery or at least a channel back there some where. Some fish bleed way more than others.  Salmon are loaded with blood.

Eric those shots really have the water turning red!  Makes me wonder if I'm doing it right, as I never see the water that bright.  I usually just rip the gills with my hand for small fish, and cut with a knife for larger ones (or clip them with my line cutter on my pliers for big lings where the knife has trouble.  Should I be doing it differently?  I don't have blood spots in my meat normally so I figure my method is working ok, but like I said those pics make me wonder if I'm getting all the blood out after all...

Eddie's right - salmon are the bloody ones.  They bleed out very easy from ripping out all the gills.  Lingcod and rockfish don't bleed nearly as well, but it's the same process - remove all gills, put the fish back in the net to splash and pump some blood out, and then stow.  The lingcod will still be kicking in 30 minutes (even without a heart or any gills), and the blacks and other rockfish may just die quickly from the gill removal.

Salmon bleed the best.

I'd be more worried about a seal or sea lion tipping you over than an a attack by a shark.

This!

I'd be more worried about a seal or sea lion tipping you over than an a attack by a shark.

This!
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If that head presents itself... a swift backhand or overhand, maybe a powerful right hook... though if bit there's a possibility of nasty infection

If that head presents itself... a swift backhand or overhand, maybe a powerful right hook... though if bit there's a possibility of nasty infection

I had a smallish sea lion jump onto the aka bar on my AI. If I’d been on a regular kayak, I’d have been dumped in the water so fast that there would have been no chance to throw a punch. In any case, I’d go with a knife, rather than a fist...

Strictly hypothetical on my end. I'm probably too slow to get in a solid contact. I'm reserving the knife for taxman if i'm so lucky. In any event it would be an interesting report or video should someone tangle