Will fish caught at 30-40 ft depth survive if released? Just asking in case I catch deep fish on my October trip.

I would appreciate any thoughts or techniques for increasing the survival rate.

Thanks

My understanding is that if their air bladder isn’t coming out of the mouth, they should be ok. Surely someone here knows more than me though and can clarify.

Lake trout typically are fine other species depends. 30 feet they might be fine, 35-40 they might go belly up. Bring them in slowly or let them come up on their own. A fish that goes belly up is most likely going to die. I typically only catch/kill/eat if they are 35 feet or deeper. I've heard you can puncture the air bladder if it is inflated. I don't know if delayed mortality will kick in or not in that case. Hopefully someone who knows more will chime in.

T

It depends on the fish too. Lake trout can burp and are probably fine. Walleye, SMB, etc, have closed swim bladders and would be less likely to survive. I don't think barotrauma is as simple as an eyeball test to see whether the swim bladder is coming out of the fish's mouth. There are several factors include depth, temperature at depth vs temperature at surface, the current health condition of the individual fish, etc.

Google "walleye barotrauma" and start reading up.

Personally, if I find the walleyes at 30 feet I'm done fishing once I reach my limit. That's a personal choice though.

Thanks for your help. I started doing some internet searches and came across a few descending devices. Some elaborate and expensive, and some simple and inexpensive. I bought the Shelton descending device on line for about $14... It's mechanical and looks very easy to use but will require a 1 lb weight to bring the fish back down to where it came from. I know lakers probably won't need it, but I'll let you guys know if I encounter a situation where it was needed on other species.

Packrat

Nigal: "My understanding is that if there air bladder isn’t coming out of the mouth they should be ok. Surely someone here knows more than me though and can clarify. "

What you see is the stomach coming out caused by the air bladder expanding due to less pressure at the surface. Thus forcing the stomach out.