Algonquin Adventures / Strage fish mortality

**Posted by ahubbs** 6/25/2016 2:10 pm

Just wanted to run something by people to see if anyone else has ever experienced this. I caught a Walleye this spring in the 3-4 pound range and when I brought him up and took it out of the water I was removing the hook. It was lightly hooked on the lip and I handled it fairly gently but I heard a pop like a small balloon popping and the fish went limp, it tried to release it but it was dead almost instantly. The fish looked healthy and was fat and broad, just curious if anyone knows why this would happen I've never experienced it before.

**Posted by swedish pimple** 6/25/2016 7:21 pm

i think that bringing in a pickerel that has been suspended in deep water very quickly injuries the bladder?
i try to run my fingers along the belly of the fish applying little pressure to burb out the excess air from the quick trip to the surface before release.
seems like the fish you caught had those symptoms . i could be wrong?

**Posted by DanPM** 6/26/2016 9:56 pm

I've heard that warm-water fishes like walleye and bass are vulnerable to the pressure change that comes from reeling them in from deep in the water column. Cold-water fishes like trout are better at withstanding the pressure change, but of course they face the other problem that the surface in the summer is warmer than ideal for them.

**Posted by Was Hardcore** 6/27/2016 6:16 pm

Species like trout are able to regulate the pressure in their air bladder. Walleye are not. On the professional walleye tour they carry a hypodermic syringe to manually relieve the air pressure in the fishes bladder.

**Posted by ahubbs** 6/27/2016 6:50 pm

Sounds like a consensus opinion, I was thinking along those lines but it was just a guess.