Of course, “accurately” is the key, as stabbing a fish with a needle indiscriminately, can further exacerbate the problem. One solution to the problem of fish barotrauma has been “fizzing” – the act of releasing that pressure with an accurately placed hypodermic needle into the swim bladder of the fish. Releasing those fish at the surface, in extremely warm water may make the angler feel good as they swim away, but may not lead to survival. Quick ascent means a swelling air bladder, which can push their stomachs out, bulge their eyes, and ultimately cause deadly injury.

It affects all living things, but with walleyes swimming rapidly from deep water, it refers to physical injuries caused by water pressure. Without switching away from live-bait, circle hooks vs “J”-hooks, and pinching down all barbs, what’s a catch and release angler to do? The answer is to change the depth at which you’re fishing, and to know what depths are likely lethal, and which are not.īarotrauma is a big word with a relatively simple meaning, especially as it pertains to walleyes caught at depth. Many of those factors an angler can directly influence, especially in the summer as you can’t control the water temp. Extended or prolonged handling of a fish outside of the water is yet another factor that affects mortality. It’s why catch and release walleye tournaments aren’t held as often in the deep summer, and why you should consider eating the fish you catch when water temps are the hottest of the year. Water temperature is another factor, and warmer temps see fish that simply don’t release as well and survive. artificials, but those are often related. Hooking method, or how deeply into its mouth a walleye eats the bait is a big influencer, as is the use of live bait vs. There’s a pile of factors that influence walleye mortality, with depth of capture being only one of them. Eder suggests, “Be prepared to keep your first 6 fish regardless of size (depending on the regs) and then quit or go shallow.” However, there are plenty of lakes that mandate release of walleyes a certain size, and anglers should know some ins and outs of how depth can affect the release of walleyes during the summer. I love ‘em, and prepare them a bunch of different ways. Not that there’s anything wrong with eating a walleye either. Throughout the walleye-belt then, there’s plenty of catch and release fishing that might as well be catch and kill. Brandon Eder, Assistant Area Fisheries Supervisor for the MN DNR’s Waterville Office confirmed this in a recent conversation while adding, “No matter how slowly you reel in fish from that depth, there’s still likely going to be some trauma.” Most fish caught in 30+ feet of water will likely die as the result if water temps are at their peak. While the depth of walleyes may be relative to the system in which they live, their ability to survive summer capture at those various depths is not. Of course, your favorite walleye lake may be at either end, or anywhere in between. Then again, there’s great walleye lakes like Vermillion, where walleyes can be found in excess of 50 feet of water. The same is true in the prairie pothole region where there’s plenty of great little walleye holes that never make even 20 feet. On Minnesota’s Upper Red Lake, 10 feet of water and deeper is considered quite deep. That still puts them deep, maybe coming up occasionally to feed before sinking back down.ĭepth however is a relative term, depending on the lake you’re fishing. That could mean ciscoes and whitefish, or suckers and even bullheads or rough fish depending on where you’re fishing. Older fish in certain lakes, learn to key in on larger bait stock. Provided there’s enough oxygen at depth, they happily enjoy cooler water temperatures and the bevy of bugs and other bait that congregate on deep structure. Walleyes spend the better part of their summer season in deep water.

Barotrauma fish