Comparison of Angler Interventions for Smallmouth Bass Experiencing Barotrauma in Catch‐and‐Release Angling Tournaments

Abstract

Black bass Micropterus spp. in North America are commonly targeted by recreational anglers who are participating in catch‐and‐release angling tournaments. In deeper water bodies, Smallmouth Bass M. dolomieu are often caught from depths greater than 6 m and held in a boat’s live well until they are weighed in. Smallmouth Bass that are caught from such depths typically display symptoms of barotrauma, where the swim bladder becomes overinflated and the fish cannot maintain proper orientation. We examined the effects of three common practices that are used by tournament anglers who hold fish that exhibit symptoms of barotrauma: no treatment, weighted fin clips (rubber‐coated weighted alligator clips), and fizzing (venting the swim bladder with a hypodermic needle). After receiving a treatment, the Smallmouth Bass were held in experimental live wells for a period of 3 h and their condition was monitored using reflex action mortality predictors. Condition declined for the Smallmouth Bass that received no treatment, whereas both fin clips and fizzing demonstrated improved fish condition. Fizzing was also found to be a more rapid and effective treatment than fin clips. As the weight and capture depth of fish in the control group increased, there was a significant decrease in final condition, as indicated by reflex impairment. For tournaments that hold fish in live wells prior to release, these results demonstrate that interventions shortly after capture can effectively reduce reflex impairment in Smallmouth Bass that experience barotrauma and that fizzing is more effective than fin clips.

A Comparison of Different Tournament Weigh‐In Formats on the Short‐Term Postrelease Behavior of Black Bass Assessed with Biologgers

“…Live wells typically draw water for recirculation from surface water, which is often warmer and less oxygenated than the habitat of capture. Black bass that are caught at depth in cooler water may experience barotrauma, which can be exacerbated during the period of live well confinement (Elliott et al 2021); in these situations, live wells may not provide an adequate recovery period. The black bass that were captured and placed in the live well during this study did not demonstrate symptoms of barotrauma (i.e., inflation of the air bladder, protruding stomach, and bulging eyes) while confined to the live well.…”

“…The weigh‐in format in which black bass are caught, weighed, and immediately released would be beneficial for tournaments that occur during hot summer days when water temperature is high. In addition, black bass that are caught from depths are often subject to barotrauma, and placing them in the live well will often exacerbate the impacts associated with the change in pressure when fish are held at ambient atmospheric pressure (Elliott et al 2021). Allowing the fish to immediately return to deeper and cooler water (Figure 3) can reduce the risks associated with placing black bass in the live well (Lee 1992).…”

Do Angler Handling Practices Influence the Short-Term Post-Release Behaviour of Black Bass?

“…Livewells typically draw water for recirculation from surface water, often being warmer temperature and less oxygenated water than the habitat of capture. Black bass being caught at depth in cooler water may experience barotrauma, which can be exacerbated during the period of livewell confinement (Elliott et al 2021) and during these situations, the livewell may not provide an adequate recovery period. The Black bass from this study that were captured and placed in the livewell did not demonstrate symptoms of barotrauma (i.e., inflation of the air bladder, protruding stomach, bulging eyes) while confined to the livewell.…”

“…This type of weigh-in, where Black bass are caught, weighed and immediately released would be beneficial for tournaments that occur during hot summer days when water temperature is high. In addition, Black bass that are caught from depths are often subject to barotrauma and placing them in the livewell will often exacerbate the impacts associated with the change in pressure when held at ambient atmospheric pressure (Elliott et al 2021). Allowing fish to return to deeper and cooler water immediately (Figure 3) can reduce the risks associated with placing Black bass in the livewell (Lee 1992).…”

hysiological and Behavioural Responses of Lake Trout to Catch-And-Release Angling

“…Many families of freshwater fish have presently been studied in the context of C&R such as centrarchids (Elliott et al 2021;LaRochelle et al 2021), esocids (Flink et al 2021;Somers et al 2021), percids (Twardek et al 2018b;Logan et al 2019), and salmonids (Thorstad et al 2019;Joubert et al 2020;. More uncommon families such as acipenserids (Mullen et al 2020) and sciaenids (Card and Hasler 2021) are also being studied, yet the volume of research is still emerging.…”