The first week of March has arrived and for anglers that were expecting warm weather, sunny skies and subsiding winds, well, that was obviously a little over-eager wishing. Water temperatures are reading in the mid to upper 40-degree area, which is very cold by fish standards. There’s not much to report on the fishing front, as quite frankly, there hasn’t been very much happening. Conditions are sure to improve in the future, but the way things are going, it could be very far in the future before we see significant signs of life from the fishing world. In the meantime, there are a few more things you can do in order to prepare for the first official fishing excursion of the spring season.
For those who frequently bottom fish offshore, let’s explore the topic of venting those fish that you’re not allowed to keep in your possession, such as red snapper when the season is closed, undersized grouper, etc. The problem comes in when catching these fish at depths that cause bloating due to the change in pressure from the bottom to the surface of the water. Issues can also result from bringing fish through a major temperature change. Unfortunately, when bottom fishing, you don’t know what you have hooked and once it is on the surface you realize it’s a fish that you can’t keep. Now what? The long-held standard is called “venting:” basically jabbing a needle in the air bladder, allowing the fish to head back down to the depth from which it came. The problem with venting is it doesn’t work. Although an angler may think he or she did more good than bad, more often than not the needle punctures some other organ, meaning certain death for the fish even though it made it home.
One item that prevents you from having to puncture the fish and actually works by releasing the fish back down near the depth it came from is called the SeaQualizer. This tool works like a vise grip to hold the fish by the mouth. You then set the depth for the fish to be released and once the fish reaches that point, the pressure allows the grip to release and the fish swims away. This tool can be found online for around $55, which is relatively cheap by fishing standards, and should be a standard item in any bottom fisherman’s tackle box. It will keep you from having to watch those undersized fish float away from the boat while you continue fishing.
Hopefully the weather pattern will settle down in the coming days and there will be more good news than bad, but we’ll just have to wait and see what Mother Nature decides to produce for us next week.
