29 replies to this topic

[nickpennmail]

does anyone know exactly ? hours later there is still gill movement. can i kill them humanely rather than just letting them drown ?
thanks.

[matstone7]

This will seem a little blunt but, here goes.....
Ask yourself this, how long can you hold your breath under water? After you inhale 2 lungs of water, how long before you die?
How much longer till your body quits twitchin?

Do you think slitting your throat would be a more humane death than flailing about the ground gasping for air till you finally quit?

If you haven't got my example yet, there are three choices here. 1) yes, you can choose to kill them humanely 2) you can release them to swim again or 3) you can let them flap about till they die.

[AK-NJ1986]

This will seem a little blunt but, here goes.....
Ask yourself this, how long can you hold your breath under water? After you inhale 2 lungs of water, how long before you die?
How much longer till your body quits twitchin?

Do you think slitting your throat would be a more humane death than flailing about the ground gasping for air till you finally quit?

If you haven't got my example yet, there are three choices here. 1) yes, you can choose to kill them humanely 2) you can release them to swim again or 3) you can let them flap about till they die.

Well said

As for me,

Q: How long does a bass live out of water?
A: AS LONG AS IT TAKES ME TO UNHOOK IT AND TAKE A PICTURE AND THEN PUT IT BACK IN THE WATER TO LIVE... so about 30 seconds to a minute I'd guess

[00 mod]

I have always been told only as long as you can hold your breath. But there is no scientific proof to my opinion! Most of the time I unhook, and let back into water with net, If I am going to weigh and picture. If not it is straight back into water

Jeff

[slonezp]

If you want dinner, just throw them on ice when you catch them. Oh, If I might ask, How do you drown a bass?

[MCS]

I have had one hooked way back of the mouth and it took a good 2 or 3 minutes to get it out and back in the water. It was fine, swam away after a few seconds.

[WRB]

does anyone know exactly ? hours later there is still gill movement. can i kill them humanely rather than just letting them drown ?
thanks.

You obviously have not lived on a farm or hunted much. Your goal should be not to waste the meat and how to keep the fish fresh before cleaning it.
Bass or most fish can't breath air, they breath dissolved oxygen in water. This means every second out of water they start to suffocate and become extremely stressed in about 1 minute and should be returned to water to refresh their gills.
If you plan to kill the fish, do it quickly, then put the fish on ice. You can give the fish a hard hit with a solid object on top of the head between the eyes, then put the fish on ice and it will die quietly.
Tom

[BASSHUNTER1961]

Oh, If I might ask, How do you drown a bass?

A bass drowns out of water just as you would drown under water.....

[Lund Explorer]

does anyone know exactly ? hours later there is still gill movement. can i kill them humanely rather than just letting them drown ?
thanks.

To begin with, Welcome to Bass Resource!

If you choose to hang around this site, you'll find a lot of quality information on many subjects. Unfortunately, the subject you picked for your very first post is somewhat of a hot button topic and some members may give you a reply that you weren't looking for.

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you are planning to harvest a few bass for either the dinner table, or perhaps a trophy for mounting. Either way, it sounds like you are concerned about making sure that the fish doesn't suffer a long painful demise. That's a commendable attitude that many sportsmen try to adhere to whether they are going to harvest a wild creature or domestic farm animal.

Of the previous posts, I think WRB came closest. If you visit sites such as Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas, type in the search box "Fish Bats". These are used by many fishermen and should meet with your needs. I have one on my boat and they work very well.

[tboydva]

Here's a little more information. Fish don't "drown" out of water. Fish gills exchange oxygen with their surrounding medium. Water can dissolve far less oxygen (milligrams per liter) than air (air is ~20% oxygen). If the fish gills are moist, oxygen-rich air can diffuse through the water into the fish's gills. With the increased stress on the fish, and being out in the air, the gills will dry out quickly (thus doing the fish in). Having them out for photos and high fives should do no harm.

I consider bass relatively weak table-fare, so don't keep 'em. An occasional channel cat does make it's way home though. If you want to kill a fish humanely, drop them in ice water. This slows their metabolism but is thought to not be "painful" as cold-blooded creatures naturally "slow down" when they get colder. This is about the only way to kill a catfish!

[LgMouthGambler]

Until it dies. Haha

[Busy]

WRB hit the nail on the head.

There is nothing wrong with keeping bass so long as you follow the regulations. I typically practice catch and release like a lot of others, but I do not do so religiously. There are times when stunted bass need to be kept out of a pond so that the bigger bass can reach their full potential. I also will not keep the biggest fish I catch but will keep a few mid-size bass here and there to clean. Part of my fun in fishing is having friends and family out for a fish-fry at the end of the season.

Smack them in the head hard. The goal is to keep the fish as healthy as it can be until you are ready to clean it. If you are fishing from the shore the fish will live fine on a stringer attached to a rope long enough to let them wait on you in deeper, cooler water. When you are ready to clean them, kill them. I would not wait on a fish to die.

[BigMoneyGrip]

My brother in law had 15 that he caught from another pond. They were laying in the back of his truck for more than an hour and I put them in my pond. All but 3 of them made it.

[MCS]

WRB hit the nail on the head.

There is nothing wrong with keeping bass so long as you follow the regulations. I typically practice catch and release like a lot of others, but I do not do so religiously. There are times when stunted bass need to be kept out of a pond so that the bigger bass can reach their full potential. I also will not keep the biggest fish I catch but will keep a few mid-size bass here and there to clean. Part of my fun in fishing is having friends and family out for a fish-fry at the end of the season.

Smack them in the head hard. The goal is to keep the fish as healthy as it can be until you are ready to clean it. If you are fishing from the shore the fish will live fine on a stringer attached to a rope long enough to let them wait on you in deeper, cooler water. When you are ready to clean them, kill them. I would not wait on a fish to die.

Make sure turtles don't spoil your catch and take a chunk out of them!

[Midnight Splash2]

Bash there head in with a big rock!