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 At the Tournament - The Hospital Tank
Regardless of the reason for the fish's ill health if the gills are pale pink, no longer bright red in color, that fish cannot be saved. This fish should be removed from the hospital tank as it will put more ammonia and carbon dioxide into the hospital tank and harm the other fish. Be sure to maintain a temperature check on the hospital tank and don't fill it too soon before weigh in as the water temperature will change. It's preferable to use water from the lake to fill the tank, pumped in by bilge pump. Have an extra treated tank (Catch & Release) for anglers to fill bags before returning their fish to the lake because every moment of treatment counts. Fish not being held in water cannot breathe. SHOCK AND STRESSFish can develop livewell shock easily. If fish appears stressed, rolling, or turning over change water in livewell, treat with Catch & Release, and hold fish horizontally until it can hold itself up. Or take fish to prepared hospital tank immediately and hold horizontally by giving support under tail with one hand and under chest (in front of front/bottom fins) until fish appears better. You may have to hold this fish up for 20 minutes or more, but just being in a correct position can help them. If the fish continues to roll, or try to go down and cannot, or swims in a nose-down position the fish may need air bladder relief in order to survive. Sometimes fish just become disoriented in livewells and don't know "up" from "down", holding them helps them regain their balance.Continue to: Air Bladder Relief |
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