i work in medicine and have worked with animals as well.

one of the most horrible moments for me, while fishing, is to gill hook a fish.

they bleed out quickly and vastly increases mortality.

I was wondering about using potassium ferrate or other coagulants on the gills to stop the bleeding almost instantly. this is non toxic and wont affect the gills in any other way.

has anyone done any research or have experience with this?

I wouldn't know but I'm glad you brought the subject up.  Gill hooking a fish doesn't do my day any good.  I hope we get some input on this.

The best thing you can use for bleeders is "Please Release Me Formula".  It is designed specifically to stop bleeding on bass, and is therefore safe to use. Just apply some of it directly on the wound, then place the fish in the livewell to allow them to recover. 

Bear in mind the mortality rate of gill bleeders is very high, despite your best efforts.

DO NOT, in any circumstances, use soda pop! That is toxic to the fish!

Hope that helps!

39 minutes ago, Glenn said:

The best thing you can use for bleeders is "Please Release Me Formula".  It is designed specifically to stop bleeding on bass, and is therefore safe to use. Just apply some of it directly on the wound, then place the fish in the livewell to allow them to recover. 

Bear in mind the mortality rate of gill bleeders is very high, despite your best efforts.

DO NOT, in any circumstances, use soda pop! That is toxic to the fish!

Hope that helps!

I haven't used the Please Release Me stuff yet, but I have had to use the Mountain Dew trick twice in a tournament and it did stop the bleeding and both fish survived through the weigh in process. I'm not saying this would be the case every time, and I can't imagine it's good for a fish who needs fresh, clean water to live, but it worked in a pinch. 

I've heard great things about Please Release Me, and I should probably be adding that to my shopping list for next season. 

If you have a livewell handy such as when fishing out of a boat, placing the fish in a treated well (Please Release Me, etc.) would be a good step. For those fishing where this isn't an option, such as from shore, the best thing you can do is simply get the fish back into the water ASAP. Fish blood coagulates 35% faster in water than in air, so the faster you get that fish back in the water, the quicker his natural biological processes will be able to work. As already stated though, high impact damage such as gill damage sometimes can't be overcome. Always worth trying though.

-T9