Ok, so I caught a nice one 6.21lbs and and wanted to get a quick vid of the bass to screenshot pics. Did all that, weighed it, probably out of water 2 min while I was looking for my flippin scale buried in my backpack somewhere. 
I then released the fish and held it there for a sec then pulled it in forward motion for a couple figure 8 motions. It sat there for a sec, looked like it was gonna flip on it’s side, but then I did it again and it kicked a little then swam at a decent speed down, but came back up to the surface about 20 seconds later and literally just cruised barely under the surface of the water at a slow speed for like 75 yards until I couldn’t see it anymore. It was raining hard. 

Who knows?

 

2 minutes is too long not breathing, especially for a bigger fish. Unhook it, then soak it for a minute or two, then take your pics and soak it again before release.

Did it come out of deep water? On a boat or on shore? If it's from a boat and you pulled it from say 20-25ft it's swim bladder may have issues and not being fully recovered it couldn't make it to depth to acclimate back. 

Nobody knows.

 

Goes without saying: 1. Have your equipment ready. 2. Use your brain and give it some time in the water if you know you're taking forever.

2 minutes is way too long for a fish to be out of the water. Especially after a long exhausting fight. If the fish is not trying to jump out of my hands while I'm taking pictures of it, I rejuvenate it immediately. Then I take my pictures and then I rejuvenate it again and release it. This all generally takes less than a minute. Time is of the essence when you're trying to save a creature's life unfortunately. There are times when fish are hooked weird or things like that and it's unavoidable to some extent, but don't keep a fish out of water for longer than you could hold your breath.

The bigger the bass, the faster I return it to the water.

I recommend holding larger bass by the corner of their mouth and keeping them with this grip in the water until you have your scale ready to weigh. If you have a net, refer to @A-Jay’s vids on what he does. I don’t use a net.
Weigh them, return them to the water. Take a couple quick photos if necessary, return to the water. When letting a bass recuperate in the water before your final release, there is no need to do a whole bunch of crazy motions trying to get them to swim. They know how to swim. Just let them rest in your hand until they are ready, then release your grip and they will swim away every time. 

I net larger fish and keep them in the water until the hook has been dislodged and they're ready to swim away.  The crotch of the net frame slides neatly around my boat gunnel cleat and allows much of the net to remain in the water.

 

I carry a scale in my boat but don't carry a camera with me when I fish...

 

oe

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

The bigger the bass, the faster I return it to the water.

Seems I am the complete opposite. 

A-Jay

Every bass is different regarding post release stress. Big bass suffer from being caught because we want to document the catch. On average about 3% tournament caught bass put onto livewell don’t survive  the stress. Bigger the bass the more it gets handled.

General rule is keeping the bass out of water longer then you can hold your breath increases stress levels.

 Shore angler reduces your ability to release big bass after trying to photo and weigh the fish.

Just because the bass managed to swim off doesn’t indicate how stressed it was.

Tom

Many studies have shown that a Bass can survive at least 10 minutes out of the water.  That doesn't mean keep them out that long.  I'm sure the stress of being caught, and tired from a fight doesn't help.   It's my belief that handing a Bass wrong, IE squeezing it causing internal damage, or laying it on the carpet or doing anything else that damages their slime coating is worse for long term survival than a few minutes out of water.  Survival times out of water are longer when it's colder/shorter when it's hotter.   

Bass caught in deep water need to be fizzed, regardless of how long they're out of the water.  That's a completely different subject.   Glenn, how about a fizzing video, if you don't already have one.  Guy Eaker showed me how to fizz a Bass.  It's rare when I catch a Bass that's deep enough to need it.  I'll leave the videos to someone better at it than I am.   

If she survives, she's lucky, 2 mins way to long especially for a fish that size.

Not trying to give you a hard time, but next time hold your breath as soon as you hook into her and don't let it out until she swims away.  You will realize 2 mins is an eternity.  The longer the fight the longer the recovery to any lactic acid build up, reduce. 

When reviving a fish, hold onto its tail and wave it in an S pattern.  The amount of time I revive the fish depends on the length of the fight and amount of time out the water.  If it took a min to get the fish in and weight it, I want to revive it for at least double that amount of time before I even think about letting go, even if the strength in the tail returns.   

 

On 5/25/2024 at 8:29 AM, Pat Brown said:

2 minutes is way too long for a fish to be out of the water.

 

Way too long.  Get your sh** ready ahead of time if you intend to release it fully alive.  Pliers, scale, measuring board, camera/phone, etc.

 

Try holding your breath for 2 minutes.  You'd probably pass out.

 

30 seconds or less should be the goal.

Bass and humans are different.  A Bass out of water isn't the same as a person holding their breath.  There's been plenty of scientific studies on this.  How long can a Bass survive out of water.

As bank fisherman I found out the bass in cold water can get back to normal sooner than hot days, I usually never had a bass more than a minute and that if the catch is special for example bigger than 4lb or the bait I catch the bass is special, Otherwise released them in water or few second unhook and released.