Bleeding Fish

This maybe a question asked a lot, ive been fishing a long time and never knew the answer. But if you hook a bass deep in the throat and have to do a little surgery, or go in from the side and rip a gill plate and they start to bleed, is that fish going to live? They always swim off fine but do they heal, or live with a ripped plate? Maybe a broad question but i had a couple of fish over the weekend that this happened.

I don´t think there is a clear answer for that. Depends on how severe and big the exact bleeding spot is. If it`s small wound, then yeah its going to live.

I understand but a ripped plate?

I learned this weekend to carry a bottle of citrus soda ( sprite )with you and use it to stop the bleeding. They said you pour it over the bleeding spot and it will stop it right up.

I agree. I carry Mt. Dew with me and it works. I don't know what makes it work, but it does.

Take it home and eat it
It will die anyhow

I always just release them back into the water because water helps them to clot

This works for me

Fillet it. They tastes awesome.

i aint wasting a sprite

They clot in the water, no need to give them your tasty beverage.

Some live, some die. Keep them if you would have kept anyway, but if it swims its at least got a fighting chance.

I caught about a 5 lb'er in a tournament at 8:00 am, the tourney went until 3, the hook had scraped the gill plate and she was bleeding. I was concerned. I poured 7-up on the bleeding spot and it stopped, weighed her in alive and release her.

this is what i was looking for, thank ya!

When I have a bleeder I will put it in my other livewell by itself with a good dose of Catch and Release. So far I have not had one die on me and I have had some pretty bad bleeders. Not sure how they fared in the long run but they were all released kicking hard.

I'm sure glad this post came up. I had no idea that a bleeder had half a chance at surviving. I've been disgusted more than once to put a bleeder on the stringer because I wanted to release it so it could finish its spawn. I'll gladly waste a whole 7 up to let a female large mouth go that is full of eggs.

This^^^^. Just get them back in the water quickly. Don't watch them bleed wondering how to stop it or taking the time to grab a Sprite to pour on them.

Wow mind blown!!

Bleeders usually die, maybe not right away but soon after. Gills are mighty delicate.

Catch and release, and the soda good help, but it depends on time of year..May - june on tough on fish...We rely heavily on catch and release and frozen Litre bottles in live well..Bleeders go into shock..bad deal..

Not sure why anyone thinks that pouring an acidic soda into a largemouth's gullet and through its gills is a good idea. Its going to cause more damage than any good it's doing. It may appear that the bleeding clots off but that's the same thing that happens when they're back in the water. Their blood chemistry is built so a wound quickly clots in their natural element. They can sometimes survive with a detached gill. Most of you can probably recall catching a few over the years with a previously wounded or detached gill.