Descending devices

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I originally started making and using the descenders for perch, but found them to work well for crappie caught too deep to make it on their own too. I called them perch savers. In the attached pics you can see that you can make them with any size sinkers you might need for the size and type fish you need to send back down.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]The main idea is to keep one tied on a spare rod and when you bring up a sub-size...or just want to release a fish...slip the wire down through the lower jaw, lower the fish into the water and let the weight pull it down to the bottom. A quick jerk on the line releases the fish and then you reel up for the next need.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]Some anglers still practice "fizzing"...putting a small hole in the protruding air bladder...or inserting a needle through the side of a puffed up fish...to release air pressure and allow the fish to swim back down under its own power. From interaction with Utah DWR folks and personal experience I can attest that fizzing usually works well with perch but almost never with wimpy crappies.
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]I am attaching a PDF file of a writeup on fizzing I picked off the Internet. There is a table that shows that crappies have a very high mortality rate when taken from deep water, whereas perch are much lower. Of course, that is without fizzing or using a descender.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]