Ventilator

I saw this at walmart. I know some of you have expressed interest in having one.

I'm man enough to show my ignorance.  What the hell is a "fish ventilator"?  Sounds like a piece of EMT equipment.  I even Googled it and still can't figure it out.

It's a way to deflate the swim bladder of a fish suffering barotrauma so that it dies underwater instead of on the surface.

Please think about descending vs. ventilating.

http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/sgpubs/onlinepubs/g05001.html

Recompression is preferred to venting because of venting complications caused by infections, handling, and puncturing of internal organs.

-Allen

It's a way to deflate the swim bladder of a fish suffering barotrauma so that it dies underwater instead of on the surface.

So it is EMT gear. 

Don't think of it as emt gear. Think of it as the wrong way to return BT'd fish to the water.

Having watched people use these in the southeastern coastal areas, and the cavalier way they just poke the fish anyplace then toss it,  I personally think they should be illegal world wide.

Isn't the proffered way to clip some weight to that can be pulled loose at depth?

So, if someone is going to waste fish by poking the air bladder only to let the fish die, why spend 10 bucks on a tool to do it? Why not just poke it with a knife?

Here's an easy to make, super cheap descender for barotrauma fish.  I keep it in my lead bucket that I always bring on the salt.  Simply clip this on the end of your line(you don't even need to take off whatever lure you have on) and hook it into the jaw of the fish.  Then send it down about 30 to 50 feet.  If I need to use this I usually move afterwards and fish somewhere shallower to avoid having to use it over and over.

So, if someone is going to waste fish by poking the air bladder only to let the fish die, why spend 10 bucks on a tool to do it? Why not just poke it with a knife?

The ventilator or DIY farm store syringe versions, use a hollow needle to vent the air outside the body cavity.  A knife would just vent the air from the swim bladder into the body cavity which would not solve the problem of reducing their buoyancy so they can descend.  The stomach is what blows out their mouth, not the swim bladder.

These are NOT the way to attempt to send fish back down and give them some chance at survival, left on the surface they will 100% die.  A weighted descender of some kind is the best medicine.

Poking a rockfish in the stomach to vent their bladder also introduces a high chance of infection.

This is what I use.


http://www.sheltonproducts.com/SFD.html

Dino Abulencia
HOW-NWest

This is what I use.


http://www.sheltonproducts.com/SFD.html

Dino Abulencia
HOW-NWest

+1, been using it for years with good success, cameron