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With the weather being so nice, I could not stay off the water. Had a late start after spending some time with a new member to the site and his new boat. He was working on his "backing the trailer skills" at the launch, and I can't applaud him enough for practicing and working on his launching routine. My quick fix of the starter problem I had last week worked like a charm and I was off and running looking for some perch to catch and release with a decompression tool my father had given me. I found some fish in 60 to 70 feet of water and as is typical, when the fish are there, they don't take long to sample your wares. The decompression device I was using is called a SeaQualizer and they make units that cover a range of depths. This one in particular, can be set to release at 50, 100 or 150 feet. I set the unit to 50' and connected it to a spare rod, without any added weight. I'm not sure why, but I was susrpised that it acutally worked. Even in 60' of water the unit opened up and let the fish go,prior to hitting bottom, so it looks like the set release points are fairly accurate. If there is a downside to the unit it would be the price, $50 and the fact that the eagles didn't get a chance to pick up any fish left floundering on the surface. The company who make these units, offer them in three different depth ranges; 30-50-70, 50-100-150 and 100-200-300. With larger fish, you would need to add a little extra weight to get the fish down or you couuld just hook it to your downrigger. Well, the weather was great, the fish were cooperating and the the new toy worked as advertised, what more could you ask for?

Ganno

1/7/2017 10:39:00 AM

How cool is that name of manufacturer please would love to get one for salt water

G-Man

1/7/2017 11:12:00 AM

Ganno - They were originally designed for saltwater use and If I'm not mistaken, our state is looking at requiring some kind of decompression device onboard when fishing for bottom fish. The manufacturer is SeaQualizer, their website is simply http://seaqualizer.com/
You can purchase from them directly or from a handful of suppliers and their gear is made in the USA!

TMBob

1/7/2017 5:04:00 PM

Mac's Bait Fish with a front hook set up and also a front tie up.....interesting. No issues with the hook getting snagged on the line when jigging?

G-Man

1/7/2017 9:43:00 PM

It's a butterfly jig rig and it works great with mono/flouro, no need to go with braid and heat shrink. I think the key is to tie them different lengths to keep them from tangling with each other. I've not had any issues with them wrapping around the mainline. I use 3/4 or 1 oz p-line or cabelas jigs as you can get them fairly cheap and they flutter very well when rigged this way.

darincoleman22

1/8/2017 12:28:00 PM

so is poking a little hole in the swim bladder a bad idea?thats what ive always done

G-Man

1/8/2017 1:06:00 PM

The fizzing method is now frowned upon as many folks don't do it properly and inadvertantly damage an organ other than the swim bladder. Oregon has adopted the requirement for using a decending device this year and I expect Washington will do so as well (a fizzing needle does not qualify) . There are a lot of different ways and devices used to accomplish decompression in a fish, this is just one that is commercially available. Previously I used a weighted milk crate to drop on top of the fish and bring it to depth. Cheap and effective, but a bit difficult to use when the wind was blowing or in a heavy current.

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