Venting A Bull Red or Black Drum
This is a Repost of a previous entry from March 2005 on Venting Reds and Black Drum. Venting the air bladder on Bull Reds and Big Black Drum. Right now the Red Drum Run is on. While at the jetty just a few days ago - I saw numerous drum caught - pictures taken - then dumped back in the water - floating belly up because they did not empty the air bladder. I thought it would be good to post instructions on how to do this so we can assure the survival rate of these fish. Below are the instructions. What I have found that works great is a Turkey Spice Injector - I bought mine at Academy for $3.50. It works great! Here are directions: Venting trapped gases from a fish caught from deep water Use the largest hypodermic needle you can find (#10 or larger) and remove the plunger. Insert hypodermic needle at a 45 degree angle, under a scale, near the tip of the pectoral fin and squeeze the fish gently. You will hear the trapped gases escaping. Make a needle clearing tool from a piece o...