"All those fish will have been exposed to the same conditions," Myers says. "Some we will put in livewells for four or five hours before treatment. Others will be treated immediately. We will use all three methods of treating hyperbuoyancy but will leave some fish untreated. We will also have a group of fish that do not have hyperbuoyancy, but we will fizz them to see how much sticking the fish with a needle affects survival. We'll hold the fish in large cages for several days to watch for delayed mortality, and dead fish will be autopsied by TPWD fish health staff to identify cause of death. Above- and below-water video will be used to document the study and fish behavior in response to treatment."
Dr. Schramm, Campbell and Myers agree that evidence is strong that fizzing and caging do work, but they also agree that having people who don't know what they are doing sticking needles in fish would not be a good thing.
"Treating fish for hyperbuoyancy obviously helps, but we don't know how much," Myers points out. "We want to find out how much and which method helps the most. One of our goals is to learn enough that we can provide educational materials for anglers."
The day has not yet arrived when the well-equipped tackle box will include a hypodermic needle alongside the plastic worms and crankbaits, but if that day comes, Myers wants anglers to be knowledgeable about the best way to ensure bass survival.
After all, the more fish in the lake, the more fun we can have catching them.
