"The flip clip looks like a great idea but I'm not sure how the biology works. I see how it holds the fish up right but when pull the clip off is the gas released from the air bladder? "
A bass or walleye can regulate it's swim bladder pressure through its circulatory and respiratory systems, but only if it can relax in an upright position. A trout or salmonoid can "burp" or release the air through the digestive system. We've found that on most deep caught Lake Erie smallmouth it takes less than 2 hours and the fish is fine.
A barotrauma study is being held in March on Lake Amistad by Marine Biologist Randy Meyers. They intend to find out what the best way is, through the mouth, through the side, forced depth release cages. We asked to add the Flip Clip as another variable, but Randy said they don't have enough resources to do it at this time. If your readers want, I'll try to post the results here after the study.
Jimmy
http://www.flipclipfishing.com
