how to save a deep hooked fish

[HOGMONSTER]

Have you ever hooked a bass in the gills or deep in the throat and it starts bleeding like crazy and almost always is floating upside down in just a few minutes?

Last week I fished a tourney and hooked about a 3 1/2 pounder on a worm and when I got him in the boat, blood was flowing down his side. My hook had got him in the gills and torn them up pretty bad. I immediatly got my Mountain Dew and poured it over the effected area. The citric acid in the drink acts to constrict the capilaries and gives the blood a chance to clot befor the fish bleeds out. I thought there was no chance that this fish would survive, but amazingly it worked to perfection and 3 hours later I could not tell it from the rest of the fish in our live well. We won the tourney with NO dead fish.

I can tell you that I will always have a Mountain Dew, Sprite, Mellow yellow, (any thing with citric acid in it) with me from now on when I go fishing.

[raincheck]

I have heard that,guess i'll carry a dew from now on.Terry Adolph

[RangerJay]

After I read your post I passed this on to many. The last weekend in June I caught a 6.17 and it ATE the 10" worm. It came out of the water bleeding badly. I cut the line left the hook in and poured sprite down its throat, took a drink myself of course, and then slowly poured the rest down. 7 hours later at weigh in the fish was very lively and at release it had actually disengaged the hook as I was releasing the fish. Good info to have and thanks again as I truely believe it saved this fish.