# will a saugeye live if one of its gill thingys is missing



## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

Got a nice river saugeye about 20" today while wading. I released it and then noticed one of its gill thingys (white on one side red on the opposite side) was attaced to my rapala 11 floater. There was blood and it didn't exactly swim off that I could tell. Is this fish a goner? It wasn't out of the water very long but left me minus one of its gill thingys (there are about 4-5 or so of these things on each side). 

I suppose this holds true for any fish, not just saugeyes. I was thinking they could survive if 1 out of 8 or 10 of those things was missing. After I released it I tried to catch it by hand and was gonna eat it bc I didn't think it was gonna make it but I couldn't get it.


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## DaleM (Apr 5, 2004)

My guess is it will be floating by now. very seldom do they live once their gills are torn up. Next time you hook one like that just keep it for dinner.


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

He was probably dead within five minutes.


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## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

not sure, but the hot oil will surely put the kybosh on that wigglin .


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## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

I will carry a stringer next time in case something like this happens. I caught it right when I got there about 3:30 and was planning on fishing until dark. I suppose it would have been fine in my backpack. I've really gotten into the rapala 11 and 13 lately but the 3 hooks all tend to get hooked everywhere. I will be removing the middle hook (and upsizing the other 2)and seeing if I lose many fish(I might with the 13 as the hooks are pretty far apart). I had a CHUNKY 19" smallie the other day that had the middle hook in his eye (tail hook in his side, front hook in mouth). Hopefully a flathead gets the saugeye and it doesn't end up rotting away somewhere.


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## crappielooker (Apr 5, 2004)

the fish maybe fine in your pack, but after you get home their slime in your bag will get you..


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## Smallmouth Crazy (Apr 4, 2006)

My bet is Mr Racoon or Mr Turtle found him before a flathead...or maybe one of our feathered friends...its a shame he died but it probably couldnt have been helped and he probably didnt go to waste.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

Yea it probably died pretty quickly, but like smallmouth said it wont go to waste. Something will end up eating it.


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## leckig (May 11, 2005)

I got a carp with the gill plate missing, othervise pretty healthy. 

Also, lets suppose you get under-size fish and such a thing happen (gill hooked, no chance for survival). Am I right it is still not legal to take it, right?


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## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

That gill "thingy " is known as a gill raker and it takes oxygen from the water to keep the fish alive.


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## River Dweller20 (May 24, 2005)

leckig, If a fish is undersized, and probably isn't going to make it, I would say with 99.99% certainty that you still have to release it. It seems wasteful, but the game warden might not care about your excuse, and that wouldn't be very good.


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## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

those gill rakers bleed like crazy if they are ripped or damaged. I was wondering if it was gonna bleed to death.


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