Fish Descender Tool for Releasing Lake Trout

[Trout Whisperer]

Hello

Not sure if I had seen a device like this on the forum so i thought i would share the info.  It's $60 on the company site but given how much I blow on spoons etc, it may be a good investment to keep the lakers alive.  With the clip shown on the product-i am wondering if it could be run on the downrigger wire above the ball with a minimal modification (lengthen the distance with a wire lead from the clip you would add weight to... to the clip you put on the fish's jaw) to make it easier to handle the fish if needed for the guys trolling to be able to release lakers without stopping. It looks like you could then just lower the rigger ball to the desired depth and at the correct depth/ pressure it opens up....  Anybody bought one to report out how well it works?

Cheers !

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyolIToTEFA

https://seaqualizer.com/product/seaqualizer-descending-device/

[ErieBuck]

This is really cool, thanks for sharing!  I'm going to have to get one of these.  I've been towing fish behind the boat with a rapala lip grabber tied to a paracord for a couple seasons and it has worked quite well.  Here is a video from this morning, releasing a Lake Trout caught near the bottom, 95 ft. of water.   I've found this works well with Lakers and Kings.  I don't have a lot of success with steelhead.  If anyone has any suggestions for those, I'd appreciate it.  

 

 

[Sealegs]

I’ve been using one for a couple years, and clip it to the rigger to send them back down.  Works great. Also attached a lanyard to go around my wrist while clipping the fish to the rigger to avoid donating more hardware to the deep!

[mudflat]

I've used one for several years.  I have four riggers and usually only run three when fishing deep so I leave the seaqualizer attached to the 4th rigger, hook them up and send them down.  Quick and easy

I don't know how much it actually helps survival rate but it's better than watching them float behind the boat in the warm water.  I've also used it for shakers that look tired out.