CTFishTalk.com: flounder stil alive after 4 hours :? - Connecticut Saltwater ( CT Saltwater ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

AustinB · Joined: 10 Jan 2009 Posts: 120 Location: Simsbury

I was just remembering my flounder trip last week and was wondering why the hell those flounder were still alive when i went to clean them. they sat on ice for 4 hours and when i was filleting them they were still trying to breathe so i stuck them through the head 3 times and they still tried breathing and they were twitching Sad

. I will only take a fish if i know for a fact that i will eat it and i don't like putting the fish through too much pain, has this ever happened to anyone else.
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I'd Rather be fishin' :ifishing

DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

I did have a trout once that I took and bled it. Several minutes later I gutted the fish. After it was fully clean I dunked it into a bucket of water real quick and pulled it out and it started flapping its tail. I'm guessing it was because the brain was still in tact and it was sending signals out. I broke the neck and it stopped...but it was weird as hell.

panfishh8r · Joined: 16 May 2010 Posts: 62 Location: Northern CT

AB as for the breathing after four hours, I am not sure, maybe it was still alive and i heard catfish do this too. But after being stabbed in the head any movement you saw was likely involuntary spasms. Exactly what DD said, the brain was still sending out signals.
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Bass > Trout

DV · Joined: 05 May 2010 Posts: 229 Location: East Windsor

I once kept a catfish and after stabbing it in the head, stringering it, and putting it in the freezer for a few hours it came back to life when I ran it under warm water to clean it. It was freaky to say the least, I'm gonna guess flounder have this trait as well.