ICAST Best of Show winning product from a few years back. The SeaQualizer is an excellent new product, first shown at ICAST and stocked here every since. I found the booth by luck, liked the product enough to tender an order, then noticed it was an award winner when I checked the Best of Show area to see who won what! Made me feel pretty smart to have already ordered it!

For folks who are conservation minded, and I’ll argue that fishermen are very much more conscious of conservation than most folks, we’ve long worried about deep water fish who’s swim bladders have expanded. Some have used needles to “vent” the fish, some have tired to puncture the bladder itself in a foolish attempt to allow the fish to get back to depth (but this kills the fish!). The use of needles or other similar devices which we used to represent here, carry a big negative: if you make an error you will kill the fish. That’s exactly what we are trying to avoid. Well, with the SeaQualizer you now have an easy method of safely and harmlessly releasing a fish back to the depth needed for it’s swim bladder to deflate naturally – you can safely release your catch!

The device uses a lip latch to hold the fish, and then you clip the device easily to a rod and reel. You simply play out line, allowing the rig to slowly drop down to depth and once it reaches the appropriate depth the jaws open up automatically and the fish is released! You have three depth positions that you select for your release point, 50, 100 or 150 feet. When releasing a fish caught at depth, the fish should be returned to between 1/3 and 1/2 of the depth they were hooked, to ensure safe and sufficient recompression. Wonderful product, and one that should be a requirement on any boat.