"Eye Set"

[Silver Creek]

Here's a question for the forum. How many of you are familiar with Eye Set as an indicator for exhaustion and near death in trout and do you think it is reliable?

What I mean by eye set is the direction the pupil is looking when the fish is out of the water. I've noticed that as a fish gets exhausted the pupil becomes centered in the eye of the fish, but fresh fish look down. Has anyone else noticed this and is it reliable?

I've used it to assess the condition of a fish when taking photos. If the pupil is centered, I revive the fish.









Closeup photos

[AaronJasper]

Silver,

You are spot on in your observation. If you look at a dead fish the eyes are not facing down. They are either facing off to the side or straight up. Those fish in your pictures, and they are nice pics by the way, are indeed alive! And if they aren't, I am fooled!

[SperryWater]

I wonder if they know sign language too? One flip of a fin - I'm ok; two flips, you better revive me. Hmmm....

I don't think I'll be sharing these secrets with my wife - she already thinks I'm a bit wacky

[LopatNympher]

I was turned on to this fact by my buddy after I showed him a pic of a fish I had caught. He pointed out the eye looking downward. Like you Silver, I use this to gauge the fish's health before I take any pics.

[bobo]

Thanks for the tip on exhaustion. I'd not noticed this effect.

I have found that the eyes move in the sockets in response to the orientation of the fish. If sideways, as most of the photos above, the eye will try to orient to vertical. My guess is that if the photos had been taken of the fish in the 'normal' upright position, the eyes would be centered in the 'in balance' position.

[Toad Hunter]

This is a good topic.

Bobo mentioned the fish will move their eyes based on the orientation of it's body. I found this to be true most of the time when the fish is not vertical. They will always "look at the water." Sometimes they will look down even when held upright.

I just reviewed a picture of a fish landed by another angler. When he released it, the rainbow went belly up and needed several minutes of reviving. The picture taken just before the release shows the eyes to be looking down....while held vertical.

I think a trip to the Salmon River during the Fall would be a great time to research this as most "anglers" fight snagged salmon to near death, then kick them back into the river.


Mike

[Walshmiko]

My Pupil's are trained to look down and out.. Very cool silver!

[Mantis]

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[AaronJasper]

I paid close attention to this today. I noticed that the fish are still looking down, which is up when they are turned over. Only after 5 seconds do the fish adjust their eyes and then focus them straight out to the sides. They all swam off very quickly and appeared to be in good health. Toad Hunter is right. We need to catch some salmon in the fall to see what the eye set is. Since they are quite worn out when landed, this would be a good test for the eye set theory.

[AaronJasper]

Here is a picture of a fish that I held upside down to see what the eyes would do...