[Seacidal]

azapa,
In the California kelp beds where I do most of my diving, I like to tell myself that the white sharks don't come into dense kelp forests. The other sharks commonly encountered are more apathetic and likely to hit a fish left unattended on a float, but wouldn't necessarily go after a diver with a fish.

These of course are generalities, and things I tell myself to put me at ease. Diving conditions and potential threats certainly vary with location and conditions.

I've found that by stringing and carrying a fish behind my back in this fashion, I am able to continue diving in our kelp forests without the fish getting hung up. However, in extremely dense kelp, or perhaps with strong surge, this could be difficult. I would be interested to see the kidney-shaped weights that you use.

The easiest and quickest way for a diver to bleed a fish is to cut the gills. Use a knife, and sever all or most of the gill rakers on one side of the fish. Watch that you don't cut yourself in doing this. Some divers prefer to tear out the gills, but a clean cut will allow the fish to bleed out faster.

The sooner you do this the better, because the heart is likely to slow over time, and is needed to help pump out all of the blood. A bled fish makes for superior fillets, both in taste and appearance. Once I retrieve and "brain" a fish, I immediately cut the gill rakers before stringing it and continuing my diving. Of course, the wisdom of bleeding a fish must be considered in light of the threat potential for each dive area.

Safe diving,
Chip