I can't believe I am writing this, but I saw it happen right in front of my face at the blackbrush ramp. And the guy actually tried to justify that the air bladder is on the bottom of the fish ! Since I teach through the side fizzing, and it is the bonifided #1 way to do the procedure (study results) , please take this advice. The bottom of the fish is stomach and internal organs from the head to the anal vent. Please DO NOT squeeze this area thinking more air will come out. If you do, you are NOT doing the procedure right and are severely damaging it's internal organs and it's chance to survive if released to fight another day. Anatomically speaking , the air bladder is right below the spine and above the stomach and internal organs. Basically the bottom half of the middle of the fish. When I told the guy to let go of the fish so it could hit bottom, he said it would swim away and he knew what he was doing. He let go, it went straight to the bottom, and 10 minutes later I got in the water and handed him his dead fish. Golden eyeballs, not a gill movement in sight. The belly looked like it had been run over by a tire. When you do take some fish home to eat, or have some that don't make it in your tournament , please cut it open and have an anatomy lesson for your club or organization. It will go a long ways into teaching you where everything is inside the bass. Regards !

Thanks JR. That is a BIG problem as well. Only let out enough to where the bubbles START to slow down. Not when they quit comng out. Basic rule of thumb I use in the boat is :
1-3 lbs. - 3 seconds
3-7 lbs. - 5 seconds
7-? lbs. - when bubbles slow down.

When working a weigh in, I use the slow down method on all of them. Most of these fish have been upside down the majority of the day and have built up quite a bit of gas/air in their bladders. You can throw out the per second deal and just take it out when the bubbles start to slow down.