Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Show off your catch Pulled one off the bottom

I think when it comes to TV shows, just about anything goes. Reality TV is anything but reality, and I think a fishing show is just a mild form of that. Most will do what is best for ratings.

Cecil, it would be interesting for research sake, to know how many fish you receice with broken jaws versus ones that don't. I am talking about fish that are brought to you. What percenatge are damaged in this way. It might be soemthing worth keeping track of over the years so that there becomes a statistic for research.

It only stands to reason that a fish in the water never has it's jaw subjected to that pressure. What in nature would ever cause it to be. Even when it's being pulled in by line, it has the choice to fight back until it hurts and then relinquish if it gets to be to much stress.

Stargazer, please don't take this personally. It seems like you have a understanding about the fact there is a breaking point of going to far. I think most here like to take various opportunites to educate others. The "others" being people that we never get to know but are looking at this. There will be countless numbers of people looking at this post for years to come, lets make them the best stewards possible.

I don't bass fish anymore, so really don't have much stake in the matter, but I believe that as long as the possibility exists for injury, then I'm going to do my best to prevent it. Perhaps it wouldn't happen every time, but the chance is always there.

There are good discussions here about handling of LMbass. I am pretty sure that no one in this thread is "picking on" any one else. Members provide ideas and suggestions. Readers are free to accept or reject the comments. I confess that when I catch a bass or larger YP I "lip it" using the technique just as stargazer describes above. Gently and firmly grasping the jaw of a bass does seem to "calm it down" so you can remove a hook or make some measurements. Trying to lift a slippery, wiggly, thrashing "freshly" caught large fish that weighs more than 2,3,or5 lbs is rather difficult without grasping it very tightly if you can even get your hand around the back or body to hold it firmly. What internal damage occurs to a fish that gets squeezed very tightly and who normally lives in a weighless environment? Fish are not huggers or squeezers, just humans. Try lipping a walleye, northern pike, bowfin, gar or some of the trout. Lipping is not a practical method for handling these fish. Catch & releasing those species by grasping without imparting some sort of body damage can be "tricky". That is why some anglers try to remove hooks while the fish is left in the water. Wetting your hands before handling a fish is also a good idea to minimize the slime removal from the fish.

An additional comment is that the angle that one holds the fish by the jaw can IMO play a role in jaw damage. I won't get into the detailed jaw bone structure of a LMB. However, re-examine the pictures above, only J.Huston in the 1st picture is holding the LMB in the most vertical fashion with the least distortion to the jaw-mouth structure. The other three anglers have the jaw twisted, stretched, or torqued outward in what appears beyond the natural gape of the mouth. Similar hangling is probably where and when a lot of damage occurs to jaw injured fish.

Now go back and look at the 1st picture in 1 of 3 pictures of Stargazer's 2-1-13 post. Notice how the angler is using their other hand to help support the weight of the large bass- IMO, a wise method of handling a fish for a photograph or for release.

Bill:

I've always heard and read about wetting your hands before handling the fish to remove less of the slime coat. But, lets take RBT for instance. Yes, those slippery squirmy fish. I wonder what does more damage, wet hands and really clamping down on the body of the fish to prevent them from squirting out of your hands, or having dry hands and hot having to squeeze so much?

Personally, I think the best way is to use a rubber net, leave them in the water and take the hook out with hemostats or someting like that.

esshup says -""Personally, I think the best way is to use a rubber net, leave them in the water and take the hook out with hemostats or someting like that.""
I wholehartedly agree. In-Fisherman and a few others suggest using a body cradle for handling large Esosids to minimize thrashing and injuring the angler and fish. Body squeezing is probably not very good either for the fish especially if the fish is gravid. The egg sac is highly vascularated and squeezing could cause maybe hemorraging around the egg sac? The only time that I think a fish ever really gets squeezed is when it is in the mouth of a predator.

The use of a rubber net is also probably best for netting a fish, although I confess my rubber net is very rarely used anymore. When I used light weight monofilament and some sort of sinker or also lures, and netted a walleye with a rubbber net my line and sinker would often get hopelessly tangled in the rubber webbing, and not nearly as tangled when using the cotton cord mesh landing net. The fishing partner in the boat would often be catching WE and teasing me while I was untangling my net fowled line. It was a good thing that the boat also had a "regular" net which I had to fetch up front to land fish while I had the rubber net frequently 'occupied'. Those were real fun times but not when I was catching all that light hearted "flack" for using that "dumb" rubber net. Who says all fish topics have been researched?

What makes a rubber net better for the fish?

Good point Scott - I even go barbless fly casting, and try to release without a net or even hemos if possible, but sometimes one still has to handle the larger [15"+] trout. They squirm more than any fish I've ever caught, and while it's hard to admit, I know I've removed a significant portion of a trophy trout slimecoat more than once, and it was probably lethal. It apparently takes more practice than I have logged at this point - and I've been flyfishing for 20+ yrs!

Scott or others may be well versed in what makes a rubber net better for helping land and lift a fish, but I think possibly the rubber tends to be less abrasive on the fish compared to knotted mesh landing nets.

Bill, I think that is one of the things that makes them better. No knots, and when wet, it probably doesn't damage the slime coat as much as a regular net would.

I've also seen smaller mesh knotless nets that have been dipped with a rubberized coating. More for trout/salmon fishing, but I've seen them used in ponds for warmer water fish too.

No nets for me except for fish I cannot reach - Boga Grip!
Lift from water, place hand under belly for support if big fish -
but you can't hide your fingers this way...

George1 - Knowing your absolute LOVE, appreciation, and repsect for your catches, I wouldn't expect anything else than your utmost tender loving care as your fish handling methods. You are a true sportsman and great angler especially when it comes to the art of fly fishing.

George - I love your sense of humor (and a lot of other things about you). But, what can you possibly mean by not hiding your fingers? LOL

Here's from the Great State of Texas:




George, that's a Fly Rod LMB.