How do you hold your fish?

[90x]

Ever since I have begun catching bass, I wondered how to lip the fish. i do it the old school kid way. However, This method is uncomfortable and I have seen photos of other guys using a different method which seems to be more effective.

I hold my bass by using my thumb in the mouth and then my index finger outside the mouth . Then forming a clamp. It is unnatural and hurts after awhile, not to mention when you practice CPR.

Need a better way to lip bass.

[90x]

Realize what i wrote was stupiD!!!!

I put my thumb in the mouth, then my index finger outside the mouth!

LOL!!!

[breakyourrod]

i always thumb them unless it is real small then i just thumb and index pinch the outside of the gills, then remove hook and throw back...that method usually take about 5 sec from start to finish.

[shimmy]

start with the thumb. By the end of the fishing week, switch hands. After that, use all four fingers and keep thumb out. By the very end of the week, tape your hand up, start all over again

[RoLo]

Quote

How do you hold your fish?

 

 

[J-B]

 I grab 'em by the lower jaw and shake their head a lot while telling them they are a good fish for cooperating with me. Then I slap them hard on the back side and send them on their way.  Actually, I wet my hands and do pretty much what you do. If it is a large fish I then give it additional support under the tail area. If it is real large, I jump in with them and give them a bear hug.

J-B

[Grey Wolf]

Any of the dozen or so mechanical lippers that are are the market should solve your delima.

The boca is just one of many.

[Tin]

After spearing them just simply hold the spear.

Thumb in mouth, with my index finger pinching the bottom side of the mouth.

[Paul Roberts]

Was thinking this is common sense, but thinking about it...

Depends on how they're hooked.

Usually as above. If hooks up front I may slip my thumb deep alongside one lower jaw. Works the same just gives me room to work. Helpful too if my thumb's getting raw. Can't help but do this with a big one -then the base of your thumb gets raw. This hold also keeps the jaw inline with the head better -I don't want to bend the jaw too far and damage tendons. Those jaws are how bass make their livings.

If lotsa trebles in there and no safe space for a thumb, I'll belly lift it, pop free a treble ASAP and then thumb it. I'm barbless or micro-barbed with trebles too.

Come to think of it, this is the way I handle most bass: Thumb alongside inside of one lower mandible.

[ValkyrieRider]

usually, I'll dig my thumb under the hard jaw and put my two fingers in the mouth. If it's a big catfish, I'll put both thumbs under the jaw with all fingers in the mouth. You gotta grab catfish harder than they grab you

If it's got trebles in the mouth I'll just grab where I can and put the body in between my legs and get the hooks out. Been hooked to many times to count. Doesn't feel good to be connected to a ticked off bass by a couple of barbs ;D

[chubaka]

I just hold them like how you hold them.

[Long Mike]

I use a whalers' harpoon for all my fish.  For some reason not many of them survive after I release them.  

[5bass]

I just lip 'em the regular way, then I hold them up as high as I can but for some reason, their tails always seem to still drag the ground.  

[mrlitetackle]

How do you hold your fish?

Pretty good.......but I hold my booze a lot better

nice..... very nice!!! ;D

but even the small ones get the same hold..... for me!

[christopherjake]

Looks good to me.

[Paul Roberts]

Thinking about it and looking through some of my pics I guess I hold them a few different ways.

Seems the most common is with a thumb alongside one mandible (jaw bone) -as I mentioned above. This does several things: It offers a good grip, keeps the crook of my thumb from getting too chewed up, gives me space to work, and keeps dangerous trebles as far away from my fingers as possible. Clutching one jaw is also a good hold for self pics and is a good hold for pics taken of you holding a bass high -without hyper-extending jaw tendons.

This thumb alongside a jaw bone hold also allows me to support the bass' head with the rest of my fingers, so its weight is not all on the jaw and neck vertebrae. The one thing I am careful not to do, esp with bigger fish, is over-extend the lower jaw by supporting the fish's weight by the jaw tendons. Bass do look cool sticking out like that, but I'm not comfortable with it. I try to keep the jaws within a normal range of motion.

I've read that the Texas' ShareLunker program has had some bass come in that subsequently died from starvation due to damaged jaws. These were exceptional sized bass, but I'm careful anyway. And I once had a fisheries professor (whom I respect) scold me for taking a gorgeous 3+lb smallie from a trap net and then hold it outward, perpendicular, by its jaw. He said, Those jaws are how they make their living. Although I don't really know how much weight and flexing a bass jaw can really take, or how easy it might be to torque a muscle or tendon, I try to respect that.

Here's a bunch of pics with various holds

Belly Lift -Good if mouth isn't safe to put fingers into! Make sure fish is under control before you attempt it, and work fast to clear the mouth for a better grip.

Side hold alongside one jaw bone. Gives a good grip on bigger fish too.

Good for keeping distance from trebles.

Held perpendicular, but jaws and neck supported.

Same grip, clutching one jaw, but rotated around for photo.

Regular front hold with bass hanging straight down. No tweaked tendons here.

[Grey Wolf]

Looks good to me.

That is not a good way to hold bigger bass .

[treble_hook_smile]

Smaller bass I just lip them. Larger fish I will belly land or lip them but will support the weight of the fish with both hands for the photo. Just try to take the stress off the jaw.

[mrlitetackle]

Looks good to me.

That is not a good way to hold bigger bass .

you are indeed correct good sir......

this would be more appropriate for a larger bass (as i always use 2 hands for the biggun's )

...and no, its not the same fish as the avatar........

[salmicropterus]

I pretty much lip them the normal way-thumb along mandible bit if it is more than about 2.5-3# I will support the belly. Also, no matter what size, it it has a mouth full of trebles, I'll use a Boga grip type device to lip the fish (not hold it out to cause strain) and detach the hooks

[BassDeaton01]

mrlitetackle- I *** your pond or ponds that you fish. You have pics of some hawgs man!! But I agree with the larger fish you should support them with a belly lift and not just the lip.

[roadwarrior]

Here ya go:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/images/060320bigbass.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/20060320-1251-bn20bass.html&usg=__-BEeKOpFOihHYMUz7FgmGgq6sGs=&h=343&w=220&sz=17&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=Jeo0CYOf9i5lUM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=77&prev=/images%3Fq%3D25%2Bpound%2Bbass%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1

8-)

[Paul Roberts]

Here ya go:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/images/060320bigbass.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/20060320-1251-bn20bass.html&usg=__-BEeKOpFOihHYMUz7FgmGgq6sGs=&h=343&w=220&sz=17&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=Jeo0CYOf9i5lUM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=77&prev=/images%3Fq%3D25%2Bpound%2Bbass%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1

8-)

To clarify:

The hold I'm referring to that I try to avoid is when a weighty bass is stuck straight out perpendicular from the angler -just like in the previous photo by christopherjake. Now his fish is so light I doubt it would be a problem for that fish. With a heavy bass though, with its weight hanging on over-extended jaw tendons is what my professor was referring to.

Again, I don't really know how much weight, flexing or torque those muscles and tendons can take. But I am somewhat careful anyway.

In the pic of the 20+ RW provided the jaw does not appear over-flexed in this way. But, since fish are essentially weightless underwater, I think if I cared about the future of that heavy a fish, I for one would be mindful of its jaws.

Disclaimer (if needed): This is just an opinion, based on little more than what I once read about some Texas Sharelunker fish (maybe Catt recalls), and what I deem common sense.

[Fat-G]

I usually hold fish like this:

This fish was 8 lbs. The way I man-grip them does them no justice, so I need to start not holding them like that. I'm gonna start holding them like lightninrod. His fish always look huge!

I mean, look at this fish:

This one was 6 lbs, and 23 inches. But the way I have all of my fingers under it's lower jaw makes it look way smaller.

[J Francho]

For unhooking:

For photos:

Or like this:

Smallies are a little different. usually belly land them, small or large:

Posing is the same, but go easy on the mouth process:

Here is a tip I leaned from Noel Good:  when unhooking a fish with a face full of trebles, lay it on a wet rubber net laid on the deck.  This will give you a slick working surface, and protect the slime coat.  I thought that was pretty neat.