Rockport 24 asked me to share some fish handling mistakes I saw when I used to guide. There are many more than the ones below – feel free to add.

General Mistakes:
1) Claiming to know how to land a fish and then proving that they really don't.
2) Putting hooks through their fingers while attempting to disgorge a caught fish.
3) Attempting to lip a bluefish. Don't laugh - its more common than you think.
4) Attempting to lip a green bass (one that is not tired because it was horsed in) that has a plug with several sets on it, some of which are free. The free hooks swing around and then they are hooked to the thrashing fish.
5) Not moving the hooks that are not stuck inside the fish so they don't get stuck while you are dealing with the ones that are in the fish's mouth. If another hook looks like its about to get stuck – move it.
6) Not using the pliers that they brought.
7) Not bringing pliers.
8) Kicking a bass to return it to the water & getting a puncture wound from the spikes on the dorsal. (Serve’s you right for kicking the fish.)
9) Patting a bass with a vertical motion to show affection for it and then cutting their hand on the gill plates (twice, because they did not feel the first cut).
10) Stepping on the fish's head to steady it, to the point where the fish cannot recover.
11) Forgetting about the teaser or the main offering and impaling yourself on them.

Wading Mistakes: Fish handling while wading presents even more problems.

1) Trapping the fish against their leg while attempting to disgorge hooks.
2) Thumbing the spool down, or locking the drag down (in order to get the fish closer) only to find the fish had one more run it and now they have either lost the fish due to line failure, or have a broken rod tip, or both.
3) Lifting the rod over their head with one hand (in order to get the fish in closer so they can work on releasing it) only to bend the rod the wrong way and break the rod tip.
4) Lifting the rod with one hand (in order to get the fish in closer so they can work on releasing it) while lifting one leg off the bottom for balance. (They usually contort themselves into an FTD-man-like pose, before subsequently falling in.)
5) Hand-lining a bass in, only to find that soft waterlogged hands are very susceptible to line cuts.
6) Wrapping the line around one hand in order to get the fish closer and then finding that when the fish is in closer, they only have one hand to deal with releasing it.
7) Waiting until the fish is their hands before putting a light on it. If you are going to shine a light on a bass, do it before you have it in your hands.
8) Not watching the water while they are releasing a fish and getting knocked down by an anomalous or rogue wave.
9) Putting 40 pounds of live keepers on a stringer.

I got a good one....
One my way home from work on a friday in Sept about 4 years ago, I was driving by a spot in gansett that is very visable to alot of people...
I saw a few birds circling.. terns not gulls.. impending blitz... noone else there (yet) so I pull in, hop out and make a cast.. double 7lbs bluefish (teaser rig) cut the teaser off after releasing them, throw on a hopkins and C&R blues for a few minutes... then the crowd starts... suddenly there are 10 guys there.. the guy next to me was well dressed and had EVERYTHING top of the line but lacked a clue... he hooked up, cranked mr blue in, and in the process of dangling it by the leader presumably to figure out how the F- unhook it, the second set of trebbles grabbed his jeans right below the fly of his expensive looking jeans (no flesh)... he immediatly started screaming to his wife/girlfriend to 'get the pliers from the truck, hurry hurry'
I offered him my knife, he cut the plug and fish from his jeans and I unhooked the bluefish from the plug, released it and went home, had dinner and waited for darkness.... I hate the daylight.....
Joe is right about the wading and handling.. it gets easier but %$%$%$%$ still happens... my waders and wetsuit have some holes.. on probably the s---tiest night I had fished in a while with PIEMMA on the worst fighting 20ish bass of my life... I guess thats another mistake to add in... misjudging the size of the fish until you grab it.. oops.. still landed and released the fish without getting poked or knocked down.. (I was deep and the surf was pretty much over head :D I love that weather!! :D)

Keeping a short leash on fish so that the next wave doesn't send the bass and trebles to stick you.

Thanks Joe! :kewl:
I agree that we don't discuss this kind of thing enough...
I like to think that I have a clue, but I have made my share of mistakes.
To land a bass in the surf, I usually end up sliding it into the wash, shining a light on it to see where the hooks are, then carefully lip the fish, I've found that you really need to lip a bass firmly, especially if you horsed it in as Joe says and it's not tired. Then I bring it up out of the wash to unhook it with pliers and/or my hook remover, which works great by the way. It's really the lipping part that I think is the most dangerous, do you guys use bogas or something to try to avoid getting impaled or how do you handle it?

see a guy pull in a schoolie. he cant get the hook out, so he puts a knee on it and is struggleing. i walk over and ask if i can help, see hook, pop it out...begin to walk away, and the guys in awe. but dead bass cause hes been friggen kneeling on the thing.

Good point Goose. When deep wading, I often take a wrap around the fore arm, in case I drop the fish I can quickly regain control of the leader. The arm wrap allows both hands to be free to handle release duties, and keeps the leader away from the hook area where it can get tangled

I think everyone that fishes makes a mistake. Not one fisherman hasn't hooked themselves eventually. Make sure no one is behind you when you are casting or they might get "hook head" or sinker goose egg" syndrome.


heres some other "fish handling" things kind of unrelated to actual fishing but more to actual "handling"

If you bring a fish home, don't stab yourself on the dorsal while you are filleting it.
Don't leave the rack in the garbage for a week (cut it up, wrap in newspaper, put in freezer and discard on trash day.)
Don't discard the rack, make chowder out of it.
Bleed your fish if you are going to keep it for the table (and it's not a trophy)
If you live or are a long ways from the fishing grounds, keep your fish on ice (fresh bait too).
If you use a fish head to make chowder, take out the eyes before you start cooking it.
Make sure to put down some old newspapers, if you use the kitchen table to clean your catch on.

I see people release Bluefish ALIVE --It evened happened in my own boat this year //a member on this site . netted a blue [MISTAKE] & the hook fell out = he just flipped it over & it was gone =that will never /ever happen again :conf:

BEING ON A PERCH TO FISH PRODUCTIVE WATER BUT HAVE NO WAY TO LAND A FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:doh:

I'm guilty of this one myself:

Grabbing the plug, instead of the fish or leader-when reaching to grab the fish.

if you use a shorter rod while wading sandbars its alot easyer to land fish and also if you have the pliers at your finger tips it makes it easyer.

I'm guilty of this one myself:

Grabbing the plug, instead of the fish or leader-when reaching to grab the fish.

If thats wrong then I've been landing fish on needles the wrong way for ever... best part of fishing needles with one set of belly trebbles....

BEING ON A PERCH TO FISH PRODUCTIVE WATER BUT HAVE NO WAY TO LAND A FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:doh:

Watching all the "bridge people" on the Mystic river bridge & City Square bridge in Charlestown,MA.
Catching schoolies & letting them drop.
25-30 feet to the water.
Smack.
I did it when I first started, decided there had to be a better way;then found an alternate location. Or two.
Not so much no way to land them.
Just no way to release the ones you can't keep.
Alive.

When guiding, I would cringe when somebody said they could handle the fish. All I kept thinking was, "Lawsuit, lawsuit, lawsuit."

On the rare occasions when I fish with other people around, I always offer to help land the fish. I just get nervous when I see somebody tentatively approaching a caught-fish, I don't want to be around when they start screaming.

How about the guy that has his hand through the gills and almost out the mouth and then actually thinks the fish will be fine when he throws it back underhand ten feet or so.

When fishing the ditch - not checking on a spot to land fish. Pretty rough on some of those weed and slime covered fish. I have seen many 10 rated dives trying to catch balance on those rocks. :bl: :bl:

Your into some decent fish, you decide to keep one for the table. You put it up onshore, where you think it's safe, to only look back a minute later and it's GONE.....DUH.

one mistake i used to do often was to fish with my drag too tight.. i bent hooks, ripped lips, etc. Now i keep it loose. This new Avet reel i just got is sweet because you can preset the drag's full setting.. i might never screw up agian :hihi:

Casting into a pod of blues, good-bye lure.
Trying to cast in and around working birds ....

.. i might never screw up agian :hihi:

famous last words ;)

Rushing is a huge mistake. If you are in the middle of a blitz, it can be pretty tempting to get that hook dislodged as fast as you can so you can continue to fish. When you rush, thats when most of the above mentioned mistakes tend to occur. Slow it down, making a mistake while rushing will just cause your offering to stay out of the water that much longer.

Underestimating a short and grabbing the plug. Don't underestimate a short.

He's on. Im thinking he's ok. Dude you need a hand. Nah, Im good. You sure. Yeah I got it, its just a blue its tired. Ok, maybe you should take a step back and not try and land it at your ankles. (he was standing knee deep on a rock that was maybe foot by foot). Dude you sure yer ok, I'll swim over. Nah Im good hook up! ok sure I cast Im on. Im watching him thinking to myself how Im going to swim back to shore with him having a bluefish inpaled in his crotch. Then I see him he takes a wrap on the leader, jams his rod in his belt. Hmmm hes not doing too bad.. See I told ya its tired.. Bluefish starts freakin Break Dancing between his ankles trebles everywhere, blood, rips tears swears lots of em.

Guess it wasnt soo tired huh?

FU wiseA(*

Dude I offered to help...