Quote:
Originally Posted by gone fishin
Lifting a fish that large by the gills probably killed the big girl.
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This is not all that clear. Last year I tried to find a definitive answer on this (because I like to weigh large fish). What is involved is something called an "isthmus injury" which, as best I can determine is the result of over stretching the narrow spot where the gills meet the mouth (i.e., the throat). There seemed to be good data that snook did not tolerate this well. There was also good data that holding very large muskies (40+ lb fish) vertically by the gill cover had no effect on survival. Certainly largemouth bass get handled this way all the time and seem to survive it. I don't think a scale or a boga grip is any better than a gill cover grab, indeed the gill cover grip probably distributes strain more evenly. I think the bigger problem is time out of water in the warm months. Experience has taught me it is very hard to revive a large fish that has fought hard, then been weighed and photographed on an August night.