Common Fish Handling Mistakes - Got Some?

[Joe]

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.