Thanks for the info...So the under the chin/gill grab is no good..
I was under the impression the fish released would be okay as long as you didnt touch the red part of the gills.. At least I've only released two big ones this way..hope they are still swimming..
But this raises a question..when you lip a fish..wont the bacteria on your hands transfer from the lip to gills..I mean they are inches apart from each other and work together.
(I lip 99% of the fish I catch except bloos of course, those I'll grab em by the tail or use the vulcan neck pinch method.
I always thought that would be dangerous though w/ a big fish (behind the gill neck pinch) b/c they would be harder to grab from the top, (heavier and fatter, hard to get your hand around em)..but from now on I will just lip em if I intend on releasing...
I get much more satisfaction seeing them swim away than seeing them die on the rocks...I still have plenty of meat in my freezer (just dont need to kill em all for fame & glory). I was praised by one of my friends last time for being so conservative...he couldnt believe I let such a big fish go...Well, lately..I only want a trophy, I broke 40" this year now I'm just after that heavy biatch).
The reason I grabbed the last one by the gills was because the surf was pretty big where I was Sat night and the fish had a mouth full of trebles..(I just wanted to grab it and get the hell away from the surf without having to worry about a getting trebles in the hand..or a good mouth grab.
I wont get a lip grabber tool b/c I like to travel light..Maybe check out those gloves..dont know if I can deal w/ them though..I'll take my chances w/ the vulcan neck pinch or lip it..or just keep the next biggun for my mom to cook.
Question: How do you support the underneath of a heavy bass w/ one hand in its mouth and the other on your rod?
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