fish grippers

[BrentB]

Anyone use a fish gripper similar to
http://www.tackletour.com/reviewlippertoolslipper.html ?

My wife got barbed in her finger by large ocean catfish. She was avoiding the dorsal fin but got a barb near its mouth. I thought I removed the entire barb but the wound was bleeding and her hand became swollen. We went to ER and they cleaned the wound and didn't find the barb nor had the barb moved to her knuckle. She is fine and we released the fish. I hold the catfish in a towel and remove the hook with needle nose pliers. How do you hold and unhook them?

[jkidd]

I use a Boga Grip, Looks like the one in the picture and has a scale in it. I hold the fish with the grip in the water and use needle nose to remove hook. Then I decide if i'm going to keep it or let it go.

[CW]

I don't fish for catfish, but a large salmon and bottomfish can flip around and bury those razor sharp treble hooks from a flatfish lure very easily into one's hand. No fish is worth torn tendons, permanent hand injury, paralysis etc. We also have to release fish that are of "wild" origin at different times of the year (salmon and steelhead with their adipose fin still attached; hatchery fish are clipped). If they must must be released, we aren't even allowed to lift them out of the water on the Columbia River, so I don't net them. I reach down with some super long needle nosed pliers and turn, twist the hook out. Should a bait be swallowed and fish must be released, I cut the leader. If we want to keep the fish, I net it, and club it on the head (stops them from flipping around) and I keep a stainless steel and kevlar filleting glove or two on board. If it's a halibut we harpoon it or shoot it in the head. Wear it on the left hand, use the knife with the right. Then we'll cut the gills and bleed the fish overboard for the best quality meat. A laid open artery while at sea is not a good thing and these gloves can be had for $7 - 20. For oversize sturgeon, which must be released, you should not use stainless steel hooks but should use large, high quality bronzed hooks which will rust out as many of these swallow them. Maybe they'd work for catfish for easier "cut and release" or club and kill then de-hook methods. C.W.