First off…I hope this is a constructive post…
…and it’s not pointed at anyone…but hopefully just general education.:)
We’ve had some threads about this topic before, but I think it needs to be a yearly post because of the many new folks starting to get into the “big” fish of the rivers and lakes.
I think my last post on this subject was titled “Have you ever been lifted up by your ears?”
I know the classic flathead picture shows the lucky fisherperson holding the biggun by the jaw and placing all of it’s weight on it’s jaw joints. When we’re talking about 5 pound fish, I don’t think it’s a big deal. However with cats going 15 and up, that has to be a lot of stress on one area of the fish.
Do I have documentation that this hurts a lunker? No. To my knoledge there hasn’t been a study done or published. But it just seems like, once a person thinks about what kind of weight is focused on one area, it can’t be doing the fish any good….can it?
Same with weighing a fish. I know I use to stick the scale hook it their mouth and get a weight, but one I realized there was 20, 30, 40 or 50 pounds focused on the one spot, I started using a net and then subtracting the 3 pounds of the net weight.
This goes for Sturgeon being held by their gills too. The gill covers weren’t designed as handles although they sure make good ones.
Again, I hope this post doesn’t come across as I’m looking down my nose at folks that hold their fish a certain way. My first flathead with held by it’s gill plates. The reason was that I was no way in ‘ell going to put my hands it a fishs mouth!
I think the pictures look better when the angler is supporting the weight in more places than just the mouth too…but that’s my opinion.
Well, maybe the walleye pics look better holding them under the gill plates….
What do you guys think?
