holding trout by the lip while they are still in the water.

[somersetian]

Caught a particularly spirited brown the other day, was prob 15-16 inches and very fat. Got it into reaching distance pretty quick in some very slow water, but every time I would touch it it would freak and slip from my hand while in the water. I didn't want to squeeze it to death so I placed my thumb in its mouth and gently held it and it just sort of bit my thumb and sat there calmly in the water while I removed the hook. Caught three more all rainbows and they all did the same, even after I would take the hook out and try to let go they would still just bite my thumb and stay there calmly for a few seconds. I wasn't lipping them like a bass, just held them in place while still in the water while I removed the hook. I can't see anything wrong with this technique, but I'm not a trout expert so what do you guys think?

 

[salmonoid]

I've had trout do this to me involuntarily while they are being released. It makes me laugh, as if they are somehow being spiteful of me and biting me because I caught them. To put it in perspective, as long as your finger is not in the gill and you aren't distending the jaw, a finger a trout's mouth causes no more harm than stinging them with a piece of metal and pulling them around a body of water.

Got back in a few weeks and if you catch the same fish, you'll have confirmation on my answer.

 

[Maurice]

Try holding them upside down it seems to [d]stun[/d] (suffocate) :-D them for enough time to un hook them. (if you feel you must handle them or snap a pic). Simply turn them right side up while releasing or snapping the pic and they will be fine.I like to try to confine my holding trout out of the water to less than 10 seconds if possible. If it takes longer I cradle them in the water for another 30 seconds and try again.

 

[Fishidiot]

Maurice wrote:
Try holding them upside down it seems to stun them for enough time to un hook them.

Agree. Works very well for me.

 

[csoult]

Had a cutthroat bite me while taking the hook out, it drew blood, but it was pretty big. They have at least three rows of teeth, and very sharp.

 

[duckfoot]

Maurice wrote:
Try holding them upside down it seems to stun them for enough time to un hook them. (if you feel you must handle them or snap a pic). Simply turn them right side up while releasing or snapping the pic and they will be fine.

Also works on blue crabs when you rub their belly.

 

[somersetian]

Holding them by their lip I didn't remove them from the water just held them there by their lip and took the hook out. It was incredibly easy and made for a really fast catch and release, I just didn't know if putting a finger in a trouts mouth was bad because I never saw anyone do it before. It was also really funny how they just sat there biting my thumb before they realized they were free to go.

 

[afishinado]

somersetian wrote:
Holding them by their lip I didn't remove them from the water just held them there by their lip and took the hook out. It was incredibly easy and made for a really fast catch and release, I just didn't know if putting a finger in a trouts mouth was bad because I never saw anyone do it before. It was also really funny how they just sat there biting my thumb before they realized they were free to go.

I do this all the time. As long as the fish remains in the water and you don't lift up, the fish should be fine. Bigger fish have have bigger "teeth" and can mess up your thumb.

 

[pcray1231]

Yeah, I do it too. Quite frequently, I hold fish by the fly attached to their lip for photo ops or just to admire it. You can hold them fairly steady and move them around that way, and I can't imagine it puts anymore stress on them than the line pulling that same fly. When done admiring, you just attach hemos with the other hand and twist.

 

[ColdBore]

I like to try to confine my holding trout out of the water to less than 10 seconds if possible. If it takes longer I cradle them in the water for another 30 seconds and try again.

The best analogy I heard, many years ago, was to hold your breath the entire time you have the fish out of the water.

After all, that's basically what you're doing to the fish and it's oxygen supply.

After only a couple of fish, you really start to appreciate it, and make fast work of unhooking a fish.

 

[PennypackFlyer]

Well last Friday I grab one by the lip and he spit the hook out at the same time. It went into the soft tissue between thumb and index finger. Yup, past the barb. (I think I'm going to go barbless pretty soon.) Every once in a while them trout get even.

So I got out my trusty plyers and .............

I recommend holding them with their belly up while removing the hook.

 

[FarmerDave]

It's certainly no worse than putting a hook in it's mouth. I'm sure some trout huggers would complain, but I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[salmonoid]

FarmerDave wrote:
It's certainly no worse than putting a hook in it's mouth. I'm sure some trout huggers would complain, but I wouldn't worry about it.

LOL - love that term. But if you hug them, doesn't that wipe the slime off their skin??

 

[Night_Stalker]

I have done that many times. More of a thumb hold between the jaw and tongue. It is the only way to get some hooks out of the fish with out further injury.

As a bonus...you get to be reminded of a great fish for several days after as the ripped up finger tips heal

I do not think I will do this with Muskie any time soon

 

[FarmerDave]

salmonoid wrote:

FarmerDave wrote:
It's certainly no worse than putting a hook in it's mouth. I'm sure some trout huggers would complain, but I wouldn't worry about it.

LOL - love that term. But if you hug them, doesn't that wipe the slime off their skin??

Absolutely, which is why the OPs approach is often better. ;-)

 

[Chaz]

Fish sufficate when held upsidedown, it would be better to use a net to hold the fish in the water when removing the hook. Make sure to crush the barbs.

 

[evw659]

I don't think holding a fish upside down for 5-10 seconds is going to suffocate it, and barbed hooks aren't gonna kill the fish.

 

[BrookieChaser]

As far as barbed hooks, Dr. Behnke found a direct correlation between barbless hooks and fish kill. There was a difference, a very small difference, but a difference nonetheless. The barbless hooks killed more fish from increased penetration due to the steeper angle of the point on a barbless hook.

On holding the fish upside down, I've wondered what it does to the skeletal structure (mainly vertebrae) and internal organs.

 

[SBecker]

Jesus......

 

[BrookieChaser]

I wouldn't expect you to understand.