"JeffinMississippi" wrote in message
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"Alan Lichtenstein" wrote in message
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wrote:


We surf fisherman are very used to handling fish with teeth. Not the
teeny weenie ones you got answers for in this thread, but big, bad and
very nasty 16-18 lb. bluefish, which have been known to snap at
virtually anything. Bluefish have very big mouths, and have been known
to take bites out of anything just for spite while lying on the deck or
beach dying.



I am from Maryland and have caught thousands of Blues, none of them are as
hard to handle than a 35-50 pound cat. I have never been bitten by a
Bluefish, but I have been stung the hell out of by a big cat and let me
assure you, it hurts like #@&$#@.



I haven't caught cats THAT BIG!!! I want to now though! TIme for a roadtrip
south!

When I catch my blues I get them up along side the boat and grab them by the
tail. I then lay them on deck with the head pointed away to get a good gill
grab. So many times I'm down there trying to grab a gill and they will
thrash and try to go on one last power run.

Whenever I go catfishing (I admit I AM a weenie for this) I wear a good
leather glove for Grabbing them. I think a cat sting and a bluefish bite are
about equal.

The catfish will sting you and it will hurt like @#%$, then ache for a
couple of days afterward.
A blue can bite and even take out a chunk.... in salt water conditions! Then
it hurts for a number of days. A little common sense will keep chunk bait in
the bucket and hands in one piece.

When you grab Bass (large and small), which are spiny, you can "Lip" them.
Which is grab the by the bottom lip. Their teeth are tiny and not sharp.

Bluegills or sunfish are nothing but a big mess of spines. I start at the
head and smooth their spines back. many places sell long nosed "lip" grips
for small mouthed fish.

It's all a comfort level thing. The more fish you catch, the more familiar
you will be with each species and how to handle them. I'm still not
comfortable handling Sand Sharks when I hook one, but I'm way too cheap to
let them run off with a $10.00 Jig. Sometimes I can "nab" the hook while
they are still in the water with long nose pliers, but usually go for the
tail grab method... then get the hook with pliers.

I just hope you don't stop fishing because of this one little piece.

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