how to handle fish with spikes and teeth?

I am new to fishing, I am intimidated by fish with spikes and teeth. I
was struck by pointy fin of a cat fish and it hurt for about 5 days. I
caught a nice saugeye, but a friend of mine took it off the hook. I
thought to myself, "I am not taken this thing off". I can see myself
getting my hand ripped open trying to hold and handle these fish. Does
anyone have basic advice on how to handle fish with spikes and teeth?


Thanks

I am new to fishing, I am intimidated by fish with spikes and teeth. I
was struck by pointy fin of a cat fish and it hurt for about 5 days. I
caught a nice saugeye, but a friend of mine took it off the hook. I
thought to myself, "I am not taken this thing off". I can see myself
getting my hand ripped open trying to hold and handle these fish. Does
anyone have basic advice on how to handle fish with spikes and teeth?

Thanks

Hold catfish from the belly side (palm of hand on belly) keeping the
side barbs above your thumb on one side and between your index and
middle finger on the other.

Sauger, saugeye, and walleyes not only have sharp teeth they also have
a sharp gill plate. Hold these fish by reaching under and cradling it
in your hand, by grabbing it from the back of the head gently
squeezing the gill plates, or by sliding a finger (careful not to rip
the gill rakers) up under the gill plate near the bottom of the fish.

It's best to go out with experienced fisherfolks who handle these fish
all the time and ask for demonstration.

Jay

On one note, if you are not going to keep the fish, try to handle it as
little as possible.

From: "JeffinMississippi"

| On one note, if you are not going to keep the fish, try to handle it as
| little as possible.
|

I second that statement !

--
Dave
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
http://www.ik-cs.com/got-a-virus.htm

On 6 Feb 2006 10:04:05 -0800, wrote:

I am new to fishing, I am intimidated by fish with spikes and teeth. I
was struck by pointy fin of a cat fish and it hurt for about 5 days. I
caught a nice saugeye, but a friend of mine took it off the hook. I
thought to myself, "I am not taken this thing off". I can see myself
getting my hand ripped open trying to hold and handle these fish. Does
anyone have basic advice on how to handle fish with spikes and teeth?


Lipper Fish Gripper http://tackletour.com/reviewlippertoolslipper.html
(or some place similar), and a pair of needle-nose pliers. You'll
never have to touch another fish ;-)

Thanks

wrote:

I am new to fishing, I am intimidated by fish with spikes and teeth. I
was struck by pointy fin of a cat fish and it hurt for about 5 days. I
caught a nice saugeye, but a friend of mine took it off the hook. I
thought to myself, "I am not taken this thing off". I can see myself
getting my hand ripped open trying to hold and handle these fish. Does
anyone have basic advice on how to handle fish with spikes and teeth?


Thanks

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.

No surf fisherman would be without a pair of needle nose pliers to
remove the hook from such a fish. We generally grab the fish through
the gill slit and that prevents the fish from moving its mouth and
consequently biting. If you're handling small fish, use a rag to hold
the fish. That should provide you with protection from its dorsal fin.
Grabbing the hook in the bend with your pliers and pulling up and away
usually releases the hook quite rapidly with minimal harm to the fish.
As most surf fisherman are catch and release fishermen, this leads to a
quick return of the fish to the water and minimal shock. Should work
just as well with the kinds of fish you're looking at. After all,
they're not 18lb. bluefish.

"Alan Lichtenstein" wrote in message
...
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 #@&$#@.

"David H. Lipman" wrote in message
news:grbGf.10363$In4.3938@trnddc06...
From: "JeffinMississippi"

| On one note, if you are not going to keep the fish, try to handle it as
| little as possible.
|

I second that statement !

--
Dave
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
http://www.ik-cs.com/got-a-virus.htm



I third it, but can also add a reason why. Every time you handle a fish you
disrupt it's slime coat. It might not seem like much but it serves a BIG
purpose for the fish. It really is something like boogers in your nose. hehe

The slime coat keeps many types of bacteria, parasites, and infection off
the fish and allow it to slough stuff off. Even a small bit of destroyed
slime coat can invite bacteria or fungus to start growing up under a scale
or small wound.
Most fish that live in relatively healthy waters won't be much affected by
some handling if at all. The slime coat can reform pretty quickly as well.
The fish to handle the least are those in farms and private stock ponds that
might not being living in ideal situations. Scaly fish like stripers, bass,
bluegills, can take a bit more handling than skinned fish like trout,
suckers, catfish. Likewise the scaly fish are a little tougher about water
conditions. The skinned fish are taking water/oxygen in through more of
their skin than their scaly cousins.

(Just a wee bit of useless info)
_______________________________
www.fly-fishing-flies.com
Flies from $5.60 per DOZEN and more!
_______________________________

"JeffinMississippi" wrote in message
...

"Alan Lichtenstein" wrote in message
...
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.

_______________________________
www.fly-fishing-flies.com
Flies from $5.60 per DOZEN and more!
_______________________________

On small catfish (less then 14 inches) I use a fish flipper to dehook and
avoid touching them. Larger catfish I use a long noose fish dehooking tool
or a long handle stainless steel needle nose pliers. This also works on
sheephead and other fish down here in South Louisiana.

Sarge