Thread: Lip grippers

Anyone using these . If so is there a brand you recommened/ avoid.

Thinking of trying to avoid handling cod, have dived under boats after returning fish that looked heathy as to find a number dead on the bottom. I thinking lip grippers and barbless hooks should help with this mortality.

Havent used them myself so cant comment.

Do you use very large circle hooks? swallowing the bait or gill hooking would have to be right up there in causing released cod to die wouldn't it?

Get yourself a pair of Gardening gloves (one with the rubber in the grip area) makes handling the fish easy, and use as VC says very large circle hooks

Forget the line and just spear them

Originally Posted by stingray

Thinking of trying to avoid handling cod, have dived under boats after returning fish that looked heathy as to find a number dead on the bottom. I thinking lip grippers and barbless hooks should help with this mortality.

Not sure about that. I remember reading about fish getting spine injuries after lip grippers were used. However, it may have been more about the way the were used. I think fish survival post-release is a lot lower than we think, especially in deeper water which is a bit depressing. I now aim to catch only what I want and stop when I've caught it. It doesn't always work out, but I'm trying.

Yeah large hooks, it's the handling I'm working on now, I know what you mean, gill / throat hooked is a death sentence ...what I am seeing is a 32 / 32.5 cm lip hooked handled released swims away. Goes into shock.. Damaged ... Dead

I honestly apreciate all the comments and ideas. What I'm thinking is to find a way / best practice to reduce the deaths of a damn near legal fish. That in a years time will be a taker.

I'm all for spearing them nothing like cracking Kina and sitting back smoking big boys as they sneak in for a feed.The crew on the other hand like to catch their cod

Trade zone gone fishing had something about percentages of fish released that die afterwards

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Originally Posted by stingray

I honestly apreciate all the comments and ideas. What I'm thinking is to find a way / best practice to reduce the deaths of a damn near legal fish.

I haven't done any serious bait fishing for 3 years, just softies and jigs = no gut hooked fish and average fish size is much bigger. Talking about snapper in the Northland, don't know if that would be realistic in other parts of the country though.

.what I am seeing is a 32 / 32.5 cm lip hooked handled released swims away. Goes into shock... sounds like you a rolling pin , couple of rolls those cod be 33 cm .

Originally Posted by MightyBoosh

I haven't done any serious bait fishing for 3 years, just softies and jigs = no gut hooked fish and average fish size is much bigger. Talking about snapper in the Northland, don't know if that would be realistic in other parts of the country though.

Ask @Munsey about fishing with soft baits...

I have lip gripper here you can have @stingray.
Be usefull for all those pesky sharks too. They are Berkley brand

Wow , huge thanks @Pengy, we will have to do a trip soon and give them a work out.

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Circle hooks and a hook puller. I make hook pullers out of number 8 wire. A simple 12 inch length with a right angle bend the width of your hand on one end(for a handle) and a small hook bent in the other end. (I made a few out of stainless in the early days, but it hurts when some clown drops one over the side. Number 8 is way cheaper) It's a bit hard to explain how they work. Catch the trace with the puller (trace in your left hand, puller in your right), slide trace through puller until bend in hook is hooked in puller. Lift up with your right hand and push down with your left so trace is parallel with the fish. Puller has stopped in the bend of the hook. If it is done right, the fish will be only be held on the hook by the barb and/or the tip of the circle. A sideways twist of the puller sees the fish fall off untouched by hands. Only works on lip hooked fish though. I normally use the cheap square long line hooks for rod fishing and probably get less than ten percent hooked anywhere other than the lip.

I've used these on commercial charter boats and they work really well.

I use a wet towel. I guess that's just as bad as anything. Trying is the best you can do. Some mongrels just wrangle the hook out and chuck em back any old way.

Anything sizeable and it pays to have the wrist strap in place