nol Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 some livewells in boats arn't even big enough to hold a 10+ pound fish. I personally do a lot of bank fishing and have never hurt or killed a bass. the longer you hold that fish in your boat or out of water the more damage you are doing to it. land it, snap a few pictures and let her swim off. no damage done.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicknick222 Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 I started a previous thread a long time ago on this topic and I am going to chime back in here. Personally I always see people complain about not holding the belly and saying that the jaws of bass will be broken by holding them in this way. While i agree if you lever the bass horizontally, yes of course this makes sense and should be avoided at all costs. But if the bass is held vertically by the jaw?? I just dont see the physics of this breaking bass jaws. If this were the case I think we would see an influx of giant bass floating up dead with broken jaws all over the place! I simply do not see it. Frankly, the castaic lagoon would be a dead zone because Butch holds all his fish that way and he's probably caught every trophy in that lake at least once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnnydukess Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 I started a previous thread a long time ago on this topic and I am going to chime back in here. Personally I always see people complain about not holding the belly and saying that the jaws of bass will be broken by holding them in this way. While i agree if you lever the bass horizontally, yes of course this makes sense and should be avoided at all costs. But if the bass is held vertically by the jaw?? I just dont see the physics of this breaking bass jaws. If this were the case I think we would see an influx of giant bass floating up dead with broken jaws all over the place! I simply do not see it. Frankly, the castaic lagoon would be a dead zone because Butch holds all his fish that way and he's probably caught every trophy in that lake at least once. +1 Almost every good fish that's been landed on my boat has been held by the lip completely vertical for photographs, all have swam away healthy, not to be found floating at a later date. I truly believe (and I'm sure many others do as well) that this does not injure a bass. Unless of course you are wrenching the jaw at an angle while holding the fish vertically, thus putting all the belly weight on the fishes jaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace D Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace D Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 On left, 8-4, held by jaw. On right 8-12, same fish 3.5 months later. No broken jaw....amazing. I'm all for protecting the fish and handling the bigger ones properly so don't get me wrong, I just think there are a lot of guys out there who know everything about handling big fish but never actually catch any big fish. Just be smart and fairly gentle. They're Bass not butterflies. Keep stickin' boys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brooks19604 Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 When I was younger I loved to try to catch two bass and get the “Hero Shot†it looks awesome, but over time I’ve begun to wonder if it really hurts the bass. I have caught a few big bass in my days and sometimes have caught the same fish multiple times within a few months. On those occasions, I have noticed that a few of the mouths on a few of those fish didn’t close properly anymore. The lower jaw was extended a bit and no longer lined up with the upper lip. In the picture below of the 20lb-12oz. bass I caught and as you can see, I did hold the fish by the lower jaw a few times. If you look to where the red arrow is pointing you can see some stretching has occurred. I have found no scientific studies to prove that this lower jaw stretching interferes with the feeding habits of these bass, but I have been doing underwater video now for over two years of big bass in their natural habitat and have noticed something. When filming during trout stockings, I have noticed that the big bass have a visual difference in their jaw, one that does not allow it to close all the way and these fish definitely struggle to catch trout and hold on to them. Bass have multiple small needle like front teeth that slightly tilt inward and work to hold onto large prey and help direct food further into its mouth to the crushers, which also have small teeth on them.The crushers push down and and slowly roll the prey into the stomach of the bass where digestive enzymes will start to break it down. So if part of this system is not working properly, it can lead to difficulties in successful hunting. http://www.mikelongoutdoors.com/categor ... shing-101/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnnydukess Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 And the truth shall set you free ^^^ (in regards to Jace's post) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishing434 Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Good read right here, thanks Brooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drBassLove Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 To everyone saying that it doesn't hurt the jaw: (The issue is not breaking it, its stretching it out) http://www.mikelongoutdoors.com/proper-bass-handling/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace D Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 To everyone saying that it doesn't hurt the jaw:(The issue is not breaking it, its stretching it out) http://www.mikelongoutdoors.com/proper-bass-handling/ Welcome to the discussion! If anyone knows how to handle big fish its Mike Long so do what he says. Keep this in mind though, what Mike calls a big fish is much different from what most of us call big. I think a case could definitely be made for handling teen and upper teen to 20+ fish different than you might handle something a bit smaller. Also, I'm not so sure holding the belly on a big fish like that is good either. There's important stuff in there you know. Holding the tail might be a better option. But I don't know jack squat about catching real big fish anyway so take this stuff with a grain of salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got0ne Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 Well said.. I totally understand what you are saying, especially with the real big fish. Let me play devil's advocate here though...What about the trebles and other hooks to the mouth, face, throat, and gullet? The occasional removed eyeball? Where do we draw the line? I have had people b*%ch at me because I laid a fish in dirt. Yes, I know fish have a protective slime coating, really, I do. On the other hand, bass are the heartiest game fish in the country. They got that way because they can adapt and survive. In all my years I have never seen a fish go belly up or seen die-offs because of laying fish in dirt. Maybe the fish in the small lakes I fish are heartier, I don't know, as I am not a fisheries biologist. Don't get me wrong, I don't go out of my way to hurt any fish. And yes, I practice catch and release. Except with legal halibut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drBassLove Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 To everyone saying that it doesn't hurt the jaw:(The issue is not breaking it, its stretching it out) http://www.mikelongoutdoors.com/proper-bass-handling/ Welcome to the discussion! If anyone knows how to handle big fish its Mike Long so do what he says. Keep this in mind though, what Mike calls a big fish is much different from what most of us call big. I think a case could definitely be made for handling teen and upper teen to 20+ fish different than you might handle something a bit smaller. Also, I'm not so sure holding the belly on a big fish like that is good either. There's important stuff in there you know. Holding the tail might be a better option. But I don't know jack squat about catching real big fish anyway so take this stuff with a grain of salt. Thanks! Good point. My idea of a big fish is much different than Mike's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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