How To Hold A Fish

It is so exciting to catch a monster bass! Isn’t that the reason we love bass fishing in the first place?

When you catch a bass what is the first thing you do? Like many, you properly take the fish out and take a picture of it.  After all, that picture may come in handy when trying to explain to your buddies the size of the fish.

However, you may have heard someone telling another person that they are holding the fish wrong. Is that true? Can you hold a fish incorrectly? If so, why is it so important that we hold a fish properly.

In this post we are going to talk about why it is important and how it can be done.

Why is it important to hold a fish properly?

Improperly handling a bass while out of the water can seriously hurt the fish. You may not notice any damage initially, but you certainly do risk the life of the fish after its release.

Two things to avoid when holding a bass

Removing the fish’s slime coat: The first reason to handle fish properly is to protect its slime coat. No doubt you have touched a fish and noticed how slimy they can be. This slime is the fish’s slime coat.

A fish’s slime coat acts much like our skin. Imagine losing a large portion of our skin. If this were to happen, we would be more susceptible to infection and diseases.

For a fish the slime coats acts like a barrier against infection and disease. It also helps to prevent the loss of essential bodily fluids. That being said it is important to handle a fish in a way that we don’t risk removing its slime coat.

Protect the jaw: Another reason why it is important to hold a bass properly is because if we hold them incorrectly we can seriously hurt their jaw. You may have seen pictures on Instagram or Facebook of people holding a fish at a weird angle. Yes, it does make the fish look bigger or perhaps doing so makes for a cool picture, but it can hurt the fish.

In the following video we will see a demostration on how to hold a fish properly.

As we can see in this video, there are three ways to hold a fish.

If the fish is smaller we can hold them at an angle. Once they are bigger, it is important to either hold them by the jaw with their body hanging straight down or we can put one hand on the jaw and one on the stomach for support.

Always remember to hold them in a way as to avoid rubbing off any of their slime coat.

So the next time you catch a monster bass and you want to take a picture, please keep these pointers in mind.