Here’s how to properly hold fish in the catch/release era

Is there a right way and a wrong way to hold a fish? During a time when fisheries conservation demands regular catch-and-release, the answer is a resounding yes. Once it’s out of the water, properly handling a fish is paramount to ensuring it swims away as strong as when it came topside.

Whether you’re removing hooks for a healthy release or positioning that personal best catch for a quick photo, there’s a common-sense approach to take in order to get fish back with little or no physical effects to them.

Make it quick

It doesn’t matter how big your catch is, keep its time out of the water to a minimum. The level of stress imposed and the time you leave a fish out of its natural environment depends on the species and its size.

Generally, big fish such as muskies, northern pike, and large walleyes will stress faster than panfish. But regardless of size, the stress level increases the longer they’re out of the water.

For starters, there’s already a level of irritation just getting them to the boat. The fight, especially with big fish, is taxing on them, even more so when pulled from deep water or during warm water and weather conditions.

Get your fish in and get it back quickly. Don’t drop them and let them flop around on the boat floor. For the most part, less than 90 seconds is optimal, but a shorter window is better, even if you snap a few pictures.

Horizontal or vertical hold

This is a no-brainer. Fish swim horizontally, so they need to be held that way out of the water as much as possible. It’s just a more natural position for them, so it’s going to warrant less physical strain.

Support their body weight with one hand under the belly and the other hand on the outside and behind the gill plate. You want to keep the stress off the head and jaw, which happens immediately with a vertical hold.

Position both hands properly in order to support their weight and to keep the fish calm. A good rule of thumb for the horizontal hold: The bigger the fish, the more support you’ll want to provide and always be in control of the fish movements when supporting them.

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Areas to avoid

This seems like such common sense, but we’ve all seen someone grab a fish with two fingers to the eyes or jam four fingers up their gills and swing them into the boat. Don’t do that!

Stay away from their eyes, and never touch the gills. Gills are super sensitive and really the life support of any fish. They’re specialized organs that allow fish to breathe and filter underwater. Wreck those red gills and you’ve likely done irreparable damage.

Fish lacking teeth, such as bass and panfish, should be belly lifted or grabbed by the lip and slowly and gently lifted into the boat, returning to that horizontal position immediately.

With toothy critters, belly lift if possible or place two fingers between the gills and jaw plate. Slowly lift, keeping pressure off the gills, and quickly return to the horizontal-holding position. Again, avoid the eyes, jaws, and gills.

What about small fish?

Crappies, bluegills, perch, and smaller individuals of our bigger gamefish species also need to be handled with some care and common sense.

A firm grip is probably the best advice when handling shorter fish. Basically, follow all the aforementioned guidelines, but grab them with some conviction, i.e., be in control of their movements.

Place a firm thumb over the front of the dorsal fin, so it lays down, then get your other four fingers under the belly. You don’t need to squeeze the life out of them with those four digits, just tight enough that you’re controlling movement, and trying to eliminate any stress.

Other factors to consider

Wetting your hands and minimal time spent in landing nets also are good practices to develop before handling fish, mainly if you plan on releasing them.

Wetting your hands is crucial in order to protect a fish’s delicate layer of slime, which they use as a barrier against disease and infection.

Getting them in and out of landing nets is just another example of limiting tress. Rubber-coated nets, rather than traditional mesh nets, also tend to be less irritating to a fish’s skin.