I “had” a pair of Rapala floating fish grips until today.

 

My story; So I fish from a kayak and I typically like to put large fish in the water to calm down before I weigh/measure/ take pics. Today I caught what could have been my new IL PB but before I could weigh her my fish grip handle broke at the lanyard connector. Now there’s a eight pound bass swimming around with fish grips clamped on her lip. I summed it up to dumb luck until I found out that my buddy had the exact thing happen to him last week.

 

Can anyone recommend some high quality fish grips? Fish over six pounds are rare around my area and I dang sure don’t like killing them!

That sucks for both you and the fish. At the end of the day thin plastic is not the best choice for 8lbs of weight. Maybe something like the Boca grips would be better. 

About 40 years ago I made up a C & R stringer designed to put big bass into the water instead of a livewell to keep them healthy. The string has 2 stainless steel D clips with sharpened end to easily pentrate the lower jaw membrane just behind the lip. I used 300 lb mono line 10' long with a 1 lb sinker on the end, the clips can freely move up the stop about 2' above the weight and a dog leash clip on the top end to attach to a cleat. The 10' length allows me to put the bass in the livewell if I want to transport them with the stringer attach to a cleat. 

Over the years hundreds of big bass have been on this stringer while they revive in the cool lake water, critical for night tournaments, with only a small hole that heals quickly. 

If interested I can email a photo.

For a kayak a 5' length would be sufficient.

Tom

 

I unhook large fish IN a large and deep net hanging off the side of my boat, never lifting the fish out of the water.  Pictures and measurements aren't all that important to me.  On rare occasions (couple times a year) I'll weigh a fish by attaching it to the scale while still in the net and lifting it just above the net/water for long enough to read the scale, then right back down into the water.  Pretty quick and easy to do with the crotch of the net handle held in place by wedging it around one of the boat cleats.

 

oe