I release every striped bass I catch. They’re just too beautiful an animal for me to do otherwise. To release them, I usually grip their lower lip with my thumb in their mouth to control them while I remove the hook. After catching a few my thumb feels like sandpaper, but that’s ok by me.
I read about people lifting stripers by the bony gill plates. Does this hurt them? I haven’t landed anything bigger than about 28" yet, but I can see how with bigger fish it becomes more challenging to lift them by the lip. What’s the preferred technique?
In general try and not lifting the fish out of the water. Use the lip to hold it and remove the hook. If you need to take it out of the water try grabbing it by the tail and/or lifing it by the midsection.
I have a hook removal tool that is a handle, metal shaft with an “S” shape at the end to grab the hook and release it. It is the best tool for any hook that is not easy to remove by hand.
I lacerated my thumb pretty good a couple of times lipping stripers. Since I am taking immune supressants, it is important that I minimize the chance of cuts/infections.
I use a Boga Grip to control the fish while releasing. Most of the time the fish is never lifted from the water. If I want to lift a fish for a photo, I support it with the other hand. I very rarely use the scale function of the Boga, but have found the gripper to be the best that I have tried.
