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Landing fish

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FLY-FISHING FOR PIKE  by Paul Le Gall, translated by Claude BELLOIR

8 - FISHING ACTION : Landing and releasing fish

 To my mind, fishing as a sporting practice cannot tolerate landing a pike, including a big one, in any other way than by hand. It can be easily done with a little learning and some getting used to. 

With fish of average size, i.e. below 10lbs and 80cm, grabbing one by hand doesn't present particular problems. One must simply resort to what American anglers call the 'snake grab'. The angler's free hand, used as pincers, with the thumb on one side and the other fingers on the other, simply grabs the fish between head and body just behind the gills but not in them, to avoid injuring the fish and himself. If he wants to lift the pike, they act as a buffer and stop the hand from slipping. 

One must be careful to tighten only there and avoid squeezing the belly of the pike and damaging vital organs. Handling the fish in this way is as foolproof as pressing one's fingers into the eyes - an old-fashioned practice whose merits are still unfortunately vaunted among live bait anglers. Such behaviour is all the harder to kill as hardly ten years ago, was published the picture of a well-known fisherman holding a pike of about 10Ibs in this way and presenting it to the photographer's camera. 

With fish of more than 80cm, the angler may resort to beaching as well as grasping it in the above manner; though opportunities for beaching pike seldom occur.

With a big or even a very big pike, several other ways are suitable to put it in the boat or to unhook it while keeping it in the water, and then put it back safely. 

To land a very big fish, the angler must raise its head above the water, slide his hand not as before nearest the head, but under the nearest gill flaps. Between them is a fleshy lump between the lower jaw and the belly, a kind of double chin. With the forefinger and middle finger used as a kind of hook, slipped on either side of this fleshy part, palm of the hand facing upward, the pike can be lifted clear of the water. This method doesn't injure the gills or the jaw. At worst, and if he doesn't wear gloves, the angler will graze his fingers. 

By lifting it steadily, the fish can be put safely in the boat without any injury caused by the float of an inflatable dinghy or even the gunwale of a boat, provided one takes care to choose the landing spot and to cover it with some kind of plastic sheet. 

The classic landing-net doesn't seem necessary or recommended. It's much more likely to damage the gills or fins than grasping the fish. What's more, it should be of such a large size that it would get cumbersome in the boat.

The gaff can't be contemplated to land a pike, as it would be out of the question to put it back. However a long telescopic gaff maybe used when the bank forbids beaching or grabbing the fish to unhook it. In such a case, one must stick the hook of the gaff in the middle of the lower jaw, lift it, unhook it and put it back by the same method. All of this can be done without the fish losing one single drop of blood. As for me, I've given up taking this cumbersome tool even when fishing from the bank. 

Wearing gloves is not a luxury to fish for pike. They must be real gloves, not mittens, as it is precisely the fingertips that need protecting. Golf gloves are the most suitable as they are strong in spite of their thinness and can be bought singly, for the left or the right hand according to the angler's needs. They prevent the angler's fingertips being singed or gashed  by the line as it is pulled by a big lake trout for instance. Such a mishap happened to me twice for neglecting to put on gloves. Each time, the pain made me drop the rod. Luckily it fell in the boat, not at the bottom of the water. Gloves also of course avoid getting injured or causing injuries to the fish being landed and unhooked.

To unhook a fish, its jaws must be opened, which doesn't require any special tool. A spring retractor is ill-advised as some of them may injure the fish. One must simply hold the fish where the two gill flaps meet, as we've seen, and pull the wrist gently. The mouth will open wide and give free access to the lure. If the whole lure is inside the mouth, it's better to get to it not through the mouth but through the gills. The above method moves the jaws apart and makes them open wide quite naturally, as if by reflex.

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