I've always just grabbed fish by hand, sometimes with a glove. I too was intrigued by the Boga - until, like O_S, I saw the prices. Man, they sure are proud of that thing!

My other thoughts are:

1. Nylon nets are not good for fish, the rubber nets are somewhat better, but are still harmful (InFisherman did a study on this sometime back).

2. Only bass (small & large) have the jaw structure to allow them to be grabbed and handled by the lower jaw. No other fish besides bass should be handled by the lower lip. So if you do use a lip gripper, it's not going to be good for the fish to pick them up out of the water with it. Trout, pike, walleye and others should be supported under the midsection. I would think that using it to stabilize them, while in the water, would be okay though.

Ranger