jaximus wrote on Apr 27^th, 2011 at 8:15pm:

i use pretty light tackle and tend to fight the fish longer than most people. although this might wear out fish a bit, what is the point of fishing if you are just going to winch them in with heavy line? the most exciting part of the fish catching experience is fighting a fish. why do you think largemouth bass are the top game fish? they fight really well! with that said, i never ever ever boat a green fish. its dangerous for me and dangerous for the fish. because i only boat fish after a bit of a fight, i go gloveless and grab them with my bare hands. i grab right at the back of the gill plates where there is a bit of hollow area before the meaty part of the back starts. i grab bass by the lip. barehanded makes me feel manly. and what is better than a roughed up thumb because youve been catching fish all day? nothing i can think of. occasionally you will lose a fish with this method (i lost a walleye in the 30-35" range due to a slippage of grip), but thats life and you move on.

I enjoy light tackle fishing as much as anyone else, but I also believe in using appropriate tackle for the fish you're after. Several years ago I landed a 44" northern on 8# test while casting for smallies, but I would have felt much more confident if I'd hooked em' on my pike rig. This was especially true while he was thrashing around behind the canoe while being blown across the bay by heavy winds. Another situation would be lakers in warmer water where the stress of a long fight on light tackle could lead to death.
I've landed hundreds of fish by hand and don't mind a "roughed up thumb" from lipping bass, but I can't say the same for a deep slice from a walleyes gill plate. You know the kind....just when they start to heal they split open again and never heal until you get home.
And personally, I hate losing big fish! I would consider it more "manly" to land a 10lb.+ walleye like the one noted above than losing it because of "slippage".  :)  That's just me.