Westwood, if a person is solo and has to do the landing himself the best way then is to grab over the neck and under the gill plate, lower the rod, grab the jaw spreader and lock open the jaw, then use a long nose pliers to remove the lure. 

You should do this in the water next to the boat.  After the spreader is removed you can then hoist it for a measurement (although that's tough to do one handed).

I've heard of people notching their paddles or gunnels to measure fish with.  I'm just curious because I'm often solo and want to do everthing possible for the fish to survive. Years ago while solo I had a 40 inch fish go belly up after releasing and it was not a good feeling.