Quote:

It is easy to tell if the fish is ready to be landed.  If the fish is not ready, it will take off when you touch it.  My largest northerns were 44 and 41.  My wife and son both have 42 inch northerns to their credit.  My largest one I'll never know as we lost it trying to land it with a lip grabber.

:question about the Lip Grabber episode. I know/have used both ways and haven't had any problems with the Lip Grabber.
But the biggest NP I ever caught by "accident" was around 38".

My question is whether the Lip Grabber failed to secure the fish, or as you say, it wasn't ready to be handled?

I thought the idea of Lip Grabbers was to limit the chances of damaging the fish by grabbing in the gill area, perhaps incorrectly or it would struggle and hurt it/yourself in the process?

Anyone know if there is any data on fish mortality rates based on say netting/ Fish Lippers or using your hands only?