I whiffed on which fish gripper I used and threw away.  I had looked at 2 of them, and remembered the wrong one.     Might have been easier to remember what I used if I hadn't thrown it out as fast as I possibly could.

So, my apologies to the fine folks at Rapala, I have no idea whether their product is any good or not, but it sounds as if others have had good results with it.

Berkley should have been the object of my displeasure with this waste of raw materials (Pocket Lip Grip):

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My reasoning behind the purchase was that if a $9.99 plastic gripper could handle some nice fish, this one should do at least as well.

Nice theory, but it didn't hold up (literally).

Sorry for any confusion.   

Ancient discussion I know, but I thought I'd share another landing option that works very well. It's called a "Fish Handler Glove" and it's made by Lindy. Not sure what the material is made of, but it's extremely effective for grabbing all species of fish........even slippery lakers. The only drawback is with large fish that you can't grab behind the head, however, those fish they can still be "tailed" quite easily. They also protect your hands from dorsel fins and sharp gill plates and work exceptionally well when catching & releasing numbers of walleye. They cost about $20 and we use them to land 90% of the fish we catch. My partner and I each carry a large, left hand glove at all times as it eliminates having to toss a lip gripping tool (or net) back and forth in the canoe. Won't leave home without it.

Granted, slightly awkward, but I can honestly say we've never lost a fish boatside as a result of sliding on the glove. The newer version has a velcro tab and is slightly more constricted around the wrist, but the original version can actually be slipped on while it's laying on the bottom of the canoe. Even with the new model, while holding the rod with your right hand, we use the left hand to position the glove between the right hand thumb and the rod butt, then simply slip the left hand in.  Keep in mind, most fish are somewhat wore down at boatside. Besides, I don't like boating any fish that's still "green" as they're more prone to getting injured.....especially in a net. Considering you have one of these gloves I'd highly encourage you to give it a try this year. I also take a Boga that we occasionally use to land and/or weigh large lakers & pike, but almost all walleye, pike and lakers are landed with the glove. Smallies are typically lipped. I think the best attribute is that you don't have to manuever the fish boatside to get a shot at an open mouth for the lip gripper. If you can touch it, you got it.

There is a little something to be said for fighting fish with heavier line and that is you get to feel how strong they are. You can actually put a little weight on them and can feel the power. I like doing that with carp and I also like having a 50+ lb amberjack on with 80lb mono. Serious fun once you get past the bruising part.

The largest walleye I have ever hooked hit around noon in 15ft of water in the St. Clair river and clobbered a grandma musky lure. At least 12lbs it bounced off a salt water gaff twice before coming unglued. That is some tough scales as this was a serious gaff. I wished I'd had a net. Probably better it got off...........the meat would likely of been as tough as well. What a fish.

Once in a while a fish comes along where your hand is not going to span the distance across the back and under the gills. Or maybe you just barely get a grip and he thrashes free. I'm pretty much sold on the boga. I had actually thought to use the glove in conjunction with the boga. I'm thinking one of the biggest threats to my trip is a tore up hand. Fish day after day and hour after hour and sooner or later there is likely to be a close call especially with so many northerns around. Wear a big plug one time and you get a little careful.

mastertangler wrote on Apr 27^th, 2011 at 8:44pm:

lucky for my i was blessed with some monster hands. i could palm a basketball in 5th grade. this spring i grabbed a 44.5 inch muskie bare handed. i dont think i will come across something bigger than that because i only fish freshwater.