Boca Grip use...

[Putershark]

I had a interesting E-mail chat with my friend and local radio personality Captain Mel and Ron Taylor of the Florida Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) about Boca Grip use... Now I have heard and read from Ron in the past, about how using such can kill some fish when held up for a quick weight check (Hey I am guilty of such) by breaking the isthmus which is the muscle that connects the lower jaw to the body and they slowly starve to death... More information on that subject can be found here...

http://www.floridamarine.org/features/view_article.asp?id=3907

So I asked about grabbing the fish (mostly Snook in my case) by the top jaw instead? Thinking that would help lower the mortality rate and here is his answer to Mel and myself that I thought you may like to review

----- Original Message -----
To: Capt. Mel
Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 6:57 PM
Subject: Boca Grip use questions.

Now I have not tried this myself, but I was wondering... and something you may want to ask Ron Taylor (The Snook Doctor) "if" it would be better / safer to use a Boca Grip on a Snook's Top Jaw so that the Isumus (think that is spelled correct?) is not broken that way you can still get a weight of a fish?

Now granted it is still being held in a vertical position which is not all that great on their gut track I hear, but here again, they do jump around a lot out of the water and the same laws of physics apply. So I would think that using a Boca Grip in that matter may save a few of the larger females while still allowing the guys to get a quick weight at the same time

Just Wondering?

Dave

----- Original Message -----
From: Capt. Mel Berman
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 5:02 PM
Subject: Re: Boca Grip use questions.


I agree Dave that using a Boga Grip can definitely assist with the catch and release -- IF the fish is supported and held in a horizontal position. There is no doubt that when one hangs a fish -- especially the larger ones -- vertically, we can do great harm to the critter.

Mel

----- Original Message -----
To: Capt. Mel Berman
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 5:13 PM
Subject: Re: Boca Grip use questions.


Hanging one vertically though, is the only fast way to get a accurate weight measurement and would only be for a few seconds. That is why I was wondering IF grabbing them from the "upper jaw" would be less harmful? Maybe Ron Taylor could secure us a scientific answer as to "if" it would do less harm in that manner instead of using the lower jaw as most people do?

Thanks again!
Dave


From: Capt. Mel Berman

Sent: 05 16, 06 5:31 PM

To: Taylor, Ron

Cc: Dave

Subject: Fw: Boca Grip use questions.

Dear Ron:

When you get a chance -- see email thread. Would love your take on those issues.

Thanks,

Mel

From: Ron Taylor

Cc: Dave
Subject: Fw: Boca Grip use questions.

morn mel, i have mixed feeling about boga grips and their use. let's be honest, there has been no research on this implement and the only study comes from australia and barramundi. the researcher captured 50 barra with a net, held them vertically long enough to weigh and measure them and then placed them in a holding pen. within 48 hours all of them had died. their carcasses were taken to a hospital and x-rayed. the films revealed that many vertebrae had separated by as much as 2 millimeters and that the internal connective tissue was damaged. a boga was not used, nor were the barra suspended by the top jaw, but by the lower jaw. so i have no observations on which to base an answer to dave's question. i can ony tell you what seems logical to me.

by holding any large fish vertically leaves the fish vulnerable to injury. certainly by grasping the upper jaw removes the possibility of injuring the isthmus but does nothing to prevent lumbar separation or internal damage. but let me say something here- not every fish that is 'boga-ed' will be suffer injuries. here's the dilemma: having not used a boga in our mortality study back in 1998-2000, we had a 2.13% mortality rate from catch-and-release fishing on snook. if we use 2.13% as a minimum rate, then we have lost about 38% of the total snook harvest in 2004 just from hooking injury. now add the possibility of additional injury caused by a boga and you understand the problem. so it behooves each and every angler to treat each and every fish caught with the utmost care so not to damge the fish. as our population grows and catch and release becomes more popular, we must conserve and preseve as many of our fish as possible. otherwise, our future fisheries are in danger of collapse and not supporting our fantstic hobby of fishing.

now what can be done?? we here at fwri are about to enter into a large 5-yr research program to find some answers to just this problem of catch and release fishing. when this program goes into full swing, we will determine the best practices for proper catch-and-release. will it be 'circle' hooks, larger sizes of hooks, to use lip-hooking devices or not, to hold a fish vertically or not, just how long can a fish be held out of water before it becomes detrimental. we will answer those questions!!! but we will need help from the angling public to fish in our experiments and donate their catch to our study. and this is where you can help us capt mel- to dessiminate the call for assistance. i already have a list of anglers who have volunteered to tag fish, which probably means they will help in other ways. ultimately, it will be the florida anglers that benefit from this research so hopefully they will help us. long answer to a short questioni know, but i thought you should know what we as an agency, have planned as future research. thks mel and go well. rt

So there you have it and you be the best judge... I say that if you are not interested in getting a weight or a few quick pictures, then don't even bring the fish into the boat if at all possible. If you do need to secure a weight, either take tape measurmens and do the math while keeping the fish flat OR you can "try" grabbing them by the top jaw (lesser of the 2 evils) and do it both smoothly and quickly to (hopefully) not kill your prize fish at the same time... Keeping them flat and in the water, still is the best bet so our kids will have something to fight when they grow up

[Genelie]

Thats good info, I personally grab between the gill plates, I hate those tiny teeth, they cut you and you do not realize it untill the next day.

[k9reno]

Dave I just read an article in the June Saltwater sportsman on that topic. Maybe some one can devise a horizontal sling or weigh bag to use with larter fisn as to not fatally injure them.
You can do that right mister marketing...

[cagrove]

Originally Posted by k9reno

Dave I just read an article in the June Saltwater sportsman on that topic. Maybe some one can devise a horizontal sling or weigh bag to use with larter fisn as to not fatally injure them.
You can do that right mister marketing...

Muskie fishermen have had cradles for years...don't see why it wouldn't work on other fishes as well.

[Putershark]

Have seen those myself Chuck on TV, and such is used though much larger in PTTS events http://www.tarponanglersclub.com/ (talk about fishing in a crowd for Boca Grande is a parking lot!) problem is, you can't weight one very quickly that way (for the average guy) and that is where the damage is being done to these larger fish like Snook.

I have also seen and looking into landing nets that have built in scales Only problem I see with such a device (other than Salt Water use), is the fact that the fish may loose some of its slime coat in the process. This pending of course the material that the actual "net" is made from AND finding one that folds up so it is not taking up a lot of deck space when not in use. Having all these features though, looks like a very tall order to fill for so far, I seem to only find one or two such features but not one all in one net...

[LittleCasino]

Good read Dave,

This has been a concern of mine this spring with the striped bass. We use cradles on muskies when we want to get a weight (Frabill makes a cushion coated cradle thats fish friendly)

We have started using the cradle on some of the larger striped bass.

[MolarBoater]

OK, I'll let the cat out of the bag and give up my million dollar idea to you guys.

A landing net with a "Boga" style handle.
Just net, grab the handle close to the net on the grip and hold verticle like a Boga.

Done, no fish harm and same accuracy yet fish gets the posh hammick treatment.

I expect to see this item for sale in the back of FS or SW soon on a 1/8 page ad.

[jergofish]

Molar, you can pretty much do that now if you want. Just hang your net and fish on your digital scale and then weigh just the net. You can get waterproof digital scales from a number of manufacturers you local bait and tackle stores. I have a Berkeley at less than $20 that stores weights, gives total bag weight, etc.

[MolarBoater]

Had a Rapala one but didn't last the first trip. Maybe just a dud but went back to the Rapala 60lb Boga syle.
I only wish it didn't weigh so much, you would have to attach an anchor buoy to the thing to keep it from sinking if you dropped it overboard!

[Putershark]

Just as an update on this subject, Randy and I worked on getting nets in the E-store designed to both measure your fish without stripping off a lot of the slime coat, and if I am not mistaken, the large guide net also has a built in scale in the handle. This so you weigh your prize without grabbing the fish by either jaw