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About fish handling.
Fish are at the same time very robust and delicate. I've pulled some bass in that have just been ripped open by something, but still manage to thrive. And other times, I've seen them dead and Upon further inspection the only damage I can find on them is fungus where their slime coat has been wiped off. Consider their slime like our skin, it protects us. You probably wouldn't survive long without your skin, would you? So just remember three main things. Don't drop it on the ground. Don't touch it with dry hands. And don't hang it by its lip. Don't drop it on the ground is an obvious one, you can do major harm to the fish and it's slime that way. Try your best to wet your hands before handling fish, you do much much less harm to a fishes slime with wet hands than with dry. And in my opinion you end up smelling better, just because you don't end up with all that slime on your hands. And finally don't hang a fish by its lip. On small fish it matters less, but with a large bass when you tourqe it's mouth open and hang it's full weight on it, you are running the risk of dislocating it's jaw and killing it. And also never hold a fish up vertically. Fish live in a horizontal fashion, and such their organs are oriented that way. They are also supported by the water around them. When you hang the fish vertically, especially long fish, all their organs can shift, and this is obviously bad. A few points, if you are trophy fishing for very large that you have to set on the ground, a yoga mat soaked in water is a great way to protect the fish from harm. Attach pool noodles for lively fish. Also, make it a habit. From carp to trophy muskie, use proper fish handling and eventually it will become second nature. I used to never use it, and it pains me to think all the fish I have needlessly killed. Now, I instinctively just do all these things.
Let me know if I missed anything, or said anything wrong. If you guys think it's right I'll add it to the wiki.
