Fish Grips

[rps]

This year I have twice allowed fish to flop hooks into my fingers past the barb. Last year I had to have a doctor remove a spook. See "How was your fishing trip?" in the Table Rock archives. Sunday was the most recent and it hurt to remove the hook.

I will not become better coordinated or quicker or stronger as I hit 60, so I am looking at alternatives. I researched the Boga grip and looked at some alternatives. The Boga is $120! Bless me, that seems like a lot. However, my digits are screaming for relief.

Anyone out there own one, or one of the substitutes? Are they worth that kind of money? Please allow me to learn what you may have learned.

[jdmidwest]

I bought a cheap pair at BPS last year for $14. My buddy laughed at me the first time I tossed them into the yak. It was cold that day and they were handy for taking the bass off and keeping hands dry. I keep them in the boat all of the time now. I wished I had them in Alaska last year landing the big salmon.

The cheap pair gets the job done but they have their limits, more expensive pairs are designed for larger fish. Buy the cheap ones and try them out.

[Fishhand]

Hey RPS, I experienced the hook in the thumb thing a couple of months ago...felt pretty ridiculous sitting in the emergency room with a Rogue in my thumb. It went under my thumb nail, so, there was no way of pushing it through to cut the barb... I immediately purchased a $15 pair of lip grippers from BPS. It doesn't have a scale on it, but, it does the job.

[LostMyWife]

I bought a boca grip a few years ago. I was fishing for catfish on a regular basis and my thumbs looked like raw hamburger.

I bought the smaller pair and paid around $90. It saved my thumbs, but I can't see them being used for smaller fish.

I have to say that I have never used the scale built into the handle.