Boga Grip Type

[mroyten]

Based on my input on the handling/landing muskies thread I mentioned that I used a Boga Grip type tool to help me unhook the fish. Some guys noted disagreement with this, what's your take? I just got mine exclusively to hold the fish while it is in the net to remove my hands from the equation of getting hooked. I do not plan on pulling the fish out of the water with it as seen in fishing pictures. What triggered me to get one is I've seen some professional muskies guys including Jason Hamernick and Brad Hoppe on Keyes Outdoors use them and I thought that was a great idea.

[Esox_Magnum]

Personaly I can see more harm done by using them than they will help. Just cause a pro or lure maker uses it doesn't mean it's right. IMO I rank the Bogas in with a Cradle, something I have no use for..... If I was to use anything to protect myself while unhooking a fish would be a Lindy Glove, or similar....

[goblueM]

i just read a scholarly article examining the physical effects these things have on muskies, and the conclusion was that at best they left holes in the mouth which didn't impact short-term feeding, and at worst (which was the majority of the time) fish lifted out of the water with them had injured vertebrae

the article said not to use them to lift fish out of the water

[brmuskie]

I think they are a bad idea and see no reason to use one.

[motley man]

They are for fish that are going to be kept. Guides use them to protect their hands from everyday fishing mishaps. Great for walleye and smaller northerns. I would not use them on big fish that are going to be released. Cradle or large net is the best, and keep them in the water until pics and release.

[RK]

Hiya -

I think the best answer is "it depends."

It depends, probably, on how they're used. I know a guide who handles a lot of big fish every season, and he uses one all the time and swears by it.

But... He uses it in a very limited way. He ONLY uses it when a fish is already in the net and he wants to hold the fish's head while it's unhooked. He also has someone else holding the fish's tail most of the time. He keeps the fish horizontal and in the water, and never exerts any force on the Boga at all - it's just a handle.

OTOH, I've seen video and photos of guys using them to pick fish up or to grab a green fish as the only means of grabbing the fish. I think in those cases it's a recipe for disaster if a fish thrashes. On one video you can hear teeth cracking when the guy clamps down on the fish, and then it goes berserk while he hangs on to the boga for dear life. Really beat the fish up.

I've used them in salt water, but really don't see a reason for using them with muskies unless it's as a secondary means of handling the fish once it's already under control. Seems to be it might be a tool that's harder to use right than it is to use wrong unless you're pretty good at handling the things in the first place.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[JRedig]

I have a friend who insisted on using one. He put the wrist strap around, cranked down on the fish, fish thrashed, he let go of the grip. Wrist strap snapped, fish swam off. Found it two weeks later dead, boga firmly attached.

Even after having a few nasty cuts when learning to handle them, i wouldn't spend the coin on a boga.