Jaw spreader (Modification tip)

[Alan]

Well, I have used my jaw spreader about 10 times. And all 10 times, it proved to be very valuable. But with the bare ends that go into the fishes mouth, it just don't seem humane to hold open a fishes mouth with those raw, sharp tips. So, I had an idea, that seems to work pretty well, and I think some of you might think so as well.

I took two of those pink pencil eraser tips (The pointy kind) that you can slip on the top of a pencil, and hot glue from a hot glue gun. Scuffed up the tips of the jaw spreader to give it some grip, then filled the eraser tips with hot glue, and pushed each of them over the tips of the jaw spreader while the glue was still hot and held with pressure until cool. I then cut the very tips off the erasers so they were not so pointy.

Now, when I put this in a fishes mouth, no damage is done and I feel better about using it on the fish.

I used some hockey tape at first, but after that gets wet, it just unravels and really gets in the way. With the erasers, they are rubber, and are fine when they get wet, and so far, they seem to be pretty durable.

Just thought I would pass some useful information on to those that might be able to use it.

[Scott M]

Sounds good. Thanks for the tip. I've often felt bad about ripping up a pike or overextending a jaw, but I figure it's me or him. If they are in too bad of shape I pickel them.

[nofishfisherman]

Not a bad idea.

Normal spreaders can go right through the roof of a fishes mouth so anything you can do to lessen the damage to a fish is a great idea.

[Sonicrunch]

Yeah, why are they made like that anyway?

[Alan]

Quote:

---

Yeah, why are they made like that anyway?

---

Cheaper I would guess. At the expense of the poor fish!

[Tman2]

It seems odd that you'd be worried about the jaw spreader when you just rammed this sharp object through the side of it's mouth.

[Sonicrunch]

Quote:

---

It seems odd that you'd be worried about the jaw spreader when you just rammed this sharp object through the side of it's mouth.

---

Good point, but my concern was the size of the hole.

[Skeets]

Thanks for the tip!

[Down Deep]

Now this is a great tip and I will give it a try. Not only will this minimize damage to the fish, but I've run the sharp edge into the palm of my hand a couple of times when trying to open the spreaders with one hand. This modification should keep that from happening.

Thanks......Someone is always thinking.