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I just wanted to drop you a line in reference to your Fish Gripper (I
am not sure what you call it). I have had the opportunity to try it and
I have to say I am impressed. It addresses several issues that all Bass
club members and tournament fisherman face when it comes to lipping a
Bass.
Every person who fishes on a regular basis has had close encounters with
a fish, a treble hook, and fleshy parts of the human body. In my case
I still remember the horror when I caught a three-pound Bass on a Rat-L-Trap.
As I reached for the Bass, it flopped and the front treble hook imbedded
in the back of my hand between the knuckles. The pain was so bad my arm
went numb and it gave me a huge headache. Your product all but eliminates
this problem. I am no longer worried about grabbing a fish when I use
your Fish Gripper.
The second thing that is great especially for a tournament is that I
don't worry about the fish flopping out of my grip and dropping it back
into the lake. Once the gripper has a hold on the fish I can carry it
to the back of my boat and drop it into the live well.
A third plus is that the Gripper floats. I have seen on TV and in person
fishermen who spent big bucks for a device that is similar in function
to yours. One slip and it fell into the water and there goes $50.
This brings up the fourth plus. Your price is cheap enough that every
fisherman should have one.
If I had to rate this gripper on a scale of 1 to 10 I would have to give
it a 10.
Thanks much,
Kevin B. Kinnee
Livingston, TX
The fish grip was a great tool to use on the calico bass I caught over
the weekend. Calico have really sharp teeth, and thrash more violently
than their freshwater counter parts. It was nice to come home without my
hands being shredded. The grip made it 100% safer when removing the three
treble hooks used on the hard baits we were fishing and seemed to keep the
fish from struggling once the grip was locked.
Thanks for the extra product, two of the grips will be part of the winning
prize package at this weekend's S.W.B.A
finale. I gave one of them to one of the tournament directors, and
now Jack Sowell (a true West Coast fishing legend) has a fish grip of his
own. I kept the white one for myself, and will be using the last
grip to do a product review on my website.
Here's a link with some photos and a report from my fishing
adventure on Sunday.
Thanks again and speak some time in the future.
Justin
www.radiosilencefishing.com
Saltyshores.com
The Fish Gripper
Dale Snead
Back on July 17, Sammy reported on some new products at ICAST.
One of the products that caught my eye was "The Fish Gripper".
http://nortonbrassrattler.com/index.html
In a subsequent report on July 25, Sammy gave a brief review of that
product. Shortly after that I was on our friend Hank's boat and saw it in
use also my fishing buddy Del got one and was using it in a video Sammy
did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnMFWNSM6Ro
That did it for me. I was the last kid on my block to get one.
I HAD to get one!
Usually I fish out of a yak and most of the time I am in the water.
As a result, lightweight is very important to me.
I have been a fan of the Boga
grip for a few years and I still am but it is a good bit heavier and
bulkier than "The Fish Gripper".
The dimensions of "The Fish Gripper" is
1/2 inch wide
10 inches long
it has a opening gap of 2 inches (fully opened) and there is a distance of
5 1/2 inches from the lip opening to where your hand is.
It weighs only 5 ounces (it floats)
It comes in 5 colors (the white one I have glows in the dark)
I got my "Fish Gripper" about a month ago and am very
pleased with it. It opens and closes like a vice grip. I have not
experienced any premature unlocking as it closes securely. When you are
ready to release the fish, a simple outward push on the lever does the
trick. The use of it is quite simple - you simply insert the lip into the
fish's mouth and lock The Fish Gripper. The angle you use to insert
it is not at all cumbersome and boy does it hold! A couple of weeks
ago I has a 30 inch or so red that I used this on and it worked like a
charm. Because the lip closes flat and in 1/2 a inch width it does no
damage to the fish's mouth. This is also true with the more tender mouth
of a trout. Sometimes (being metal and having a smaller lip) a Boga
can do damage to a mouth so tender. It also holds up to the less than
tender mouth of a small shark. When using this on a larger fish the
lanyard could be used to hold the fish after The Fish Gripper has been
locked. This way the lanyard would be used as a pivot and the torque would
not be passed on to the body of the gripper from an active
larger fish. It would be suitable on a tarpon or other offshore fish.
Tests using weight well in excell of 150 pounds did not compromise the
Gripper.
One final attribute is, being the excellent catfish fisherman I am, I was
very pleased for the 5 1/2 inches of plastic keeping my knuckles away from
those #@^^ ^ catfish barbs.
Another use for it is in actually grabbing the hooks on a lure (such as
Del does in the video previously mentioned) or even a circle or J-hook
and getting a frisky fish off without having to tough it or without having
to risk a hook being thrown into your hand or finger.
The components are simply plastic and stainless pins at the 4 pivot
points. A wrist lanyard is attached and there is a slot to attach a scale
if for some reason you would need to weigh the fish. The design is quite
simple but the genius of it is it's simplicity and lightweight.
They are available at many local tackle shops (I got mine at Dogfish
Tackle) and through Cabela's or
the company's website.
I still have my Boga
and on occasion I will still use it. But this little tool reminds me of
the "Little Train That Could". Time will tell just how durable
it is but for $15 it is an excellent buy
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