I recently lipped a fish for the fist time...a small 1 lb bass...It fealt really strange, and a bit scary at first, but getting easier now after a few tries.

Yesterday I caught a 2-3 lb drum fish. Can drum fish be lipped without hurting the fish? How about carp? Catfish? Is there a weight limit where it's just not a good idea to lip fish anymore, or do fish jaws get stronger as the size of the fish increases?

Does a list, or web site exist that shows which N. TX fresh water fish are, and aren't lippable?

one thing for sure,if the bass is caught on a bait with treble hooks be careful.i think we've all been stuck at some time.you can lip drum but they do have a small mouth.carp have a really small mouth i don't know that much about them.catfich bad ideai.they bite down and won't let go.i made the mistake of grapping a 56lb yellow cat by the mouth,tore up the back of my hand pretty good plus i had a hard time getting it to let go....rick

Carp mouths are too slick to lip and I'd pass on lipping gar, they've got a wicked set of teeth.

Like fishtoad said,be careful lipping fish with trebles in their mouths. I bend the barbs off my trebles. It's a lot easier to unhook the fish and much easier (and cheaper) on you when you eventually make a mistake and get hooked yourself.

What is lipping?

i lipped this bas that only had one eye . notice the dark area without an eye , only the socket is there . you can lip bass ,crappie , sand bass , yellow bass . all the others i get by the body usually

Just like HLS said, you can lip bass, crappie, and sunfish if their mouths are large enough...I would never lip a chain pickerel, or catfish...even trout have small teeth... A catfish bit down on my soon and it was about two foot long. I did not know at that time that they had teeth, until he informed me they do. It was painful he said. I had always lipped them before and I guess I was very lucky to not get bitten by one. Since then I have seen catfisherman who have tore up looking hands from "noodling" catfish bare-handed. I do not eat catfish, but have caught them from time to time even when I wasn't targeting them. Yesterday I caught a channel cat on a jig! (the kind under a bobber with a jig head and a plastic bait...like you would use for crappie)

Oh I forgot to say...the CHAIN PICKEREL...have very very sharp teeth...not just nubs...they will turn your hand into hamburger meat if you try to lip them. Also the gar...do not even think about lipping one of them either. I don't know what else has teeth to worry about in freshwater as much as those two varieties in my area. Walleye have teeth, but they are nowhere near where I live.

The toothy critters you handle by grabbing them under their gill plate. Just be careful of their gills. All others can be lipped with no problem. Larger fish can be lipped but extreme care is needed when holding them. You need to cradle the fish with BOTH hands. I know there are several pics on here of guys holding a 10# bass by just the lower jaw. That is not good for the fish. It can actually break the fishes jaw due to the weight of the fish. Should be common sence, but guess not.

You can lip it, but don't Bogart it.

A grinnel (bowfin) is another fish you don't want to even think about lipping. Those suckers have a mouth full of serious teeth.

Be carefull of the gills, especially on catfish they can cut you pretty good too....

Lipping some species of fish is usually pretty safe, but not always. Most of the time fish in the Black Bass and True Bass families such as Largemouth, Smallmouth, Whites, Hybrids, etc, can safetely be lipped. But it's also possible to stretch or damage the tendons in their jaws, making it harder for the fish to effectively feed after you release them.

Of course, if you're keeping, doesn't matter. But normally so long as you don't lip them or hold them up for too long, they should be fine.

Drum do not have mouths as strong as bass, and while you can lip them, you're better off holding them up by the body.

Carp, buffalo, etc, have soft, easily damaged mouths, so the best way to hold those types of fish is by the body, one hand under the pectoral fins, the other under the belly or tail.

Catfish can be lipped, but have very strong jaws.

Gar, etc, you just don't want to lip at all lol. At least not if you like your thumbs.

As my daughter told me one day, "you can only do that twice."

Thanks for all the responses! I'm soaking it all in...

What is the best way to unhook a catfish? Do all catfish have stingers on their side? Also, what is best way to unhook teethy fish, like a gar?

almost forgot: What are trebles? (Re: "be careful lipping fish with trebles in their mouths...")

I've not had to unhook a gar yet. The only two I've caught broke the line since I was crappie fishing.

For catfish, I hold them in the palm of my hand with their pectoral fins just in front of my thumb and index finger, that way they can't stab me with the fins. The wiskers are nothing to worry about. You want to watch out for the bone on the leading edge of their pectoral and dorsal fin. Those will put a big hurt on you! I then use a pair of needlenose pliers to get the hook out of them.

I know there are bigger cats out there that I won't be able to hold like this, but I haven't caught any yet.

With Gar I either step on the tail, no too much pressure, then grab the hook with pliers, Or I grab em around the beak and hold it closed while unhooking. This can still let the teeth get to your palm but not too bad. Small ones you'll feel like you got 20 splinters, and you did. Gloves are a must if you plan to target gar.

HAHA... I'd have to CATCH a gar first...






















hmmm. Might be a good trick to play on my brother... put one in his bed?

Anyways, my suggestions are that if you can see teeth, DON'T LIP IT. that goes for trout, catfish, pike, muskie, pickerel, gar, and sharks.

Also, remember that drum have molars in their throats, so don't stick your hand back there. Whatever you do, don't try to lift a drum from under its gills. Tried to do that once, and it felt like my hand was covered with needles and it took an hour to get my hand out.

Watch out, my dad has operated on people who've gotten barbed so bad by catfish he had to amputate their arm.

You should be careful when handling larger bass, try not to hold then by the lip, like Jimmy Houston. Remember they live in the water with their body weight supported by water. It's hard on the fish to be handled out of the water; you should support their body with your other hand. Remember when landing a fish by hand, the lure is in their mouth, I had to learn the hard way. Pushed the hook in past the barb, had to recruit help to pull it out.