When landing a fish I was taught to never grab the line...takes away the advantage of letting the rod keep tension on a fish should it jump, dive, tailwalk at the boat etc.

This was reinforced to me by several "pro type" anglers over the years.

What do I see on tv today? Rick Clunn sets the rod down when a big fish is close and grabs the line.

What gives?

Less distance between hands to lip the fish.

I think the pros these days are very good with keeping their lines fresh and knots retied.

It�s risk/reward. The quicker you can land a bigger fish (say +5lbs) the better. If that means, handling the line right at the boat due to an uncooperative closed mouth fish or a lip full of trebles; I�d say go for it; especially if you are quickly able to cradle the fish or grab behind the head.

I try not to because if the hook pops out it runs up the path of the line right into my hand.

Dan, as one of the pros who taught you not to do that - I�ve changed my stance. Sometimes I do it.

Best of luck,
Pro

I saw the same thing with Denny Brauer - in his teaching show it was never grab the line, tournament day he grabbed the line so he could get closer to lip the bass. Like any advice it depends on the circumstances and the experience of the person. Not grabbing the line and using a net is likely the best way to land a fish but your circumstances may dictate a different method or decision at the time.

I lost the biggest bass I ever had on by holding the line .I had her up to the boat line in 1 hand and reaching for her mouth .She slaped side ways and snapped the 20# and just drifted out of site .I bet they heard me scream all the way to town .LOL

Just boat flip em all and you won't have to worry about that

Whatever it takes to get them in the boat.

May have to do with quality of line today vs 30 years ago. With 20lb fluro I never give the line breaking a thought. So yea I grab the line.

You could be right Chet. The way it was explained to me was not about the line breaking but the hook pulling out and you wouldn't want to grab it by hand because you eliminate the give the the rod is providing you.

I know this is all total minutiae. I net any big fish Im lucky enough to stick. It was curious to me to see Rick Clunn just hand lining that fish in basically. It was a big one.

That�s a good way to get a hand full of trebles. To big to boat flip use a net.
J D

I try not to grab the line but sometimes I still do. I try not to with light line.

They do build this cool accessory called a landing net. As a guy who made a visit to the ER to have a treble removed from a knuckle, I�ll even net the little ones if they have trebles hanging out of their mouth.

Come on Champion1. Tell us what happens when someone grabs the line when you have on your pb smallmouth?