Angler’s Mail – July 09, 2019

32 | 9 JULY anglersmail.com

Dr IAN WELCH

The well-travelled freshwater biologist and top angler brings

you his fascinating weekly insight into the secret lives of fi sh.

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Q

I see photos of people

holding large fi sh

while wearing rubber-palmed

builder’s gloves. Won’t

these damage scales and

membranes?

John-Paul Robertson,

Birmingham.

A

Fish handling is an

essential skill that all

anglers need to perfect, and

it’s not just about how we hold

them. It’s also important not

to forget that air is an alien

environment for fi sh, and we

must always take all possible

steps to minimise the time that

they spend out of water. In this

respect, gloves may sometimes

help.

Fish possess several diverse

mechanisms to defend

themselves against diseases.

The scales, or thickened skin in

the case of scaleless species,

are covered with a layer of

epidermal mucus, providing

a physical barrier to the

attachment of ectoparasites

and external pathogens. The

mucus also helps to prevent

secondary infections on areas

of physical damage.

Secreted by specialised

goblet cells beneath the skin,

mucus contains antibacterial

enzymes, proteins and

water, known collectively as

mucins. By being produced

continuously and sloughed

off regularly, it helps prevents

the attachment of parasites

and colonisation by potentially

infectious microbes. It also

contains numerous immune

defences, which provide

broad-based anti-microbial

actions. Remove it, and the fi sh

is susceptible to infection.

To protect the mucus layer,

fi sh should always be held

with wet hands. Cloths of

any description, which you

sometimes see used, should

never be employed, but gloves

may have a part to play with

the safe unhooking and release

of certain species, in certain

circumstances.

‘Chinning‘ of exceptionally

large catfi sh is one good

example of how a gloved hand

can safely protect the fi sh,

and the angler. It allows the

fi sh to be gripped safely for

unhooking, manoeuvring onto a

mat in a boat, or into a suitable

net, while protecting the captor

from the ‘pads’ of tiny teeth

that can cause serious skin

abrasion. It is essentially the

same as a mechanical ‘lip grip’,

the fi sh-holding technique

commonly used by lure anglers

in the USA.

The lip-grip technique

was originally developed for

catch-and-release among boat

anglers. A gloved hand could

steady a hooked fi sh at the side

of the craft, enabling the angler

to put down their rod and

use the free hand to unhook

and release the fi sh quickly,

but a mechanical variant was

developed to cope with species

with seriously sharp dentistry.

For European catfi sh, a glove or

two is all that is required.

Aside from chinning a big

catfi sh, helping to safely catch

and release a big lure-caught

fi sh without removing it from

the water, or perhaps gripping

a leader above a marlin or

sailfi sh, there really is no role

for heavy-duty gloves in any

aspect of fi sh handling.

Lightweight rubber or

surgical gloves, when wet,

may cause minimal damage

to the mucus layer, but even

they remove the ‘feel’ that is

required when holding a fi sh,

and may indeed increase the

chance of dropping fi sh, as they

will increase the ‘bar of soap’

effect, a not very scientifi c

description of the fi sh-holding

dilemma that we have all faced.

Handle with care

Gloves are recommended

for ‘chinning’ big catfi sh.

Cloths and towels

should never

be used when

handling fi sh.

 To protect

the mucus

layer, fish

should always

be held with

wet hands. 

.

.

.