Landing pike

[IceBrit]

What's the kindest way to land through the ice?  I assume grabbing by the gill cover?  But what about a large pike in a small hole?  Would I don any damage to the pike if i put thick leather gloves on and grab it by the jaw  (let it bite down on my hands and hold top and bottom jaw?)

I assume those jaw pincers are damaging to the fish???

[Daniel]

I would say that grabing the gill cover, if you can, is the easiest to yourself.  The jaw would be fine but a big fish might cut your gloves and your hands.  My best advice is invest in a 10 inch auger and you will never have a problem again.  Good luck!

[NYFishFinder]

The regs book say not to lift a big fish by the gills,  it damages the spine and seperates the ligaments which will eventually kill the fish.  The reccomended way is to realease the fish in the hole if possible.  But with a big fish in a small hole that is hard to do, especially with a lot of ice.  I would say ease the fish to through the hole and lay it on the ice,  then for handling purposes put one hand in the gill plate and one under the belly. There is also no need to gaff a pike unless your are going to keep it.  Once you get a pikes head in the hole he isn't gonna go in reverse and get outta dodge.

[beergut]

yep. they cant swim backwards. leave em in the hole. then push em out

[lethalconnection]

yep. they cant swim backwards. leave em in the hole. then push em out

They cant go backwards cause water isnt meant to go through the gills backwards so shoving them backwards through a hole isnt good on them its also hard to push them back down when there is 30" of ice or more.

Ive had the experience of catching a fish too big for the hole(due to edge of hole freezing over) best thing to do first off is have two people and the person pulliin the fish in pulls just its head out of the water so the other person can grab it under its gill plate and as others have stated when lifting the fish out of the hole as soon as half the body is out of the hole support some more of its weight by puttin your other hand under its belly so not to put strain on the spine and gills. Also if you get the fish up to the top of the hole and lets say its head is stickin out and its starts to roll just pin the fishs head against the side of the hole with your boot(dont push hard just enough so it knows your there) and it will stop spinning and it will actually open its mouth therefore making grabing under the gill plate easier

[hardh2ofish]

Get their noses pointed in the hole the right way and jerk the heck out of em 

[pikeking]

How about if you are fishing where you know there are big fish, bigger than your auger! Say you have a 6" auger... What's stopping you from drilling 3 holes in a triangle so you have more room? I always have a small Eskimo spud bar with me so I can open the holes back up to original size. I also have a 10" auger. Just my thought...