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What do fish have in common with airplanes? They both have to be landed carefully. While that might not be a good joke, it is true at least. But once you have your fish in nice and close, you have the option to pull it onto your boat or the shore with a few different kinds of motions. In a lot of ways, the way you land your fish has as much to do with the positioning of your hands as it does with anything else. Keep in mind that if you are going to eat your fish, you can be as brutal as you feel like being with it. But if you are going to release it, gentleness is not optional.
For instance, if you are landing a bass, you can slip your thumb and index finger into its mouth (taking care to avoid the hook, of course), and grip the beast by its lower jaw. This will actually paralyze the fish for a short time, as well as giving you a solid handle for taking it into your loving embrace. You can also pick up your fish by grabbing it by the eyes, rather like you would do in a bar brawl if you weren’t likely to win otherwise.
If you would prefer not to use your hands, you have the option of either using a gaffe (which is a rounded spear that can be used for picking it up like a bail of hay) or a net (which is infinitely kinder). In those kinds of cases, you just lead the fish where you want it to go with your line, and let it swim right into your net, or use your gaffe.
