Question about gloves?

[Rob909]

With proper fish handling techniques always being a hot topic, I was wondering what is the proper thing to do when you are wearing gloves?

Wouldn't this be like handling a fish with a rag? I'm not sure.

I ask because I just bought a pair of Windstopper gloves to keep my hands warm in the cooler months. But it never really dawned on me about handling the fish with the gloves on. Or is it a non-issue if the glove is wet? I don't know. I've never worn gloves while fishing before.

Looking for help.


Rob

[RichardCullip]

Great question. I'm interesting in hearing what other folks do and get a glimpse of their reasoning.

I almost always have gloves on when fishing. I use a thin Lycra sun glove in warm weather (preventing skin cancer) and a Cloudveil two-trigger finger glove in cold weather (keeping hands warm). I make sure my gloves are wet when handling fish and pray that I'm not doing long term damage to the fish. I do try to minimize the handling of fish but some touching is usually required during the landing and release process, especially when photos are involved or the fish needs to be revived before release.

[RubiKinda]

The handling of fish is always a hot topic. I personally prefer the neoprene lined wool fingerless gloves by Kenai in the cold weather. They allow me to wet the wool before handling a fish I want to photo (haven't caught one in a while) and I usually carry 3-4 pairs so I can switch to dry gloves when my hands are cold. I did get a great tip from a guide in Arkansas who let me use a pair of neoprene long length gloves in sub-zero temps. He sticks a disposable pocket warmer between the glove and your wrist which pretty much kept the blood going to the fingers warm and enabling me to still feel them. the extra bulk didn't hamper my casting as much as not being able to use a bare hand for line control. He also uses a foot warmer taped to the back of the knees to keep the feet warm and it really did work. I also want to hear more personal info on this subject.

[rayfound]

Great question. I'm interesting in hearing what other folks do and get a glimpse of their reasoning.

I almost always have gloves on when fishing. I use a thin Lycra sun glove in warm weather (preventing skin cancer) and a Cloudveil two-trigger finger glove in cold weather (keeping hands warm). I make sure my gloves are wet when handling fish and pray that I'm not doing long term damage to the fish. I do try to minimize the handling of fish but some touching is usually required during the landing and release process, especially when photos are involved or the fish needs to be revived before release.

Just an FYI for all interested, the Sun-gloves are $15 a pair clearance at ski and sport..

[Sasha]

The gloves I have are fleece on the back of the hands and fingers but are rubber on the palms and fronts of the fingers. I don't feel bad about picking up a fish for a quick shot with these gloves as the preferred C&R nets are made from rubber as well. I too take more than one pair of gloves as I often forget I have them on and plunge my hand in the water

[midger]

First off, I hate wearing gloves when I fish. I do on occasion find it so cold that I have to wear them, like when steelhead fishing in the dead of winter, etc. I wear the 3/4 finger wool gloves then, but don't handle fish wearing them as the dry wool would undoubtedly take the slime off the fish and if you were to get them wet in order to handle the fish, they wouldn't keep your hands warm any longer. I don't handle the fish with these types of gloves. Rather, I net them and unhook them using hemostats, and release them.

I've heard the neoprene gloves can be worn and your hands dunked in the water and they stay dry. Makes sense to me, but I don't know how your line feel would be wearing them. I imagine this type glove wouldn't hurt the fish as much as cloth/wool gloves if you prewet them, so if I wanted to lessen the impact on the fish I had to hold, I'd opt for these. I don't hold the fish when it's that cold though, so don't see myself wearing them.

Good luck in your quest.

[Bernard]

I don't know the perfect answer and have instead developed the habit of removing my gloves upon hookup. I have frayed ends on the open fingers of my fleece gloves from grabbing them with my teeth to remove them before handling a fish. This is part to protect the fish and part to keep the gloves dry as I wet my hands. Sounds bass-ackwards but I think we all have our own quirky habits. I do know that fleece gloves can be wrung out or dried surprisingly quickly in the event they get wet. I also wear gloves almost all the time while fishing as a form of protection when rock hopping, grabbing trees, fighting through brush etc.

B

[Papasequoia]

I use fingerless fleece/windstopper gloves and try to remove the hook with the fish in the water. But, like Mike I rarely wear them and just deal with the cold and circulation by wearing more layers on my body and head. When I do wear them though, I find myself netting more fish so that I can hold the fish in the net while removing the hook, assuming that the net will be better next to the fish than my glove. Jon

[Chris Kuhn]

I wear the Simms fingerless gloves. You can get them wet and they still keep your hands warm. I also only wear them when fishing for Steelies and only come in contact with a small portion of the fish. I've never given it that much thought, but it doesn't seem like I am removing that much of the slime.

[Benny]

Rob, I have the Simms Fingerless Windstoppers as well, but have only worn them a like twice. It just never gets cold enough to wear them for me

I do think gloves will remove the protective slime, just as your hand would, but more so with the gloves. I'm guilty of having held a fish (sorry fish) in the water with the gloves and they do ring out very nicely after being submerged. Even though the gloves are wet, they still keep your hands quite warm

Another thing that helps is my waders have hand warmers and I think that helps big time when it's cold out, so there is really no need for me to wear gloves, unless it's like super cold and my snot starts to drip, then the gloves can serve another purpose yeah, I know, that's sick, but I just care..... I need to wipe my snot

Wearing gloves shouldn't be a big deal, I guess it's just a matter of taking them off before handling a fish so no one will have a hissy fit....

[anacrime]

for what it's worth, i would never wear gloves. fabric nets are bad too (though i do use one, but always wet it first and never lift the fish out of the water with it).

there are two fair ways to test to see if your gloves are removing slime from the fish:

1. the fish is easier to handle with your wet gloves than with your wet bare hands

2. your gloves smell afterward