Fish Grips and Dehookers (2026)

A lip grip and a dehooker both keep your hands away from teeth, gill plates and hooks. For a fish you plan to let go, they work best together with the handling rules below: support the fish, keep it wet, and get the hook out fast.

How we chose: we did not test these tools; materials and features come from the Amazon listings, and each was sold by Amazon.com or the brand's own store and in stock on September 29, 2026.

Six grips and dehookers side by side

Prices are Amazon's, as of the time shown, and subject to change. Details

How to handle a fish you will release

NOAA Fisheries' catch-and-release best practices are short and specific: "Handle the fish as little as possible and only with wet hands," keep air exposure under 60 seconds if you must lift it out, and "support the weight of any fish removed from the water along the length of its body." It also says: "Never suspend a fish by its lip or mouth."

That last line is the one lip-grip owners need. A grip controls the head; it is not a hook to hang a fish from.

Florida's wildlife agency gives the two-handed version. The FWC's fish handling page says "fish swim horizontally! Never hold a fish by its jaw, gills or eyes," and for a fish with teeth, "use a gripping tool to support the front of the fish, and use the other hand under the belly to evenly support the fish's weight."

FWC also says large fish such as tarpon "should not be boated or dragged over the gunwale," and that tarpon over 40 in should always stay in the water.

Dehookers: the tool that shortens the release

NOAA lists "release tools such as a dehooker" because they "minimize handling and make it easier to release fish without removing it from the water." FWC says the same: dehooking tools let anglers "quickly release their catch while minimizing injuries and handling time."

The two here work differently. The Booms R08 is a stainless shaft with a dual-curve tip that slides down the line to the hook; Booms says it handles "push & pull hook removal," including deep hooks. The Berkley hook remover has spring-loaded jaws on a trigger, so it grabs the hook shank and your hand stays back.

In Florida, a dehooker is also a rule. FWC's reef fish gear rules require a dehooking device on board when fishing for reef fish such as grouper and snapper, and count needle-nose pliers as one. Our fishing pliers guide covers those.

If a swallowed hook will not come out easily, NOAA's advice is to "cut the line as close to the hook as possible."

Key point: a reef fish pulled up from deep water may need more than a dehooker. Barotrauma is what descending devices and the DESCEND Act address; the Gulf and South Atlantic have their own rules for carrying one.

Lip grips: steel, plastic, and the scale question

Stainless steel grips, like the Berkley Big Game, are the heavy-duty option. Berkley lists a "corrosion resistant stainless steel body" and "positive locking jaw action" that holds the fish until you let go.

Plastic grips cannot rust. Booms makes its G05 from 70% nylon and 30% glass fiber and rates it to a 110 lb load, with toothed jaws and a mouth opener. The Rapala 9 in floats, which matters on a kayak, where anything dropped is gone.

Built-in scales are where grips and release advice collide. KastKing's Paradox weighs up to 32 lb, accurate to ±0.4 lb, per the listing, but it reads the weight by hanging the fish from its jaw. That is exactly what NOAA says never to do with a fish you release. Use the scale on fish headed for the cooler.

Tools we left out

The Boga Grip, the original locking grip with a built-in scale, was on Amazon only from resellers (AvidMax and Gear Hub USA), not Amazon.com or a Boga store. We found no AFW Hook-Out or Ketch dehookers on Amazon. KastKing's and Booms' larger kits bundle a grip with pliers and scissors; we kept to single tools.

We found no CPSC recall of fish grips or dehookers in our recall tracker.

Related: saltwater fillet knives for fish you keep.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it OK to lift a fish by a lip grip for a photo?

Not by the grip alone. NOAA says never to suspend a fish by its lip or mouth, and FWC says a fish "should not be held out of the water for long periods of time just for the purpose of taking a picture." Hold it horizontally with a hand under the belly.

Do I need a dehooker, or are pliers enough?

For Florida's reef fish rule, pliers are enough: FWC counts needle-nose pliers as a dehooking device. A long dehooker like the Booms R08 reaches deep hooks that pliers cannot without lifting the fish.

Which way should I release the fish?

Head first. FWC says releasing a fish head first into the water forces water through the mouth and over the gills.

---

SaltProofLab is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Handling advice is quoted from NOAA Fisheries and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.