Still the Benchmark, the BogaGrip Fish Landing, Handling and Weighing Tool

Total Score: 8.50 - EDITORS CHOICE!

Introduction: This review has been a long time coming, there are a lot of fish landing tools out there but there is one that is employed by more guides than any other, and that is original BogaGrip. Used to land and weigh so many of the current world records this tool can be found on the boats the world over, ranging from offshore party boats to shallow water skiffs deep in the Amazon. 

The BogaGrip is available in three sizes (260 shown) to handle everything from offshore species to trout

Impressions: I knew I had to have a fish landing tool on my boat the very first time I got stabbed by the rakers of a Striper in the Delta when trying to unhook a ripbait. It was in a similar situation that Gary Alldredge and Charlie Camp came up with the idea of the BogaGrip. When fishing for Stripers they saw the need for a tool that would effectively hold fish while keeping their hands away from sharp gills or fins. The idea was to not only protect fishermen but the fish as well, as it reduced the time out of water by making it easy to release fish and also kept them off the ground.

The BogaGrip is constructed in the US out of all domestic components

Though they had an idea in mind the final concept didn’t materialize until one day when Charlie was looking at a toy with a tong on it. The initial design incorporated a spring as a shock absorber to help protect fish. Later a swivel was added to address torque issues and finally a scale was integrated to create the tool that the company filed for patent on August 16^th, 1990 and was issued the patent (#5119585) on June 9^th, 1992. Eastaboga tackle was officially in business.

The original drawings from the US Patent application, notice the original design of the scale was different

The scale design has changed over time and as you can see from the original patent documents the scale has now been incorporated into the main handle grip versus through the barrel of the grip, the result is a tool that is easier to hold and doesn’t require any change of hand positions to accurately weigh your catch.

The original conceptualized design of the BogaGrip "Fish Handling Tool"

Today the BogaGrip is still manufactured right here in the USA out of all domestic materials. All of the metal parts of the BogaGrip are made of 300 series stainless steel with the exception of the scale spring which is 17-7PH stainless steel. The plastic components are made from “acetal,” a thermoplastic that is traditionally employed in non-lubricated bearing applications and is very resistant to UV light.

In the lab we inspect and measure the different versions

The two smaller versions retail for $119 dollars while the significantly larger big game Model 260 retails for around $240 dollars.

The 260 is much larger than the 130 version