8 Fish with Teeth You Don’t Want to Lip

Many fish we catch in North America are no problem to lip with our hand but here are eight terrible fish with teeth you need to find an alternative method to land.
On many occasions, I’ve gotten distracted while fighting a fish, and when I finally had my quarry close enough to land, I quickly reached down and grabbed it by the lip to bring it in the boat. If it’s a largemouth I’m landing, or a big crappie or striper, that’s not a problem. When fishing in some waters, however, the creature that gets grabbed may grab back. And if it’s one of the toothy terrors listed here, it could leave you with wounds that need stitching, or worse.
1. Payara
2. Alligator Gar
3. Bowfin
4. Esox
5. Lingcod 6. Bluefish 7. Black Piranha
8. Wolf Fish
Brazil’s giant trahira, or wolf fish, looks like something that should be chasing Sigourney Weaver around a spaceship. This little-known fish weighs up to 50 pounds and has chompers that look like they could bite through nails. Think “nuclear walleye” and you’ll have a good picture.

When hooked, this evil-looking primitive does a tarpon-on-steroids impersonation, jumping repeatedly. You’ll need heavy tackle to drag it out of the snag-filled jungle backwaters it typically inhabits, but chances are, even that won’t survive a brutal battle with one of these raging bulls.

Don’t hold a trahira near any body part you want to keep. They’ve been known to rip chunks of flesh from nitwits wading barefoot in shorts.