"Get the net!" are the three most exciting words in fishing. Your partner's supposed to immediately throw down his rod, dive for the net, and scoop up your fish as soon as it gets within reach. And you should do the same for him.

But what if, this time, you've entered a tournament with a no-nets rule? Or you somehow forgot your own net? Suddenly you have to find another way to get that lunker in the boat.

Pros fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series face this situation every time they're on the water, since BASS prohibits landing nets at the tour level. Brent Chapman's one of those pros, and what follows are his tips for turning hookups into limits, instead of disappointments.

Chapman used to be a two-tour pro, but 2 years ago, he had to change gears from one tour to the other. He left the FLW Tour, where landing nets – manned by the co-angler partner – are routinely used, and stuck with BASS, where nets aren't allowed.

"It's a big transition when you go from FLW to BASS," he said. "There's a whole other level of competition to (hand-landing). There's a lot of skill involved in playing a fish close to the boat."

Getting 'Em Inside

So if you don't have the help of a net, what's the best way to get the fish from the lake to the livewell? While many pros think swinging the fish into the boat gives them the best chance of landing it, Chapman isn't so sure.

"I've swung 5- and 6-pounders into the boat before," he said. "And I've hand-landed 2-pounders. It depends on several things, and you can lose some either way. If they're barely hooked they'll just peel off when you lift them.

"What you need is a lot of practice. Use your tournament practice time or other time on the water to practice swinging fish or landing by hand. You have to be able to read that fish close to the boat, and judge how he's acting and be able to see if he's hooked well or not.

"Then if it looks like he's hooked well, use his momentum as he comes up toward the boat to (lift him and) swing him in," he added. "Sometimes if he jumps toward you when he's close to the boat, you can pull him over and into the boat."

In general, though, he thinks he'll lose more fish through swinging than hand-landing.

Also notable is that he'll dip right into the fish's mouth, whether he's fishing a treble-hook lure or not.

"I'll lip-land them, grabbing the lower jaw, if I can," he said. "But the big thing there is, while getting a hook in you is horrible, with $100,000 or more on the line, I'll take that risk. Since I know how to use a string to pull it out, it doesn't scare me as much."

Line strength also plays a role in his decision on whether to swing a fish or not. For instance, it would be rather risky to swing fish on 10-pound or lighter line.

Additionally, like many other pros, he rarely tries to swing a fish that's hooked on a crankbait or other treble-hook lure. And if he hooks a smallmouth on a treble-lure, he'll belly-land it.

To belly-land, he first ensures the fish is sufficiently tired, then brings it to boatside, scoops his free hand underneath the fish's belly, and quickly lifts it into the boat. "For some reason they just relax for a moment," he noted.

"But other times I've just grabbed them any way I can – in the mouth, the gills, wherever."

Notable

> At the recent Champlain Bassmaster Elite Series, Tommy Biffle threw frogs over milfoil beds. When he hooked a bass, he'd drag it through the thick slop to get a huge wad of grass over its eyes, so it would quit thrashing. He felt that decreased the odds of the fish shaking loose. "I was really pulling them," he said. "I was intentionally getting it built up around them so they didn't flop or jump around."

> BassFan recently published a tip with Rick Clunn that explained how he wears down and lands smallmouths hooked on crankbaits. To read it, click here.