Who's casting stones?

For the record, kings 15# or less (my call) were typically released by grabbing the leader and using a dehooker stick. Larger fish were typically coralled into a knotless soft-mesh C&R bag to shorten the battle and facilitate expeditious hook extraction. Total handling time typically 10 seconds or less, a little longer for the few photo-ops of the day.

Probably a combined 200-plus years of fish handling experience on the boat that day. The kings did just fine thanks.