Bass Hooked Through Eye

[JOBU1967]

10 years ago I removed the middle treble hook from all my jerk baits & top water baits because of hooking bass in the eyes.

[I.rar]

Crush your barbs. Its easier on you and the fish.

I crush the barbs on every hook I fish including trebles. Luckily I never hooked a bass in the eye with a hook that didn't have its barb pinched down, but the few that I have, removal was very quick.

[EvanT123]

How would smashing the barbs down minimize damage if the fish is hooked threw the eye?

Seems to me like if the hook is in the eye barb or not the damage is probably done. Then again I'm not a fish eye doctor.

[golfrnut]

I have only one hooked one fish directly through the eye. I have however hooked plenty of fish where the hook has come out the eye socket. Is the fish already blind at that point? Dunno. Through the eye can be a relative term for the eye itself or the immediate area. But, removing or smashing the barb makes a big differerence in ripping the eye back through trying to remove the hook with a barb on it or just sliding it back through without tearing up a bunch of stuff.

[looking4structure]

I've had this happen many times with a snelled straight shanked flipping hook. Mostly on dinks. If the hook won't pop out easy I will pinch the barb to remove it without causing more damage to the fish. Cut it off and retie new flipping hook. I always pinch the barb on the wide hap finesse hooks when im wacky rigging. Those things can be a bear to get out. Everything else i leave the barb.

[BassThumb]

Biggest bass of the season was a one-eyed bass up around 7 lbs.

 

It's a part of fishing, as they've said. Just do you best to treat the bass well in the ways you can control: getting the hook out gently but quickly (quicker than a minute), wet your hands prior to touching it, don't let it touch the carpet or the dirt, hang it off the boat and do a figure-8 so it can get some water through the gills, etc. 

 

Don't beat yourself up over it. Two-thirds of the knuckleheads on the lake would have fried that bass up, eye-hooked or not, so keep that in mind.

[68camaro]

I jus cought Ppickerel and one treble hook hooked eye. i did my best to get it out but he lost left eye. I did get him back in and he swam away but I am sure life expectancy dropped.

This sucked and I was bummed but as others said, its part of fishing. I did my best though to be humane under the circumstances.

[Leonidas]

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