Smallmouth hook cutter

[FryDog62]

Is there a really good hook cutter for getting gut hooked removed from a smallmouth... not going in thru the gills, I do that too, but when it's really down partially into the stomach and the gill approach doesn't work.  I've used some other hook cutters before but sometimes a smallies jaw is small enough you can't get in there far enough to grab the hook.   Thanks --

[TnRiver46]

I've always been told you do more harm than good trying to get that out of there. If I can't get the hook out I just bite the line and let him keep it. They can pass a hook

[Spankey]

You need a quality brand of side cutters. The fish will fare better if you don't do anything if you can't do it properly. Hook will rot and dissolve on its own. 

[patred]

If you want overkill, try Knipex mini bolt cutters.  They slice hooks like butter.

 

Pat

[Dwight Hottle]

3 minutes ago, patred said:

If you want overkill, try Knipex mini bolt cutters.  They slice hooks like butter.

 

Pat

 

They are not overkill when you are hooked & a flopping bass is going crazy while hooked to you. Just ask my buddy John. 

[Turkey sandwich]

I'm a big fan of selective harvest if the fish is badly hurt and legal size.  I don't keep many, but typically when I do, it's because the fish isn't likely to survive.  Or if they look like a walleye.  I have this terrible tendency of mistaking walleye for badly hooked smallmouth.

[OkobojiEagle]

This is one of those "ounce of prevention" deals, barbless hooks are much easier to remove from game fish you intend to release.

 

 

oe

[Crestliner2008]

It became amazing to me to find out that my fish landing ratio did NOT go down when employing barbless hooks. So now, I crush the barb down on them all, including trebles, with no regrets. And, if it does happen that you get a hook in you, it will come out a lot faster being barbless, than trying to find that pair of wire cutters - that you know you have - but just can't seem to find right then. An "ounce of prevention" kind of thing.

[fishwizzard]

I also fish barbless a lot of the time when going after smallmouths.  My most frequent spots are good for numbers, not size.  So I use a lighter rod and pinch my barbs down.  With how fast the run and change direction, and how high and often they jump, having to keep line pressure 100% of the time really makes landing all the 9-13" fish a lot more enjoyable.  

[OkobojiEagle]

8 hours ago, Bunnielab said:

keep line pressure 100% of the time really makes landing all the 9-13" fish a lot more enjoyable.  

 

I find landing the smaller smallmouth barbless to be more challenging than bringing a larger specimen to hand.

 

 

oe

[fishwizzard]

5 hours ago, OkobojiEagle said:

 

I find landing the smaller smallmouth barbless to be more challenging than bringing a larger specimen to hand.

 

 

oe

 

Well, I sadly have little experience with larger smallies, but the smaller ones do kick up quite a fuss.  The same river has a great population of very large redbreast sunfish and they will hit most finesse lures.  They don't move as quickly as the bass, but they pull like a truck and seem to always run right at me and try to escape down river.   

[offsidewing]

Barbless here.  I take my Gammy and Owner hooks and mash the barb with pliers when I tie it on. zero affect on landing fish because I took the extra 30 minutes over the winter to read how to properly set hooks. 

[scaleface]

On 1/17/2017 at 0:53 AM, Turkey sandwich said:

I'm a big fan of selected harvest if the fish is badly hurt and legal size.  I don't keep many, but typically when I do, it's because the fish isn't likely to survive.  Or if they look like a walleye.  I have this terrible tendency of mistaking badly hooked smallmouth for walleye. 

Me too .I kept a six lb bass last year because she  wasnt going to make it . 

[Turkey sandwich]

Most of the fish that I end up taking because of injury tend to be in the smaller 12-15" bracket.  For whatever reasons, it just seems like the smaller fish are the ones most prone to getting mangled. 

 

I can't tell you the last time I kept anything over 20".

[FryDog62]

I spent a week in a gin-clear, very deep Canadian lake where there were no walleye... our guides made shore lunch every day.  We were to keep enough smallies for lunch, and only in the 12-13 inch range.  They were excellent!!  Hard to tell the difference from a walleye.  As hard as that is for me to admit because I don't like to see them harvested in general.  The guides said to not keep anything over 13 inches and someone did bring one in around 15" and it actually was a little darker meat and noticeably fishy tasting.

 

So I'm still not a fan of eating smallmouth - unless they are the occasional short kind ...

[Neil McCauley]

In terms of prevention...not sure hook barbs are even the issue with this. How'd the smallie partially swallow your hook/lure in the first place? Might be something you're doing.. Can't say I can remember the last time I ever had a SMB swallow a hook. It can happen with plastics or live bait, but neither of those hooks are worth messing with trying to cut. Only times I commonly see hardbaits and other lures (esp inline spinners) hooked deep it's with Perch or Pike.

[jbw252]

Yup --->>> Knipex mini bolt cutters.