How to minimize gut (deep) hooks? Lure type; hook set timing

[haggard]

Fished a bed today (which I rarely do) and deep hooked a smallie with a 5-inch plastic paddle tail worm. Knew I wasn't getting it out so reached in with long-reach cutters and cut the hook (actual hook, not just the line) as deep as I could. Barbless hook. Fish swam back down but I can't help thinking it may not survive and feel awful about it, like I just killed a generation of bass, as this (presumably) male can no longer guard the bed.

 

I know it happens, but it really put a damper on the rest of the day, ended up putting the rods away and just slow motored around the edge of the lake looking at people's camps. Couldn't get into fishing much.

 

So... what are the best ways to prevent gut hooks? Am I waiting too long to set the hook? I wasn't sure if I had a bite or not; maybe waited too long to set the hook. If I switch from mono to braid am I more likely to detect the bite and set the hook sooner, getting them in the lip as opposed to giving them time to inhale it into the gut? Are some lures less prone to gut hooks than others? 

 

[soflabasser]

Not waiting too long to set the hook is probably your best bet to not gut hook a bass with soft plastics ( especially a senko) and even then you will probably gut hook a bass every once in a a while.

[Ksam1234]

They do make some hooks that help that called circle

hooks.  Also what sofla said , waiting to long to set the hook can cause them to be gut hooked. Try keeping your fingers on the line to detect any subtle bite a fish might do

[greentrout]

 

Won't eliminate entirely but will significantly...will need to sharpen some of them...most hook ups near the corner of the bass' mouth... good fishing...

[NHBull]

Learn to go through the gills to roll the hook out.  There are many YouTube videos on the subject, and once learned, it is easy

[geo g]

You bring up two good points that will help that from happening.  Set the hook when you feel a solid bite, and use floro for plastics.  It is much more sensitive then mono, it sinks, with far less stretch.

 

I feel the same way when I break off a hook in a fish.  I hate that!  Bass are far more resilient then most people think.  I have caught fish with hooks from other fisherman left in them.  They aggressively went after mine with a hook in their throat.  I once broke off a fish and caught the same fish an hour later with my hook and my Fluke still stuck in its mouth.  It was also willing to eat again.  I have caught a bass with half the gill plate on one side detached, and it was doing well.  They live in a tough environment, and have to be tough to survive.  They are supreme predators!

 

 

Like NHBULL said, review the videos available for removing deep hooks.  Much better then leaving hooks in the fish.

[BuzzHudson19c]

Even the best gut hook em sometimes when running soft plastics. If it's a huge concern start using more hard baits with trebles.

[Gundog]

Best advice, keep the line tight between the rod and lure and you should be able to feel any bites. That is the key to setting the hook at the right time. 

[Hyrule Bass]

everyones going to gut hook a bass on occasion every now and then. learn this method in the link below to remove them and you dont even have to leave a piece of cut off hook in a bass. and dont feel bad about it, bass arent the little fairies many people seem to make them out to be...

 

 

[JustJames]

15 hours ago, NHBull said:

Learn to go through the gills to roll the hook out.  There are many YouTube videos on the subject, and once learned, it is easy

I caught a bass with gutted hook the other day. This fish fight very hard and jumped all the way until I lipped him. Now the hook inside his gutted might be 3 - 4/0 worm hook and might be there for awhile. I tried to roll the hook out with no available. So I guess it 50/50.  

[All about da bass]

Yes waiting to long will sometimes cause you to gut hook a bass. When they short strike though, you have to let them take it longer. When it comes to bed fishing, what you need is a good pair of shades and you need to wait til that bass picks up that bait completely and then set the hook. With bedding bass, you shouldn't have any issues with a bass swallowing a bait, when they are on the bed they aren't hungry, they are protecting their bed. They don't eat the bait, they are just moving it out of their bed. They aren't gonna inhale it like they would when they are feeding, it's just gonna be a subtle little tap and that's when you see your line moving, perfect time to set the hook.

 Hope this helps good luck next time.

[haggard]

20 hours ago, soflabasser said:

Not waiting too long to set the hook is probably your best bet to not gut hook a bass with soft plastics ( especially a senko) and even then you will probably gut hook a bass every once in a a while.

Why are soft plastics more likely to get gut hooked (and why is a senko even more so)? Just easier to swallow?

 

I can see how a dual treble lure may be less likely, as there are so many hooks it's more likely to get snagged on the way down.

 

What about hard baits with single hooks?

 

What about jig (swim, arkie, etc.) with a skirt and trailer - where does that fall in terms of gut hooks?

 

[Angry John]

Point blank it's going to happen.  It happens most often with worms and baits at rest on slack line.  Any fish I would feel bad about has a mouth big enough to use the hook turning method.  If it is to much to handle fish swim baits over 4 Oz and it's never an issue.

[FishDewd]

We've all been there... I'm yet to gut hook a bass (I did gill hook one very badly once though) but I have gut hooked more than a few catfish. Catfish are different though, sometimes you really cannot prevent it cause they nail it so aggressively and just inhale faster than human reaction time can allow a proper set. But I applaud your passion and concern for the fish, lot of people don't have that when fishing. "Eh it's just a fish...." Maybe. But it's still a living creature.

 

Circle hook might solve the problems or might not. I've gut hooked fish with circle hooks before when I was quick on the set, mostly when using floats as floats require a little different timing and hook set than bottom or suspension fishing. However, I switched to double action circle hooks from team catfish while catfishing and have not gut hooked one since! So there's that at least... lol. Still. It's gonna happen, and yeah it puts a damper on the day. But don't let it dictate how your whole trip is going to go. The fish will probably live unless it bled out really badly or something. Just take a breath and keep fishing... it'll be all right. Spoken from my own experiences.

[soflabasser]

5 hours ago, haggard said:

Why are soft plastics more likely to get gut hooked (and why is a senko even more so)? Just easier to swallow?

 

I can see how a dual treble lure may be less likely, as there are so many hooks it's more likely to get snagged on the way down.

 

What about hard baits with single hooks?

 

What about jig (swim, arkie, etc.) with a skirt and trailer - where does that fall in terms of gut hooks?

 

Because soft plastics are soft and bass tend to hold longer on soft lures with a single hook compared to hard bodied lures with treble hooks. There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing bass filled with soft plastics that fishermen lose. These soft plastics in the bass digestive system can cause problems with digesting food and the bass can end up very thin or even die from malnutrition. That's one of the reasons why I rarely fish with senkos anymore and instead focus more on hard  bodied lures and swimbaits which seem to gut hook less fish than senkos and similar lures. Even live bait fishing seems to gut hook less fish for me than senkos which goes to show you that fishing with soft plastics isn't as bass friendly as many would think.

[bhoff]

I am in a similar situation right now in the waters I fish nearby. The fish are bedding and instead of taking the bait down they like to bite/nibble it and then spit the bait out immediately. I figured it's because they are just trying to protect the nest, but it makes it incredibly difficult and annoying to hook a fish properly. I can't just set the hook per normal as soon as I feel the fish bite down, by then the bait will be out of their mouth. I've basically just resorted to letting the fish take the bait for a couple of seconds, but not too long. Too long and you are almost guaranteeing yourself a gut hook. I guess what I'm getting at here is that you just need to figure out the bass' behavior and adapt to it.

[Hyrule Bass]

21 hours ago, JustJames said:

I caught a bass with gutted hook the other day. This fish fight very hard and jumped all the way until I lipped him. Now the hook inside his gutted might be 3 - 4/0 worm hook and might be there for awhile. I tried to roll the hook out with no available. So I guess it 50/50.  

it has worked 100% of the time for me, granted sometimes it was a lot tougher than others, but it worked

[EGbassing]

On 5/20/2018 at 8:09 PM, haggard said:

Fished a bed today (which I rarely do) and deep hooked a smallie with a 5-inch plastic paddle tail worm. Knew I wasn't getting it out so reached in with long-reach cutters and cut the hook (actual hook, not just the line) as deep as I could. Barbless hook. Fish swam back down but I can't help thinking it may not survive and feel awful about it, like I just killed a generation of bass, as this (presumably) male can no longer guard the bed.

 

I know it happens, but it really put a damper on the rest of the day, ended up putting the rods away and just slow motored around the edge of the lake looking at people's camps. Couldn't get into fishing much.

 

So... what are the best ways to prevent gut hooks? Am I waiting too long to set the hook? I wasn't sure if I had a bite or not; maybe waited too long to set the hook. If I switch from mono to braid am I more likely to detect the bite and set the hook sooner, getting them in the lip as opposed to giving them time to inhale it into the gut? Are some lures less prone to gut hooks than others? 

 

Spinnerbaits, in my opinion, deep hook them very rarely, and usually aren't hard to get out if they do. I set the hook hard about .5 - 1 seconds after I feel the tick when fishing a plastic worm. Also, if you can afford braid, definitely buy it. It's more expensive than mono, but has twice the sensitivity and you don't have to worry about breaking off. Good luck!

[Bluebasser86]

On 5/21/2018 at 11:13 AM, Hyrule Bass said:

everyones going to gut hook a bass on occasion every now and then. learn this method in the link below to remove them and you dont even have to leave a piece of cut off hook in a bass. and dont feel bad about it, bass arent the little fairies many people seem to make them out to be...

 

 

This 100%. I will remove the hook every time. With a little practice and some careful plier work, a gut hooked fish is easily freed and has a much better chance than it does with a hook in it's throat. I removed probably a 1/2oz tube head from the throat of a fish that someone had left in a fish on Monday. The hook came out super easy and barely had any rust on it, who knows how long that fish would have had to live with it, or how long it would have taken it to starve with it. I'd rather remove the hook and have them die on my right then so I can give them to someone to eat than let them slowly starve because they can't eat anything. 

[haggard]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I'll be ready to try the gill method next time.

 

[EGbassing]

On 5/23/2018 at 8:25 AM, haggard said:

Thanks everyone for the responses. I'll be ready to try the gill method next time.

 

I gut hooked one today and finally gave up on getting it out through the mouth. First try with the gill method and it popped out. Make sure you're going through the right part of the gills or it can damage them though.

[Hyrule Bass]

16 hours ago, EGbassing said:

I gut hooked one today and finally gave up on getting it out through the mouth. First try with the gill method and it popped out. Make sure you're going through the right part of the gills or it can damage them though.

the thing is, when you see a gut hooked fish, why even bother trying to get it out through the mouth? immediately go to the through the gills method. why waste time?

 

while gills may bleed a ton if a hook pierces them, theyre not otherwise as fragile as people think. not that you shouldnt be careful, but sometimes people tend to severely overrate the fragility of bass, mostly because its their targeted species...

[EGbassing]

1 hour ago, Hyrule Bass said:

the thing is, when you see a gut hooked fish, why even bother trying to get it out through the mouth? immediately go to the through the gills method. why waste time?

 

while gills may bleed a ton if a hook pierces them, theyre not otherwise as fragile as people think. not that you shouldnt be careful, but sometimes people tend to severely overrate the fragility of bass, mostly because its their targeted species...

Yeah. I'd never tried the gill method, and the way it was hooked, it just looked like it would pop out so easily so I didn't try it right away. Probably will next time.

[haggard]

Shallow gut hooked a smallie today and had the chance to try the through-the-gill method. It worked, and the fish swam away with 100% hook removal. Thank you, forum. Made my day.

 

 

[geo g]

First know how to get hooks out of gut hooked bass.

 

Then set quicker if you have had a problem.

 

Be à line watcher for the slightest change in line movement.

 

This should help eliminate the problem.