Tonight I discovered my greatest fear.

[Glaucus]

A buddy and I went night fishing with crankbaits tonight. As we're preparing, I went to grab my pliers out of my fishing backpack only to discover that I had left them at home.  The feeling of dread and doom and fear washed over me as the images of smallmouth with crankbaits in their lips flashed through my mind like Vietnam War flashbacks. 

 

And, of course,  a smallmouth had to eat the crankbait so hard that it lodged in the back of its throat. That was... Fun. 

[Derek1]

Yeah that sucks. Big things happen when I forget the scale to. 

[bigbill]

I carry a pliers in every tacklebox and a longer one in my scent box.

[haggard]

Always have backups. There's no worse feeling than feeling you're empty handed and as a result harmed or killed a fish. It happens though and you're not alone. Best thing you can do is 1) hope that fish will be good for something higher up the food chain, and 2) you'll use this experience to bring the tools (and backups) next time. Last weekend I deep hooked a smallie and despite eventually removing the hook and all, I don't think it survived. It sucked and I still hate myself for it. Tough lesson but an effective one.

 

[looking45]

My pliers stay in the boat and I have another pair in my non boater bag. Once I start moving things back and forth, they are going to get misplaced or forgotten

[FishDewd]

If I was gonna run crankbaits and discovered I didn't have pliers... I'd be cutting the crankbait off and tying something non-treble on! I don't ever lip a bass or grab a treble hook bare handed. Nope. Seen too many people get stabbed that way.

[scaleface]

I have pliers and fish grips in a tackle bag and a Leatherman on my belt . I forget one I have two back-ups .

[Glaucus]

15 minutes ago, FishDewd said:

If I was gonna run crankbaits and discovered I didn't have pliers... I'd be cutting the crankbait off and tying something non-treble on! I don't ever lip a bass or grab a treble hook bare handed. Nope. Seen too many people get stabbed that way.

I would make a better ad campaign than Kaepernick.  Just do it baby. 

[TnRiver46]

I’ve been known to make caveman pliers out of sticks 

[Brew City Bass]

I've gotten so paranoid about stuff like this that I have doubles, even triples of certain tools in my boat. I've got 3 pairs of pliers in the boat. One pair in the rod locker, one pair in the back cargo compartment and a pair in the tool box. 

I've got probably 4-5 pairs of scissors hidden about the boat. 2 pairs of Boga grips to deal with pike. 2 scales, and 2 sets of wire cutters to cut hooks. 

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve been known to make caveman pliers out of sticks 

I've done the same many times. A single stick can be used to dislodge a hook by pushing on the bend of the hook, or you can find a thin, green limb and bend it in half to use them as hook pullers. It works pretty well in a pinch. 

[FishDewd]

3 hours ago, Glaucus said:

I would make a better ad campaign than Kaepernick.  Just do it baby. 

For the record, I meant I don't lip them with a treble in their mouth. Or any fish wtih a treble in their mouth for that matter! I've been mildly stabbed from thrashing more than a few times, never past the barb, but enough times to learn my lesson.

[Gundog]

3 hours ago, FishDewd said:

For the record, I meant I don't lip them with a treble in their mouth. Or any fish wtih a treble in their mouth for that matter! I've been mildly stabbed from thrashing more than a few times, never past the barb, but enough times to learn my lesson.

Been stabbed a few times myself, trying to play pro fisherman. Just took 3 or 4 times and I was leart real good. If I forget the pliers, I forget the trebles.

[Choporoz]

Spare forceps, and snips are important...but, also, my treble baits all get stowed when I turn on my yak light

[NYWayfarer]

I have a pair of needlenose pliers and forceps in my tackle bag and I carry a Buck multi-tool with pliers.

 

What I seem to forget is fish grippers...

[TOXIC]

I'm a lipper, no net and when I'm throwing cranks I just pay attention to how the bait is positioned when I bring them in.  70% of the time I can get a crank out without pliers but I always have them nearby.  And yes, I have been stuck but never deep enough to employ the string method.....now watch....... I just jinxed myself......

[Glaucus]

33 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

I'm a lipper, no net and when I'm throwing cranks I just pay attention to how the bait is positioned when I bring them in.  70% of the time I can get a crank out without pliers but I always have them nearby.  And yes, I have been stuck but never deep enough to employ the string method.....now watch....... I just jinxed myself......

Last year I had a Whopper Plopper get me in the hand and wrist with a 3 pound largemouth on the other end who thought he was a 6 pound smallmouth. Imagine that thing going crazy with the hooks in you with nothing supporting it but the hooks in your body. Miraculously didn't go barb deep though. 

 

Apparently I still haven't learned.

[DogBone_384]

... never leave home without a knife, gun, multi-tool, or combination of the three ....

[Sam]

18 hours ago, bigbill said:

I carry a pliers in every tacklebox and a longer one in my scent box.

X2

[FishDewd]

On 9/5/2018 at 9:53 PM, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve been known to make caveman pliers out of sticks 

And how often has that actually worked? Cause most of my hook sticks have required some force to dislodge. Sticks ain't gonna do it.

[JustJames]

Another reason I don't fish a lot of treble hooks lure, especially at night. I have converted some of my top water lures to single inline hook just for this very reason. I'm not just talking about pliers but fish grip as well if I don't have both I don't wanna fish with treble hooks. Most of the time I don't need pliers but with small hooks, pliers is a must.

[TnRiver46]

6 hours ago, FishDewd said:

And how often has that actually worked? Cause most of my hook sticks have required some force to dislodge. Sticks ain't gonna do it.

When it’s all you’ve got, it can work 

[Pro Logcatcher]

I used to just use my fingers when getting cranks out. After getting a hook completely through my finger, I started bringing pliers ?

[islandbass]

I actually coined a phrase for that scenario.  "A mouthful of trebles." I've also been in a similar case, but it wasn't down down. I had to pick a 5.5lb - 6.0lb give or take bass with a mouthful of trebles with my arm and hand out extending underneath a two-rail dock fence that was far enough that I had to practically to a best guess stab with my arm and hand sight unseen to grab and lip the bass.

 

It was a nerve-wracking, make-a-man-out-of-you experience. It was well worth it. I call her big mama.

 

 

 

[FishDewd]

15 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

When it’s all you’ve got, it can work 

Fair enough! Not sure I could pull that off though lol.