When a fish really takes a hook deep...

[Marc Hufnagel]

Had my first fish basically swallow a 4/0 hook tonight.  A 3.3 ounce lmb. 
 

All I could see was the upper half.  Dinger pushed up to the eye.   
 

What do you do if it’s below keeper size or you catch and release only and this happens?    I felt really bad  my surgeon skill with a needlenose left it bleeding out. I did get the hook out.   

[islandbass]

You have to let it go IMHO. Yes it’s sad, it hurts and none of us like it when it happens. The one thought that helps me somewhat is that if the bass doesn’t survive, it would become food for other animals. It still sucks however. 

[TnRiver46]

A lot of times they live on with the hook in them and in some cases pass it . If you’ve got them hooked deep in the goozle, sometimes it’s better to cut the line than to get the hook out. Being underwater the hook will rust away 

[Team9nine]

Cut the line and try to remove any plastic you can, or cut part of the hook off if you carry small wire cutters with you as pictured in another recent post. The damage has already been done, but you won’t make it worse, and at least some fish will survive just fine.

[Marc Hufnagel]

Thanks, I'll keep this advice and ideas in mind.   I hope it doesn't happen too much.   My daughter just kept watching it floating in the water a few feet out, hoping it would move.  it didn't     I tried to explain that it will be food for other animals so it's dying wasn't a complete loss.    She vowed to never fish again after seeing it.  I think she will get over it though.   She loves all animals.

[Heartland]

7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

A lot of times they live on with the hook in them and in some cases pass it . If you’ve got them hooked deep in the goozle, sometimes it’s better to cut the line than to get the hook out. Being underwater the hook will rust away 

So I have a lease on an old sand pit, it is stocked with bass between the 2.5 and 6.0 range.  There are at my best guess about 15 of us that share is this lease.   I have caught actively feeding  bass with EWG hooks in the gullet many times, it appears that at least in some cases to not harm them to cut the line and leave the hook.    The thing is when I see these fish, many times the hooks will easily dislodge and come free of the fish, the odd thing is they never and I mean never look rusted.   So does it take a very long time before the corrosive effects of water on nickel, brass or whatever materials are used in standard hooks to begin to corrode or are the fish I mention only recently released with a hook in their gullet?   I believe the prior because of the ease the hooks dislodge themselves.

[TnRiver46]

14 minutes ago, Heartland said:

So I have a lease on an old sand pit, it is stocked with bass between the 2.5 and 6.0 range.  There are at my best guess about 15 of us that share is this lease.   I have caught actively feeding  bass with EWG hooks in the gullet many times, it appears that at least in some cases to not harm them to cut the line and leave the hook.    The thing is when I see these fish, many times the hooks will easily dislodge and come free of the fish, the odd thing is they never and I mean never look rusted.   So does it take a very long time before the corrosive effects of water on nickel, brass or whatever materials are used in standard hooks to begin to corrode or are the fish I mention only recently released with a hook in their gullet?   I believe the prior because of the ease the hooks dislodge themselves.

I don’t know exactly how long but they rust in my wet tackle box in 1.5-2 days 

[Heartland]

6 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t know exactly how long but they rust in my wet tackle box in 1.5-2 days 

Sure,  but surface rust and rusting away are two very different standards, take a little WD-40 and the rust will many times come off a hook that has surface rust.

[Bluebasser86]

Learn this technique. I never leave a hook in a fish's throat.

 

[schplurg]

Are there any studies or even anecdotal evidence that a fish can pass a hook, or that a hook will dissolve inside a fish? I doubt it would rust away but maybe the stomach fluids or acids could help break it down. And I don't see how an intact 4/0 hook is going to pass through a fish.

 

I'd like to believe in all of this but I want to know if it's just wishful thinking. My guess is that it is but I don't know.

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, schplurg said:

Are there any studies or even anecdotal evidence that a fish can pass a hook, or that a hook will dissolve inside a fish? I doubt it would rust away but maybe the stomach fluids or acids could help break it down. And I don't see how an intact 4/0 hook is going to pass through a fish.

 

I'd like to believe in all of this but I want to know if it's just wishful thinking. My guess is that it is but I don't know.

I have my doubts about this as well. I've found hooks that a fish has managed to mostly pass, hanging out their backside, but they're still stuck and these instances are rare. I've found many more still lodged in their throats with very little signs of wear or dissolving.

 

The way I look at it, if I was a fish, I'd prefer the option of potentially bleeding to death over the long, drawn out process of starving to death because my throat was pinned shut and I was unable to feed properly. With the technique I posted, It's uncommon to a fish to bleed much at all and the hook typically comes out of the soft tissue very easily.

[schplurg]

I've never left a hook in a fish, not yet, only fishing 3 years maybe. I don't know if they survived but that's what I'm going to do until I learn otherwise. I think if there's one that I absolutely can't remove then I will finally find out what LMB taste like.

 

I had a crankbait's tail hook lodge into the gills once. It didn't stick into it until I tried to remove it, I think. Finally reached in through the gills and slid it back into the fish with my fingers, then pulled it out through the mouth.

 

I think most of the damage was from me not doing it right, but now that I've done it I won't make that mistake again. It swam away fine but I dunno.

 

Interesting that you found hooks mostly passed though. I wonder if it tears 'em up inside.

[Team9nine]

Several fairly recent studies done on this topic in a variety of freshwater fish. Short answer: Cut the line. Those fish that survive, which is more than those that you try and remove the deep hooks from, end up dislodging the hook/lure a majority of the time (>70% in one study; nearly 100% in another), and feeding resumes to normal within a week or two...and don’t expect most of today’s hooks to rust away or dissolve in any expedient manner.

[BassNJake]

13 hours ago, schplurg said:

Are there any studies or even anecdotal evidence that a fish can pass a hook, or that a hook will dissolve inside a fish? I doubt it would rust away but maybe the stomach fluids or acids could help break it down. And I don't see how an intact 4/0 hook is going to pass through a fish.

 

I'd like to believe in all of this but I want to know if it's just wishful thinking. My guess is that it is but I don't know.

On lake Erie I have caught at least a dozen smallmouth bass with a hook and tube coming out their butts

What I have noticed is that most fish I catch that have a hook in them, the barb is the first thing that rusts because it is small and not as thick as the rest of the hook. These hooks seem to just pop right out

 

When I was younger I gut hooked a bass in a pond

Tossed it onshore for the turtles to eat

A couple days later I found a bird (small hawk) that died with my treble hook stuck in its beak

We have a bunch of guys that tie a mason line directly to branches and hang a bluegill off of it ino the water

So I see a couple dead herons stuck in a tree every year too

 

I always cut the hook now

Takes less time than taking one off with pliers that is hooked in the mouth

[BassNJake]

 

 

[Miabucman]

Bassnjake-Thanks for the video.  I always try to get the hook out if possible and I like the gill technique.  Just have to be careful and not manhandle the removal.