Gut hooked fish

[Rora]

Accidentally gut hooked a fish today. Was dropshotting and tried to practice watching the line, but I think I waited too long before I set the hook (to be honest I still can’t tell real well if I got a bite). I got it out but man I felt terrible.   Minimal bleeding but still. Felt like it was my fault being a beginner. He swam away ok and hopefully he lives. 
 

just wanted to share an experience. 

[gim]

It happens Rora.  I've gut hooked a couple fish wacky rigging this year too.  Just remove the hook as quickly as possible and get the fish back in the water.  Sometimes they will die especially this time of year when its very warm out.

 

Having the proper tools at the ready helps.  Fumbling around for a pliers only compounds the problem.

[Spankey]

Buy some good tools and learn how to use them. I know about putting that stress on myself because I’m anal and want everything to work out perfectly. 
 

A good pair of side cutter and an extra long needle nose pliers works great for me. I don’t have it happen to me very often but have completed some good doctoring. And felt good about it. 

[FishinBuck07]

It sucks when it happens!  But it is going to happen, all we can do is have the appropriate tools and learn from the experiences and try not to repeat what caused it.  

[gunsinger]

I've had it happen....normally when the bite is so light I don't detect it quick enough.  Usually, it happens on the smaller fish who hit the worm on the fall and they waste no time swallowing.

 

If you have room to bend the eye of the hook down where you can grab the bend, your success rate at getting the hook out without killing the fish goes up.

[Rora]

Should I actually be pushing the hook out and then flattening the barb so I can ease it back out?

[gunsinger]

I saw a youtube video on how to remove the hook from a gut hooked fish.  They actually eased the eye of the hook out through the gills being careful not to damage them.  The further they could get eye pushed towards the tail of the fish, the easier it was to see the bend of the hook so as to grab it and work it out.  Of course, the smaller the fish, the harder this is to do.

I always start by striping the worm off the hook so I have good visibility and, if necessary, cutting the line.

It's a toss up as to whether or not you'll be successful though.

[Jig Man]

Most of the time I can go through the gills turn the hook and safely remove it.  Once in a while that doesn’t work so I keep a special pair of cutters handy.  They cut the hook and have a magnet to catch the cut piece.

 

https://www.jannsnetcraft.com/wire-forming-tools/d-barb-hook-cutter-remover.aspx

[TOXIC]

I go through the gills and if that’s not working (which it does 80% of the time) I have a pair of hemostats that I can reach in through the mouth, grab the hook at the bend behind the barb and because they are so thin, I can usually twist the hook right out.  That is from my fly fishing days.  If that doesn’t work, then I use side cutters and cut the hook out.  All of that progression takes place fairly quickly but if you fish, you will eventually kill.  

[Skunkmaster-k]

If I gut hook a bass it’s coming to dinner. 

[BayouSlide]

1 hour ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

If I gut hook a bass it’s coming to dinner. 

 

Yup, fish tacos for me for tomorrow's lunch rather than the possibility of feeding the turtles.

[T-Billy]

3 hours ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

If I gut hook a bass it’s coming to dinner. 

Yep. Release to the grease. 

[CrankFate]

If you are careful and know how to tie knots and handle your gear, you should be gut hooking only a few fish. I’m usually trying to get them to hold on a half second! If you handle them properly, you can minimize the damage and safely release almost 100% of them. Usually, the fish only dies when someone just yanks, pulls and twists the hook to not lose it in the fish. I can’t tell you how many times I helped people remove rusted dull hooks from gut hooked fish. They are usually saveable if your careful and take a few minutes to remove the hook with minimal tearing. These fish eat live crawfish, birds, mice and spiky fish. They are designed to have no problem getting puncture wounds in their digestive tracts that could kill a human, without antibiotics. We’d die swallowing a live 4-5” bluegill, crawfish, bird or mouse.

[WRB]

If you can use your finger tip to push down the hook bend to loosen the barb and it stays on the finger tip and comes easily with a little line tension. 

If the hook doesn’t come out the easy way then it’s the through the gill cover trick. 

Tom

 

[islandbass]

9 hours ago, Rora said:

Should I actually be pushing the hook out and then flattening the barb so I can ease it back out?

You might want (and I am going against the grain on this thought as many bass anglers might shudder at the thought) to go barbless. I have this season and I have yet to lose a fish, big or small. A hook deep in the gullet is easily removed when there is no barb. 
 

I too feel bad when I have gut hooked them and going barbless will definitely make this easier. When I started learning to fish senkos, I probably gut hooked my first 4-5 bass because I was in denial when I felt the take. Lesson learned? Set the dang hook every time you suspect a bite. 
 

in my state, we are sometimes required to use barbless hooks. This is targeting salmon and steelhead that can be far bigger and stronger than a even a large bass. At first I thought this sucked because in essence, I was using the barb as a crutch. I have since learned I was losing no fish at all. And these were bigger fish?  Hmmmm. This is what made me seriously consider going barbless for bass. I have been this way since this season and zero last fish. 
 

matter of fact, if you keep the tension on the line and play the fish right or even if you have to horse it in, a tight line means no loss of fish. Prove me wrong, anyone, ‘Cause I ain’t wrong, lol. 
 

 

[schplurg]

Barbless hooks are easier to remove from you as well, I would imagine.

 

I fish barbless a lot because the nearby creeks require it. I've caught my two largest bass barbless, and come to think of it I lose very few fish.

 

Do the best you can for the fish. Well actually that would include not fishing I think.

 

I've said this recently in similar threads, but if we cared that much about the poor fish we wouldn't be tempting them with fake food, hooking their face, and terrorizing them just so we can weigh them and take a photo. I care about gut hooking them, but I think I'm largely a hypocrite for it. Maybe it's just a way to justify the rest. "See how much I care?" Crocodile tears as far as the fish is concerned.

 

Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm going fishing, tonight hopefully. But I like to challenge my own beliefs and know why I do or think the things I do. I've even changed my mind before  

[purpurite]

Glad this topic was posted today.

 

I have been on a cold streak for a couple weeks now, and last night I gullet hooked a tiny pup of a largemouth. I never felt the fish hit the line, as he wasn't much bigger than my bait. By the time I realized it, it was already gutted on a 2/0 EWG. 

 

Sometimes I have a bit of panic when I can't get a hook out quickly. I learned a while ago to quickly cut the line and feed the hook through forward and pull the hook out through the barb side. It almost always works, and I feel better about safely getting a hook out with minimal damage to the fish.

 

This little one had such a small mouth, I struggled a LOT as the hook didn't poke through the other side to button hook pull it through, and as time went on, I began to panic and fumble more with my pliers. I wound up snipping the hook as close to the gullet as I could with a side cutter and removing as much of the hook as I could. I tried to get the fish back into the water as fast as I could but I was too late.

 

I ended up quitting for the night right there, as I was really upset. I dwelled on it all night and into this morning. It really bothered me, and I need to make sure I'm better prepared, calmer under the pressure of getting the fish back into the water, and just plain smarter when things don't go as smoothly as they should. 

 

I've been fishing for 15 years, and I still get flustered when I can't get a hook out quickly. Maybe I should look into barbless hooks. If for nothing else, maybe piece of mind to just be a little more composed under pressure.

 

 

 

Doug

[Rora]

2 hours ago, islandbass said:

You might want (and I am going against the grain on this thought as many bass anglers might shudder at the thought) to go barbless. I have this season and I have yet to lose a fish, big or small. A hook deep in the gullet is easily removed when there is no barb. 
 

I too feel bad when I have gut hooked them and going barbless will definitely make this easier. When I started learning to fish senkos, I probably gut hooked my first 4-5 bass because I was in denial when I felt the take. Lesson learned? Set the dang hook every time you suspect a bite. 
 

in my state, we are sometimes required to use barbless hooks. This is targeting salmon and steelhead that can be far bigger and stronger than a even a large bass. At first I thought this sucked because in essence, I was using the barb as a crutch. I have since learned I was losing no fish at all. And these were bigger fish?  Hmmmm. This is what made me seriously consider going barbless for bass. I have been this way since this season and zero last fish. 
 

matter of fact, if you keep the tension on the line and play the fish right or even if you have to horse it in, a tight line means no loss of fish. Prove me wrong, anyone, ‘Cause I ain’t wrong, lol. 
 

 

This is actually an interesting idea. I just got into fishing so I have a pretty limited exposure to the wide world of fishing. But I might look into this. 

[Guitarfish]

If you just fold the barb down it leaves a nub that in my mind help retain the fish on the hook anyway.

The hook comes out easier when it comes time to release the fish.  With proper tension on the fish and a proper drag you will get them in.  If you are fishing tourney's you are going to fish differently obviously.

[dodgeguy]

I had one yesterday where the hook point didn't penetrate the gill but the bend  was around it.. It was pulling on one of the gills. When I brought the fish in it was bleeding really bad. I got the hook out easily because the hook never went in. . I put it on a stringer behind my rowboat. When I do that I don't run the stringer through the gills. I puncture the soft skin under the bottom jaw and run it through there. After rowing around a few hours the fish looked a lot better. He wasn't going belly up. I took him off the stringer and looked at him. The bleeding had totally stopped. I put him back in and he swam away. Hopefully he will survive.

[roadwarrior]

[Noahn Guyen]

if your hook isnt to deep down their throat then you can take some plyers and carefully put them under the gill plate without touching the gills and grab the hook shank and twist outwards. if that doesnt work you can cut your line and push the hook all the way through.