Gill Hooking bass

[sllymz]

This past weekend, me and a buddy went fishing on Easter day and I ended up catching my PB on a Zoom 10.5" Curly Tail worm with a 4/0 EWG hook (5.14 :D). I didn't feel safe reaching for it myself so I worked it over to my buddy to grab for me, well he lipped her and got the fish in and I was digging for my scale when he said those God forsaken words, "You gill hooked it." and my heart sank. I have only gill hooked a bass one time before and it died, so the thought of murdering my PB off of a hooked gill shattered me. I quickly took a few flicks with the fish and failed to realize that the fish was bleeding profusely everywhere and on literally everything until I turned it around and really looked around me. The whole boat was coated in blood, so I tried to get it back in the water as soon as I could. I leaned down and held it in the water, swimming it a little 'til it swam off. I'm not sure what happened to the fish after, but it swam off nice like nothing had happened and we even came back to the same spot a few hours later to no bellied up bass. 

So should I be inclined to think the fish survived, but it will be considerably weaker for a period of time? or it just straight up died in the end and I never knew. Is it possible to avoid incidents like this or is it purely just dumb luck and unavoidable?

Not proud of these pictures, but I wanted to add one to show the damage.

 

[Woody B]

Congrats on your PB.  I wouldn't worry about gill hooking it.  Regardless of it's survival there's nothing you could have done differently.   

[Pat Brown]

One of the hardest parts of bass fishing is when you hurt one.

 

There's some good stickied threads on what to do when you gut hook a bass and a lot of that info applies here.

 

You can bring a bottle of mountain dew on the boat and pour it down their throat and something about the carbon and sugar causes it to coagulate much more quickly but releasing her was the best you could do.

 

If you fish with jerkbaits, you'll eventually hurt a fish.  Single hooks, it seems to be rarer but it's happened.

 

Fish bite and we can't control how they get the lure but my policy in general is swing fast when you're bit so they don't hurt themselves.

 

Just remember that even if she dies, she feeds a big healthy beautiful bird or turtle and she takes one more mouth out of the running for food in the quest to become a double digit that all your lakes bass are on every day.

[Swamp Girl]

12 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Just remember that even if she dies, she feeds a big healthy beautiful bird or turtle and she takes one more mouth out of the running for food in the quest to become a double digit that all your lakes bass are on every day.

 

Pat is right. For some reason, I hurt a tiny smallie in Ontario. There was no blood, but when I released it, it didn't swim off. It just flopped at the surface. I was fishing a river mouth where a bald eagle also fished. Well, when I moved a little ways from that wounded bass, the eagle swooped and snagged it. Nothing goes to waste in nature, not even us, and I'm actually comforted by the fact that I'll be soil one day, helping other things grow. In Maine, you're allowed to be buried on your land, so that's my plan!

[casts_by_fly]

for the future, carry long nosed pliers that can reach all the way to the back of a fish's throat easily.  If you do gill hook one, skip the pics and weight and get it back as quick as possible.  If its a single hook on a soft plastic and I can't get it, I have no qualms of snipping the line and pulling the plastic off but leaving the hook in.  Those are usually the bad ones that bleed everywhere.  A gut hook you can unhook through the bottom of the gill plate pretty easily (linked above).  Sometimes that approach helps for gill hooked too.  Just pull the hook backwards down the gill plate and snip the line.

[Zcoker]

If bleeding badly (and if possible) dip the fish in the water for a bit. Their blood coagulates in water only. My solution is to flatten down the barb on the hook (worm hooks or EWG hooks). The worm hooks seem to go deep with the worms, more often than not catching the throat lining during the hookset, or even the gill plates. In all cases, the quicker the release, the better! The barbless hooks pull right out with the least amount of damage no matter where they are located. 

[gim]

2 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

You can bring a bottle of mountain dew on the boat and pour it down their throat and something about the carbon and sugar causes it to coagulate much more quickly but releasing her was the best you could do.

 

The mountain dew thing with bleeding fish is an old wives tale based on no fact or evidence.  Its something that someone's second cousin's brother tried during a tournament to avoid having a fish go belly up and losing points for mortality.  Its a topic that has come up here before and I'm sure it'll come up again.

 

Releasing the fish and getting it back into the water as quickly as possible is the best way to avoid a problem.  Not a whole lot you can do if the fish gets foul hooked, gut hooked, or gill hooked.

[scaleface]

2 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

You can bring a bottle of mountain dew on the boat and pour it down their throat and something about the carbon and sugar causes it to coagulate much more quickly but releasing her was the best you could do.

You can get this thread shut down for saying that. I know.

 

[Glenn]

Don't ever, ever, EVER pour soda down a fish's throat!  It's made for humans, not fish, and causes much more harm than "good".  It's poisonous to fish.

 

Instead, use a pinch of "Please Release Me" formula on the wound.  Not only will it stop the bleeding, it also has antiseptics and anti-bacterial agents designed FOR fish that aids in their survival and recovery.

[Bird]

I carry long nosed cutters for times when fish get deep hooked, works great.

I've had terrible luck reviving a fish that's been gill hooked.

They almost always end up in the frying pan.

I feel that's about the highest level of respect I can show the fish after causing it's demise.

 

Even ones that swam off after gill hooked end up surfacing and ultimately end up in the livewell.

[Pat Brown]

Okay sorry I didn't realize the mountain dew thing was a big deal. I've never actually done it. I've just heard people say it works and people generally have good intentions but don't always have all the facts right. Carry on.

[Blue Raider Bob]

3 hours ago, Woody B said:

Congrats on your PB.  I wouldn't worry about gill hooking it.  Regardless of it's survival there's nothing you could have done differently.   

Right on!

22 minutes ago, Bird said:

I carry long nosed cutters for times when fish get deep hooked, works great.

I've had terrible luck reviving a fish that's been gill hooked.

They almost always end up in the frying pan.

I feel that's about the highest level of respect I can show the fish after causing it's demise.

 

Even ones that swam off after gill hooked end up surfacing and ultimately end up in the livewell.

I second this. I keep long nose cutters as well and always cut the hook on deeply hooked bass to prevent more damage. I don't mind sacrificing my lures if it saves the fish.

[gim]

44 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Okay sorry I didn't realize the mountain dew thing was a big deal. I've never actually done it. I've just heard people say it works and people generally have good intentions but don't always have all the facts right. Carry on.

No worries.  I quoted you initially but I wasn't trying to call you out on it.

[TLHSS]

@Glenndo you use a pinch of the formula directly from the bottle, or a bit of the formula dissolved in water?

 

Sorry for the stupid question. I'm a bank fishermen and never fished from a boat with a live well, so I don't know much about the product. 

[Scott F]

I don’t want to criticize but holding a big fish and letting it hang while you take a photo isn’t helping the fish either. Use two hands and hold it horizontally. Lessens the chance of doing any damage to his internal organs. 

[Glenn]

11 hours ago, TLHSS said:

do you use a pinch of the formula directly from the bottle, or a bit of the formula dissolved in water?

Pinch directly from the bottle.