I finally did it!

[Columbia Craw]

Sorry.

[GRiver]

1 hour ago, geo g said:

Always a PITA when that deep.  If the fish is still attached it takes it to a new level!

 

1 hour ago, geo g said:

Always a PITA when that deep.  If the fish is still attached it takes it to a new level!

It was still attached, had a few interesting minutes until I got it unhooked. LOL.

[islandbass]

Sorry you had to go through that. If it’s any consolation, at least it was not in your eye. If you do a Google search, you will be able to find pictures of people with a treble lodged in one of their eyes!

[scaleface]

Way to go, Slicko.

[throttleplate]

17 hours ago, ironbjorn said:

backpack full of beer.

got my attention with this.

[Happybeerbuzz]

This post has inspired me to buy a pair of grippers.  

[scaleface]

3 hours ago, Happybeerbuzz said:

This post has inspired me to buy a pair of grippers.  

After sticking my self three  times, I finally bought a pair..

[Zcoker]

On 5/31/2024 at 10:10 PM, MediumMouthBass said:

This might be an unpopular opinion, but posts like this one and countless others really make me want to debarb all my hooks and lures. Its bad enough to get hooked, but then dealing with the barb, trying to get it out, causing even more damage and pain. That scares me.

I really dont understand why more companies (if any) dont offer barbless hooks as an option, it takes so long to do it yourself, and then again and again with each new order of tackle....

I know ill get some negativity from the "but youll lose bass" crowd, but think of all the injuries that wouldve been minimal and less stressful just from not having barbs, plus all the bass that wouldnt have died from being gut hooked.

Sorry for this joke, but i guess the tilapia can now say it caught a new PB.

 

Be nice if companies at least offered the barbless option. I tag sharks for NOAA and all my hooks get the barb removed. And I have never lost a fish related to going barbless...or at least none that I know of, specifically. I was also very much involved in the current FWC (Florida) shore-based fishing regulations and tried very hard to get barbless hooks written in as a rule, but they opted for a "recommendation" only along with the none-offset, none-stainless circle hooks. 

[gim]

I've never been hooked in the hands or fingers past the barb in over 25 years of fishing.  Most of these incidents are completely preventable with proper handling and tools to unhook fish.  I could certainly see it happening at some point though, especially with one of those slimy little snot rockets and something like a jerk bait or crank bait.  There's just nothing to grab and they constantly wiggle.

 

I did get snagged of all places in the head with a crankbait by someone else casting in close proximity once and for that reason I do not permit anyone else on the front deck anymore while I am casting.

 

Hope for a quick recovery from the OP.  It does not look like fun.

[MN Fisher]

17 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I've never been hooked in the hands or fingers past the barb in over 25 years of fishing.

I'll see you and raise you 25 - never past the barb in over 50 years of fishing.

 

It's called being aware and careful...but I still carry the tools needed and a med-kit 'just in case'.

[MassBass]

3 hours ago, Zcoker said:

 

Be nice if companies at least offered the barbless option. I tag sharks for NOAA and all my hooks get the barb removed. And I have never lost a fish related to going barbless...or at least none that I know of, specifically. I was also very much involved in the current FWC (Florida) shore-based fishing regulations and tried very hard to get barbless hooks written in as a rule, but they opted for a "recommendation" only along with the none-offset, none-stainless circle hooks. 

I started crushing barbs on my striper plugs one year when there were a lot of fish. I definitely lost fish on a plug with crushed barbs. At least one very big fish. I think they can just turn wrong and slip off. I went back to barbs. You need to be very careful with every striper you land no matter how small. 

[Tennessee Boy]

I've had to back a hook out that was in past the barb around 5 times in 50 years of fishing.  I've had to push the point back through the skin once to cut the barb off.   I've made one trip to the doctor to to have the barb removed after it broke off while I was trying to get the hook out.   Those were all painful memories but not as painful as the memories of some of the fish I've lost over the years.   No way I'm using barbless hooks as long as barbs are legal.  Yes I know I won't lose that many fish.  It's not the number of fish I'm worried about.  It's that one fish that I don't want to lose.  

 

[roadwarrior]

1 hour ago, Tennessee Boy said:

No way I'm using barbless hooks as long as barbs are legal.  Yes I know I won't lose that many fish.  It's not the number of fish I'm worried about.  It's that one fish that I don't want to lose.  

 

 

 

[geo g]

19 hours ago, GRiver said:

 

It was still attached, had a few interesting minutes until I got it unhooked. LOL.

 

 

Peacock are the worst because they don't stop violent  struggles even when lipped.  Just like lipping a pitbull!  

[N Florida Mike]

19 hours ago, islandbass said:

Sorry you had to go through that. If it’s any consolation, at least it was not in your eye. If you do a Google search, you will be able to find pictures of people with a treble lodged in one of their eyes!

A single hook in the eye was enough for me! 

@GRiver I feel your pain. Get better soon.

[islandbass]

@N Florida Mike:  I think I posted that picture here a very long time ago. I did a quick Google search and couldn’t find the picture. You know how a guy cringes when he sees another guy get hit in the nuts? The feeling will kind of like that but you’ll start covering one of your eyes, and start feeling awful and simultaneously relieved it wasn’t your eye. 😰

[thediscochef]

On 5/31/2024 at 8:51 PM, PhishLI said:

Welcome to the club. Only took me 58 years. Truly sucked.

Nightmare fuel for a 32 year old. I took a comebacker to the cheekbone last year (1/2oz red eye) and that was enough for me to flinch the rest of my life 

[GRiver]

12 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

single hook in the eye was enough for me! 

Owwww! That makes mine seem so trivial. 

[fin]

 

I keep one of these pistol-grip style grippers on my belt loop. I removed the rope/tether.

 

It was hard to get in the habit of using it. Old habits die hard, but now I rarely touch a fish regardless of the type of hook. I use needle-nose to remove the hook most of the time.

 

I grip the fish, then hook my scales to the ring on the handle to weigh the fish. The grippers weigh 3oz, so I just deduct that from the total weight.

 

It doesn't eliminate all the ways I can hurt myself, but it narrows the odds a little.

[GRiver]

@fin where did you get those?

[Tackleholic]

1st time was when I swatted at a horse fly and drove a 2/0 jig hook into the base of my thumb.  2nd time was when I hooked 2 smallmouth at the same time on a crankbait and did not have a net or a partner, that was pretty scary.  I can remember feeling sorry for all the fish I had done that to.

[fin]

9 hours ago, GRiver said:

@fin where did you get those?

Honestly, I found the one that I use when the lake was being drained. That image I used is from AliExpress. The brand of the one I found is Mossy Oak. It's part of a four piece combo that is available at Walmart.

 

It looks like Berkley makes one, or used to make one, I don't see it in stock anywhere. Maybe Ebay? I don't know why that style would be hard to find, I love mine. I guess the plastic pliers style is more popular.

[N Florida Mike]

On 6/3/2024 at 5:58 AM, GRiver said:

Owwww! That makes mine seem so trivial. 

I mean, a hook anywhere in your body is bad. For me , getting hooked anywhere else than an eye ( almost anywhere else ,lol😂) is less traumatic .

[N Florida Mike]

Hey @GRiver, Different subject completely , but is there much eel grass in the river down there anymore? It’s mostly all gone up here, apparently from the hurricane flooding.

[Swamp Girl]

On 6/1/2024 at 8:23 PM, geo g said:

If the fish is still attached it takes it to a new level!

 

Yeah, I've had a couple floppers with a hook in me. I managed to unhook them and release them without hurting them. Then I proceeded to hurt myself, punching the hook through and cutting below the barb.