releasing gut hooked fish

[.ghoti.]

I'm new to the site and have been reading a lot before posting. Seen this subject come up several places. Here's a method that works most of the time.

1. Lip the fish and stuff a wad of line in it's mouth.

2. Using small long-nose pliers or hemostats, reach in through the gill plate and drag the line down and out the gill plate.

3.If you have a partner along, have him (or her) pull down gently on the line. If you have no help, pull out enough line to step on and lift the fish gently. This will rotate the hook so it's positioned with the point facing down.

4. Reach back in through the mouth with your pliers and pull up and slightly to the side opposite the barb. The hook will slide right out almost all the time with much less damage to fish's guts.

This ends up tearing up the baits just about every time, and nicks the line most of the time, but that's a small price to pay for saving the fish.

I've used this method a lot. Particularly since I started using Senko's. I've had more fish swallow those things than all other baits combined.

This is an awesome site. Lot's of good info, friendly sounding people, etc.

good luck, I'll be back

GK

[nwgabassmaster]

I would rather just leave the hook, and allow it rust out over time.  When you do what you mentioned, you take the chance of damaging the gill plates, even though you may think that you are not.

Hooks will, in time, go away, and leave the fish just as healthy as it was before it was hooked.  If you damage the gills, though, it is not reversible, and it is not something that I am willing to take a chance on.

[.ghoti.]

John, Thanks for the reply. I used to totally agree with you on this subject. Until a freind and I conducted an experiment. He has a huge aquarium with one bluegill, one crappie and one largemouth. The fish were put in when very small and have lived there for about three years. The gill is about 9", the crappie about 10' and the bass about 12''. They're probably environmentally size-limited. Anyway, we took home a gut-hooked largemouth, about 10' long, and put him in the tank. We left about a foot of line attached, since that seems to be the standard approach. The fish seemed to eat little and moved much less than the others. He did not grow and died about 8 weeks later. When we disected him, we found the line and hook in his guts. The hook was a 2/0 fine-wire gamakatsu ewg and was in good condition. It showed no signs of rusting away any time soon. The point and barb were rather blunt and the finish was a bit dull, but otherwise looked pretty good considering where it had been. After that I started using the technique I posted earlier with good results. You can go in through the gill plates without damaging the gills if you pay attention to what you're doing. For more info, and a better written description,  go to In-Fisherman's website and look through their backlogged magazine articles. You will find their research on this subject. It suggests that the gills are not as fragile as most believe.

John, I've read several of your posts. Good stuff!!

I'll keep reading

Thanks and don't catch 'em all

GK

[Will]

In-fisherman had a technique similair to that one, and it works great.

[nwgabassmaster]

The only problem that I have with your description of the bass dying is that there were, in fact, 3 other healthy fish that were consuming any available forage that was provided, and as you said, the space was cramped.  There are several other factors that could have contributed.

I also disagree that leaving a foot of line is the standard approach.  I cut the line, when I do gut-hook a fish, as closely to the hook as I can.  For crappies, a good pair of scissors works, but for largemouth, I use a pair of nail clippers.

I am not saying that your approach is incorrect, or that is isn't as effective as any other approach.  I am saying that as an angler who has released and caught several bass that I had previously gut-hooked, I will continue to do what I have done.  Why fix something when it isn't broke, right?

You are about the 100th person that has thanked me for the things that I put on here.  As I have told the others, I am not sure that I am deserving of the compliments, but I do sincerely appreciate them all.  I just do what I can, and nothing more.  

Don't worry about me catching them all!  LOL  I have only caught one dink in the last two weeks.  It might be because I have been literally working the lures that I have received from Wicked Bass, instead of just fishing them.  I had to find out how they work when fished in different methods, etc., and I am also getting used the to lures as they relate to how I fished various other lures of the same kind.

I am sure that this slump will only last for bit longer, and that it will go away when I return to fishing the lures, instead of working them.  

[George Welcome]

nwgabassmaster,

You seriously need to talk with a fishery biologist. It is highly unlikely that any good hook will rust out anytime soon.

Through the gill removal of the hook is safe method that gives the bass the best chance of survival. Obviously, anytime you work around the gills you need to use care.

If you do leave the hook it is highly recommended that you leave a length of line outside the mouth. This aids in keeping the hook, shank outward.

It is one thing to disagree, but to disagree in what is universally accepted both by the layperson and the professional doesn't make a lot of sense.

[nwgabassmaster]

I disagree with nothing in these posts.  I just stated my stance on the position, and told of what I have done throughout the 11 years that I have been bass fishing.  Actually, it's the same thing that I have done my entire fishing career.  

If you all want to do what you consider to be universally accepted, then that is your thing.  However, I choose to believe in something different, and I will continue with my stance on it.

That's the great thing about these forums, several different opinions can be expressed, and although they may be completely different in view, I believe that they are things in which the people that post them believe.  And there is certainly nothing wrong with agreeing to disagree.  

[Fishingelbow]

Great tip,  GK!

I knew about the technique already, but the line stuffing is a great twist. Much easier and faster to get the hook out.

[phisher_d]

I agree that most good hooks take a long time to rust away in fresh water, but that doesn't mean that nwgabassmaster's method won't work.  

When a fish is gut hooked, the hook is almost always imbedded in the soft fleshy skin near the back of the throat.  when a fish is hooked like this, it can rid itself of the hook in much the same way that the human body gets rid of a splinter.  Scar tissue builds up around the hook and raises it to the surface and from there it will eventually break free and leav the fish unharmed.  A fish witha hook in its throat can usually survive and eat without any problems until the hook rusts away (if it's cheap) or comes free as i described.

I don't mean to challenge anyones theories, just adding my opinion.  

[Yankee_Bassman]

I've noticed that the red hooks are a gold color under the red paint; are they an alloy? If so, 'm guessing that they won't rust at all, and unless the scar tissue thing works, they aren't coming out. I caught two bass this summer with old hooks in them. One had two hooks, both in the lower left corner of the jaw. One was rusted, the other wasn't. The fish with one hook was hooked on the side of the roof of the mouth, well back. It wasn't rusted, but had a slime coat of algae or some marine plant life built up, which tells me it had been there a while. That hook eye was paper thin, but the hook itself was still very much intact. Didn't seem to bother the bass, though.....

[Glenn]

Great post ghoti.  I used to cut the line, leaving about 18", but I recently began using this technique - and it works!!  Not 100% of the time, but more often than not, you can get the hook out without hurting the fish.

More info:

http://bassresource.com/cgi-bin/bass_fish/YaBB.pl?board=gen_bass;action=display;num=1128002349;start=22#22

Side note:  In a tournament last summer, I caught a dink on a Senko.  He was gut hooked.   The little guy was so small, it was very difficult to perform this task, so I just cut the line off as mentioned above.

Fast forward to the next day, same spot.  This time I was fishing a Pop-R.  Bang!  A little fish impales himself on it.  I get him in the boat, and as I unhook him - there's my hook from the day before!    This time he's dislodged it enough that I was able to use the "new" technique (thank God there was still enough line attached to it), and the hook easily came out.  

[Guest avid]

I used to leave the hook in because that was the accepted procedure, but since then I have seen addtional research that states otherwise.  I have been pretty successful at removing hooks w/out much bleeding.  I think that gives a fish a much better chance of survival.

[Kana]

too have recently moved over to removing hooks, through the gill plate (very carefully)  a while back RW posted a link to an artical that desribed in deatail this very post.  after reading that post i was enlightened to the pros and cons, thus deciding to remove hooks if possible, instead of leaving them.  forgive me for being too lazy to find the link, but its here.  good topic for dicussion!

[Redtail]

I also use the method GK has described and I'm amazed how easy it is to remove the hook.

I'm all for doing what's best for the fish as I hate to see a fish die because it was gut hooked.  I don't know what's best either, but I find it hard to believe that the hook will rust out in a reasonable amount of time.

[DePoy79]

thankz for the info, i used to always just leave the hook in, but not anymore

[mgmoore7]

This process of getting the hook out of the gut is amazing to me. Just this past weekend, a friend and I had a good day but had about 5 get gut hooked. We were using Senkos and sometimes since they eat it on the fall, they start swallowing before we set the ****. Anyway, I was able to get the hook out of every one easily. Only one had bleed just a tiny bit.

[Bass Hammer]

Thanks for pointing this out.

I have caught plenty of fish with hooks in them. They don't look like they're going anywhere soon.

I feel any chance I can get that hook out without making things worse is the right thing to do.

Hammer

[flechero]

Thankfully I don't hook many fish deep but there was a time that it happened with some regularity.  

For the past several years I have done as the original poster suggested, and can about 90% of the time remove the hook with no trouble or further damage to the fish.  On the occasion that it's a small fish or an oddly placed hook up (the other 10% of the time) I keep a narrow set of nippers in the boat, which are narrow enough to reach through the gill and cut the hook at the bend... allowing the remainder of the hook to slide free.  Either way, the fish is more likely to survive without the hook interfering with bodily function or feeding.  

[Papa_Tom]

Sitting here saying "Wow."  These may be the most meaningful posts I've ever read.  Thanks to all who contributed toward this revolutionary (to me) technique.  If it just saves one of these guys, then it's worth it.

[Jimbob]

I also use a pair of long handled wire cutters to cut the hook.Seems to work great.Its a little harder on dinks ,but can be done.