How often to you accidently kill a bass??

[NJAngler609]

Im just curious to see how oftne you guys accidently kill a bass...I've only been reel big into bass fishing for the past two seasons.....yesterday me and two of my buddies went out and we had a great day of fishing except for i accidently killed a 3.5 pounder...i hhoked her in the tongue and she was bleeding like crazy..got her back in the water asap but she was floating about 10 mins later..Totally ruined my day..i also had one inhale the hook and had to leave it down there or she definitley would had died..That one was sorta my fault cause i was fishing in some timber thought i got snagged but i didnt and waited to long to set the hook but hopefully she survives..Just curious on how often everyone kills one by accident

[Gatorbassman]

Not very many. Four or five a year. I keep a small bottle of Sure Life "Please Release Me" in my tackle bag for bleeders. I sprinkle a little bit on the bleed and it stops. If I'm in my boat I just put the fish in the livewell and treat the water with the stuff and the bleeding stops.

[bass wrangler569]

I usually kill one or two a year. If they are bleeding from the gills and I think they are going to die I'll keep them. There is no sense in them dying for nothing. I used to accidentally kill a lot more bass then I do now. Don't get discouraged, with experience you will learn how to handle the bass better and it will happen less.

[thetr20one]

In my tournament history I have had 1 smallmouth die. That 8 oz penalty took me from 7th to 14th. They were only paying twelve. Never again I hope. That was three years ago. Over 150 tourneys and the one that died cost me a $700 check. Occasionally you will get the really small guys grab a crankbait and pin their mouth shut so a little surgery is required. Not all patients make it through the procedure. Accidently killing a bass once maybe twice a season isn't great but depending on how much you fish it might be o.k. . The easiest ways to try and keep them from swallowing the hook with plastics are.

1. Buy good high modulus fast action rods for sensitivity

2. When you feel a thump SET THE HOOK, the thump was not them picking up with their fins. It is already in their mouth

[NJAngler609]

In my tournament history I have had 1 smallmouth die. That 8 oz penalty took me from 7th to 14th. They were only paying twelve. Never again I hope. That was three years ago. Over 150 tourneys and the one that died cost me a $700 check. Occasionally you will get the really small guys grab a crankbait and pin their mouth shut so a little surgery is required. Not all patients make it through the procedure. Accidently killing a bass once maybe twice a season isn't great but depending on how much you fish it might be o.k. . The easiest ways to try and keep them from swallowing the hook with plastics are.

1. Buy good high modulus fast action rods for sensitivity

2. When you feel a thump SET THE HOOK, the thump was not them picking up with their fins. It is already in their mouth

I have a GL3 so i got the sensitivity its just that where the hook landed was a bad spot and she bled like crazy..i hooked her in what i would guess would be her tongue..fish do have tongues right?? ;D

[tritz18]

never have and hope to never do

[thetr20one]

Maybe it hit some major artery or vein in there. I couldn't tell ya. I am not a biologist. It happens don't stress about it!

[Gatorbassman]

I have a GL3 so i got the sensitivity its just that where the hook landed was a bad spot and she bled like crazy..i hooked her in what i would guess would be her tongue..fish do have tongues right?? ;D

Yea that spot in their toung is a bad place. There is one or two veins that run down their toung. It's very rare that your hook hits it perfect but when it does, the fish bleeds quick. There is not much you can do without something to coagulate the blood.

[JerseyBassin]

never have, knock on wood

[Glenn]

Less than 5 per year.  And they're almost always the little fish in deep water that just inhale and swallow the plastic bait before I can set the hook.

[Branuss04]

I've killed 3 in the last 3 years that I know of, it happens, I feel bad for a little bit, but I usually get over it.  Now if I killed a DD, that would be a different story, no doubt about it would I keep it and get it mounted.  

[Daiwa]

NEVER HAVE AND I HOPE I NEVER WILL!!!

[Alpster]

I have lost a few. It's hard to not gut hook one every once in a while.

Ronnie

[fishinfiend]

I have hooked a few to deep. If it looks bad I don't try to pull it. I just cut the line or use a pair of dikes.

[T-Bone]

I've killed a few.  It always makes me sad too because I always think that it could have been the one that I would catch a few years down the road that would be 10+ pounds. :'(

[kms399]

I kill probably 4-5 a year I really don't mind since I love to eat fish I really only feel bad if it is over 3 pounds. usually if i want fish to eat I'll go catch 10 or 12 bluegill before pick up the boat.

[arul]

I have hooked a few to deep. If it looks bad I don't try to pull it. I just cut the line or use a pair of dikes.

Yeah, this last outing I gut hooked 3!  :'( :'(  I was using a zoom super fluke, and fishing it real slow, letting it fall on slack line.  The fish were just taking it so lightly, I had no idea they were on until too late.   :'(

Question:  I have heard that if you cut as much of the hook with dikes, and leave it in there, that eventually, the fish may digest it.  Or at the very least, live the rest of a good life with a hook in him.  Is this right???  :-?  Or is a gut hook pretty much = death?  

At the very least, I have learned that it is a wrong move 100% of the time to try to pull it free...

[Catt]

One maybe two a year; last time was 2006 at the Sealy Big Bass Splash.

Still mad over that one but I've since learned not to use Rejuvenade which is still in my tackle room.

Ops never mind I just chunked it  

[X-Rap]

Only 2 that I know died.  One was hooked through the roof of the mouth with a Snag Proof frog.  He just got real stiff when i was reeling him in and didn't fight at all.  When I went to let him go he went straight belly up.  After trying to revive him with no luck I gave him a quick twap on the head with the handle of my knife to put him out of his missery.  Felt bad but better than if i just let him suffer.  :'(  Other than that if i deep hook a fish I dont even bother about trying to get it out, I just cut it.  

[Trent, B]

what you can do sometimes is if you can see the barb down in there throat is cut the barb off and slide it threw so it wont tear up there mouth and make them bleed alot.

[Thefishy1]

Unfortunately this year I have killed one. I was fishing a worm when a felt something funny so I set the hook, there were a few tugs then it just felt like dead weight. When I pulled the fish up there was a two pound bass with the hook through its eye and into its brain. I guess that the fish had swam into the line, or had just picked up the tail.  

[Daniel My Brother]

I've released several that were bleeding that I hoped survived, but how do you know for certain?

I just do my best to get the fish back in the water quickly and hope for the best.

[HartwellPro]

I've had 1 die on me this year.  Gut hooked draggig a c-rig on Lake Russell.  The past 2 years I haven't had any die.

I did read up on gut hooked fish and mortality rates.  In the article I read they said that it's best to leave the hook in and cut the string just outside of the mouth.  That yielded abetter rate of survival than removing or cutting the line at the hook eye.

[SimonDM17]

I've never killed a bass...I've killed sunnies when fishing ultralights with live bait, but that's it.  Nearly killed a bass recently, though...I think it bumped the jig I was fishing, and it got a hookset just above the eye...had to be real careful or I think I would have blinded it or hit the brain, but it swam off just fine.

[MNGeorge]

River Smallies are very aggressive fish and there is just no way to avoid gut hooking a few over the course of a season, especially fishing tubes.  We have pretty much given up trying to remove those hooks.  We just cut the line and hope for the best.  Judging by the number of fish we catch with hooks already in their mouths, I'm thinking many of them live to fight another day.  We certainly hope so.