eye hooked bass.

[ptomacbass]

today i hooked a bass through the mouth and into the eye. :'(  do you guys think this hurt him.  the hook was really hard to get out but he did swim away.

[B-o-b]

Ive always wondered this also, because every now and then i do it too. I think if it swam away right away it should be fine, but im no fish doctor..

[Joshawa]

I'm pretty sure it would hurt like hell. Plus with one eye they will be a little less effective when hunting.

[zellamander]

I agree, i'm sure it hurt like hell, but i've caught a lot of fish that had a damaged eye, or was blind in one eye. He should be fine, he will just have to rely on his other sources while hunting.

[toolpush]

I agree, i'm sure it hurt like hell, but i've caught a lot of fish that had a damaged eye, or was blind in one eye. He should be fine, he will just have to rely on his other sources while hunting.

   X2. I once caught a good 5lber. out of a local stocked catfish, winter trout pond. his whole right eye looked as if someone had snagged him and he tore his eye off getting loose. Anyway, it looked like it had been healed a long time before he got as big as he is. If some kid or meat/fisherman didn't catch him, I bet he's still there.

[bchlr]

Run across some one eyed bass once after a while, all of then are healthy so I don't think it's a problem, except it does hurt for sure. Now what would you do if you hooked a fish to its only good eye?  :

[thetr20one]

This happens. I will usually cut the hook at the barb. I don't like ripping up flesh or eyeball unless I really have to. Makes me feel a little doctorish and significant on a conservation level. Weird huh?

[avid]

I agree.  No doubt it hurt the fish.  by this I mean "did damage" as opposed to pain.  We could debate endlessly (and have) about the pain , but there's little doubt that a piece of sharp steel piercing a bass' eye has to do some damage.  Like the other posters, I don't believe that this is an automatic death sentence for the fish.  I too have caught numerous bass over the years with one good eye and the other in some kind of major distress.  It's an unfortunate outcome that can't be completely avoided.  Sort of like "collateral damage".

[dodgeguy]

cutting the barb off is the best thing to do and then back it out.don't yank it's eyeball out.the more damage you do the greater the chance of infection.there are plenty of huge 1 eyed bass.

[S I G M A]

I unfortunately have done this quite a few times... they usually do lose they eye but i've caught a lot of bass with only one functional eye... i manage to do it quite a bit on soft plastics  :-[

[gravyfor3]

i just did this the other day...it swam away... this is a good interesting thread for sure...

[JShrock07]

I'm no fish doctor myself either but I have hooked quite a few through the eye. One time I even had the eye sitting on the tip of the hook with it not even attached to the fish!!! I felt terrible but he wasn't dead so I threw him back I hope they don't die of this type of hooking. 8-)

[S I G M A]

I have an occasional one die from the eye hooking but usually at least 80% of the ones i eye hook live. They usually get hooked on the side of the eye, not straight through the middle

[bass wrangler569]

I've done this myself and I've caught a lot of fish missing an eye. I'm sure it does damage their ability to hunt but I read about a study where blindfolded bass could still catch prey easily without sight by using their lateral line.

[snapper G]

it hurts bad, but heals but fine! he may not get as much food but he will live so chill!

[Paul Roberts]

Don't know in what way fish perceive pain. Wild animals I've worked with (in a veterinary research hospital, as a wildlife researcher, and in my hunting and fishing), don't perceive pain in the emotional way we do. I've seen many animals with injuries that would have us cringing, screaming, throw us into shock, or kill us, that just don't outwardly affect them. That doesn't mean they don't feel pain, nor absolve us of any responsibility in this regard.

I think this is a great topic, as I personally really dislike having this happen, or contributing to the mutilated jaws problem that I see on hard fished waters (that's another discussion).

I know of only one sure way to avoid impaling eyes: Match hook gap to the size of fish. This is more difficult to do with largemouth bass though because of the size of their mouth, location of the eye, and the bulky lures we use that require a large gap hook (notably with plastics). What I do here is avoid young bass (<11") by not fishing where there are lots of them, (mature largemouths are often separate from little ones -not so likely with smallmouths), and by not setting the hook on those little ones. I can usually tell a small by the rat-tat-tat as a it tries to gobble down a large bait, or the rapid take and run (as smalls are usually in groups and highly competitive). You get used to it and can often tell.

That's how I deal with the problem. It's not a perfect answer, but does reduce the number of impaled smalls.

[bassinsmypassion]

i recently read a book by a bass fishing expert and he said that since bass have an extremely sensitive lateral line they could easily be born blind and it would hardly matter. IM SURE IT WOULD HURT THOUGH!

[Bassboy15]

I do this sometimes when I fish buzzbaits...

[J Francho]

I worry more about the punctured eye becoming infected, and potentially killing the fish.  Hard to know, since I've caught many "crooked eye" bass that are apparently healthy.

[slomoe]

I noticed I've done this when accidently doing a double hook set.

[32251]

My brother caught a nice 7 pounder the other day. One of the trebles caught him in the upper eye area. Man we worked as hard as we could to get that hook out without inflicting any more damage. Looked real good when we finished that he would not lose the eye.

[PoBoy]

I have caught bass and other fish with one eye, so he is probably ok!

[Cyork]

I've eyehooked many fish.  What I usually do is bend the barb down and then slide the hook out so it doesn't rip out their entire eyeball.  I've also caught several fish with missing eyes so it's definitely not a death sentence.

[senile1]

I've seen a lot of fish over the years with one eye.  For those fish that have lost both eyes I am developing a line of lures engraved in braille that I plan to sell in the future.  

8-)

[Evan Sharp]

it will be fine i have been cautching this one eyed bass in my pond for years and my brother is the one who ripped out his eye. they wil do fine.