Unremovable Hooks

[nickb]

I was fishing this morning and caught a little girl less than a pound. When I looked into her mouth, I saw that there was no way to remove the hook; it was just lodged too deeply.  I ended up cutting the line, right at the hook, and releasing her like that. I know that if I would have pulled it out, she would have died.  So will leaving the hook deep in her mouth like that end up killing her? Will she die of starvation?

[aarogb]

    I don't think she will have died of starvation.  I was in the exact same situation yesterday and all I did was cut the line at the hook and let the hook rust out.  Thats all you can do for her, give her a chance and maybe she will live.

[etommy28]

NO she wont die, yesterday I caught this nice fat fish in a pond near my school, I look and see a hook in the edge of its gills so i un hook it, then I look in its mouth to get it out and there were a total  of 3 hooks in its mouth. min eand two others so long story short they will eat with hooks in them.

[roadwarrior]

For swallowed hooks, learn this method:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1128002349/22#22

If that doesn't work, cut the line and hope for the best.

[mlpauley]

i have been told that the acids inside a bass will dissolve the hook in a few days

[J Francho]

i have been told that the acids inside a bass will dissolve the hook in a few days

Not true, in the case of a large gauge bass hook.  I've caught quite a few emaciated fish with hooks deeply embedded in their gut.  This tells me they are hungry, willing to feed aggressively, but cannot swallow the food.  I removed the hook, as detailed in the link above, and sent them on their way.  I can only assume that they were better off without the hook.

[Raul]

i have been told that the acids inside a bass will dissolve the hook in a few days

False, hooks of today don 't have anything in common with hooks of yesterday other than the name. Not only the gauge of the wire has to do with how fast a hook will corrode away, but also with the properties of the steel it 's made from. Modern hooks last many times more under corrosive conditions than hooks of yesterday.

[TruiteBR]

I always carry with me a pair of diagonal cutter pliers. When a bass is hooked in a way I can not remove the hook I cut the hook and leave the least metal as I can in the fish.

*sorry about the bad English.

[tyrius.]

For swallowed hooks, learn this method:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1128002349/22#22

If that doesn't work, cut the line and hope for the best.

This method works very well!!  Everyone should learn it and use it.

[TeamBerettaGold]

I only had one fish last year that swallowed the hook, I tried the above method, and it didnt work, which normally it does.  So I cut the hook as short as possible, and tossed it back.  The fish was about 5.5-6lbs, which is pretty darn big for the lake I was fishing.  Throwing it back knowing that the hook was still in there, and there was a good chance of it dieing almost made me sick.  I still wonder if that fish lived or died.

[mlpauley]

Same exact thing my dad did. He caught a 5.9 lber in our local lake and the fish swallowed it. He cut the hook as short as he could but left some in. He put it back and hasnt stopped worrying since :'( :'(

[SudoomFisher]

When you have treble hooks swing around and hook the gills like when fishing jerkbaits, do you take the hook out or leave it in of taking it out could rip them up pretty good?

[J Francho]

When you have treble hooks swing around and hook the gills like when fishing jerkbaits, do you take the hook out or leave it in of taking it out could rip them up pretty good?

read the article I linked to above for reference.  Take the hook out!  

[Sam]

Go through the gills, if possible.

Read the article.  

[hawgwalker]

The dbarb tool works

[J Francho]

Sam, I think SudoomFisher was talking about trebles impaling the gill plate.  For that, gently remove them.  The link I posted cited a study where 20% of the hooked fish died from Cadmium poisoning, not starvation - Cadmium was from the hooks!

[6pointbuck2003]

thats neet

[Crestliner2008]

Crush down the barbs on your hooks and you'll never have to worry about it again. Your catch & release ratio will not decrease.

[zaraspook_dylan2]

No, she will not die. You did the right thing. I have read about this before because I get the same problem, as do all fisherman. But they say the hook will eventually fall out, and she wont stop eating.

Good post

Dylan

[.dsaavedra.]

http://www.***/articles/manns/hook_in_out.shtml

this is a great article, thanks for the link.

in case you didn't read the article, this is the conclusion paragraph, pretty much sums up the whole article:

Anglers practicing C&R rather than to eat bass might note these findings. Fish caught with only superficial wounds are likely to survive release. Small, deeply-hooked and bleeding bass likely should be eaten, rather than released to die later. But lunker bass are so valuable that they should be immediately released, even if they are bleeding or deeply-hooked. Remove the hook if posible. Leave an 18-inch leader if you can not remove the hook.