Just a question

[Tennessee]

When I hook a fish to deep talking about the throat and I don't want to kill the fish I just cut the line and let the fish go...my buddy says the fish will die and we should just keep it and clean it. I don;t have a problem eating bass love the taste and I do catch and release just wanted to hear yalls thoughts

Thanks Will

[bamabassman]

There is a way to take out the hook through the gills. Forget where it is, but you can cut the line the hook will dissolve eventually I think. I have done this and haven't seen the fish die from it.

[bcklash]

It's ok to cut the line and leave the hook in. Done it many times.

[Fishnngolfn]

This is the way I remove a deep hook by myself. I get a good firm grip on the bottom lip. I put the line in my mouth to hold the line straight. I then go carefully through the last gill slot with a hook removal tool (mine look like long hemostats). If you turn the fish away from you, the gills will open up more so you can get the tool in without banging up the gills too much. Make sure you get a good grip on the hook in the bend and make sure the tool is perpendicular to the hook. I then just quickly turn the tool in my hand away from the hook point. The turn is almost like a controlled jerk. The hook will just pop out if you have grabbed the hook in the bend. Then I use my mouth to grab the line and slowly pull the hook all the way out of the fish's mouth. Of course it is a lot easier if you have another person to help.

Another way is to push the hook all the way through and pull the hook out by the point. Then you can just cut your line. This is hard to do with worm or ewg hooks. This method works the best with circle (octopus) hooks.

Of course, if I plan on eating the fish, then I just wait until the chef hands me my hook back after gutting and cleaning the fish.

[Jigger]

Cut the line and leave the hook. I've caught lots of fish throughout the years that had varying stages of dissolving hooks in them that were healthy. The most memorable one had a length of mono hanging out its anus. I gently pulled on the line and out came the almost dissolved shank of a hook. The bend and point had already dissolved. The fish was big and healthy. Proof that gut hooked fish can and do make it. My theory is that they have a better chance of surviving a hook in the gut than a filet knife. Catch and release----even gut hooked bass.

[Fish2win]

Jigger is correct, They will most often survive if there was proper handling otherwise. If only 50% survive that is better than 100% mortality from cleaning. Fish2win

[zooker]

Cut the line leave the hook..


zooker

[woody]

I agree with cutting the line and leaving the hook also. Although I'm not against keeping a few for dinner.

[RandyHolt]

i had a classic senko gut hook moment today. I could see the eyelet but also the sharp end of the hook coming back thru the gullet towards his mouth. I suspect this happens on lots of gut hooks during the retrieve, but when you ease the pressure on the line and take a look, you cant see that thin sharp end. So I cut the line and pulled out the hook the way you would if you hooked your finger. The sharp end has to come out first. I grabbed the end of the hook and fed it through. Never fight the barb. There is some strain when turning the hook (variable to the hook type and size) but I contend no worse then when he is fighting during the retrieve. A final little twist gets the shank and eyelet out.

I am sure fish survive and fish die by leaving the hook in his belly. Its not universally right or wrong. Feeding the hook out just seems its worth a shot. We certainly dont mind hooking them in general, so we shouldnt mind trying to unhook them as well. It seems there are many tools and methods available after perusing all the threads on gut hooked bass. The 79 cent degorger is worth a look, and entering from the gills is worth a try as well.

I am going to take the pliers to my senko rig and squeeze that barb down. Gama could maybe market more barbless. Being PC and all that. Fisherman can be quite humane and I think there is a market there. If we need barbs to land a fish maybe we just need to learn to reel a lot faster.

[fishin spro]

They should make a tool that you can cut your hook with fairly easy. That would make it easy to unhook gut hooked fish.

[RandyHolt]

A miniature bolt cutter should fit in there. I just wonder for when you dont see the pointed end of the hook, would it still be wise to try and feed the hook out. What i found on accident today I think actually happens alot during the retrieve of a gut hooker. The sharp part of the hook has already made its way back towards the mouth.

I share this all because I think it may be worth a slight little pull of the line to see if you can see the end rear its sharp point, the barb already locking it in place during the retrieve.

[bassintom]

It's just a hook,cut the line off at the hook and cut the hook in half and get the fish back in the water.Should be fine.You don't even have to get the hook out.It'll work itself out.

Good to always carry a pair of side cutter in the boat.I keep mine on deck.

[RandyHolt]

If that 3O EWG hook was anywhere in me, I would get it out. I wouldnt wait for it to rust its way out. Even though it is just a hook I bet every poster on here would want it removed if it were in them. And the way to do it is to continue it on its way. And its usually well on its way, I theorize.

What about hooking the fish anywhere else and then removing it, barb and all; we dont give it a second thought. Are you not going to catch him a second time because you dont want another pin sized hole in him somewhere. I think the damage is done on the retrieve. Leaving the hook inside him, he still has to heal. Just like if its removed. I dont think its like the ole days yanking an arrow out and you bleed to death.

But its a debate as old as catch and release I imagine. I hope the always leave the hook or the hook cutter group have considered trying the gill technique or the 79 cent disgorger.

[BigBassin144]

Randy, pulling the hook out the opposite way is a great idea. I may have to try that. wacky rigging always seems to get deep hooked fish. I've been trying different hooks to try to reduce this or eliminate it. I've always used an octupus hook, but I just bought a pack of octopus circle and regular circle hooks to try and keep the gut hooking to a minimum.

BB

[RandyHolt]

i have tried using oversized hooks to eliminate gut hooks and dinks. I have been using 4 aught and 5 aughts a lot this year but yesterdays gut was on a 3. Yeah BB144, just gently pull the hook upwards to its mouth as it lays, and look and see if the barb end is already well on its way out. The part I wonder about is if its smart to force it out if its not in sight. You can tell where it should be by looking at the eye and shank and knowing your hook shape. We should know we are close before even doing anything.

I am going to do everything i can to make it safer on him and easier on me. Bye bye Barb; I kinda want to try the gill method myself but am hesitant as I am sure my first stab at it will not be pretty. I will test out the disgorger too, but wonder how effective that cheap a tool actually is.

[basstech]

I would suggest getting the plastic bait out if at all possible. The soft plastic I think has a much higher chance of harming the fish than the hook.

[MallenManson]

Gotta love the way so many around here respect the fish. If you can't remove it without causin alot of damage, I leave it in. If you feel it will cause less damage by pushing the barb through, by all means, go for it. Fighting the barb can really damage the fish depending where it's hooked.
Funny related story only in a people version.
While building the house I live in, I shot a 16p nail into my thumb. For those of you who have used nailers before, you know that each nail carries a strip of heavy glued cardboard with it.
Had only a tad of that cardboard still showin on the head side and a lot of it on the point side. Went to the hospital to have them remove it and they wanted to pull it back through! I don't freaking think so! That would have caused even more damage. So my dad, who was there with me, went out to his truck, grabbed a pair of cutters and brought them back in. He cut the head off himself and they pulled it on through lol.
So I can CERTAINLY see how much damage the barb can cause if pulled back through.
Morals of the story: Always pull in the direction of least damage and beware the double kick!

[wargoth]

Originally Posted by bcklash

It's ok to cut the line and leave the hook in. Done it many times.

Again and again I see this question, and this very reply... It has been so long since I read it, I can no longer credit the original source, however...

One of the DNR's commissioned a study on this exact topic focused on bass and found the following over the course of a 10 year study:

When deeply swallowed hooks are left in a fish, in 75% of cases it is fatal within 2-4 weeks. Often because of either the hook causing further damage, or starvation. Additionally, a large percentage of fish that survived the initial month ended up succumbing to either infection or poisoning from the coatings on the hooks. Often cadmium or other metals are used to plate the hooks to prevent corrosion. The higher quality hooks are especially corrosion resistant and will have these coatings.

The practical upshot of this is that scientific research has disproved the old wisdom of "leave it in it will rust out" and that every effort should be made to remove the hook. I have had great success with removing hooks with the method shown here: Through-The-Gill Hook Removal.

On those VERY rare occasions that I can't get the hook out without killing the fish, I will usually take it home for dinner, or if I am not in the mood to clean a fish, I will remove the hook completely regardless of the welfare of the fish so that hook won't cause other wildlife trouble. But, regardless of whether the fish lives or dies, if I am releasing the fish, I ALWAYS remove the hook.

So, take it or leave it, but there is the condensed version of some substantial research into the matter.

[MallenManson]

Originally Posted by wargoth

Again and again I see this question, and this very reply... It has been so long since I read it, I can no longer credit the original source, however...

One of the DNR's commissioned a study on this exact topic focused on bass and found the following over the course of a 10 year study:

When deeply swallowed hooks are left in a fish, in 75% of cases it is fatal within 2-4 weeks. Often because of either the hook causing further damage, or starvation. Additionally, a large percentage of fish that survived the initial month ended up succumbing to either infection or poisoning from the coatings on the hooks. Often cadmium or other metals are used to plate the hooks to prevent corrosion. The higher quality hooks are especially corrosion resistant and will have these coatings.

The practical upshot of this is that scientific research has disproved the old wisdom of "leave it in it will rust out" and that every effort should be made to remove the hook. I have had great success with removing hooks with the method shown here: Through-The-Gill Hook Removal.

On those VERY rare occasions that I can't get the hook out without killing the fish, I will usually take it home for dinner, or if I am not in the mood to clean a fish, I will remove the hook completely regardless of the welfare of the fish so that hook won't cause other wildlife trouble. But, regardless of whether the fish lives or dies, if I am releasing the fish, I ALWAYS remove the hook.

So, take it or leave it, but there is the condensed version of some substantial research into the matter.

Perhaps I'm mis-informed but I was under the impression that nowadays, not only are more bait companies making quick-rusting hooks, but that law makers are making it so?

[Jrob78]

NEVER leave a hook in a fish's gullet if you can possibly help it!!! Learn the through the gill method and you can save the vast majority of gut hooked fish.
http://www.electric-bass.org/throughTheGill.htm This is the same as the one posted above but the pictures are a little bigger. Go in through the gills with needle nose pliers or hemostats and grab the hook as deep as you can. All you do is basically flip the hook over, you easily tell which direction it needs to flip. You will be amazed at how easily the hook pops right out. If done correctly and quickly the survival rate is very high. I always keep gut hooked fish in live well until the end of the day just to make sure they are doing okay. This method is so easy, learn it!!!!

[RandyHolt]

I am bumping this because that was a great post Jrob78. I missed it standing on the shore getting shutout for the past 10 days. All gut hookers and senko'ers should click that link.

I am no expert but was a bit surprised at how many just leave the hook in no matter what (and most astonished by those that leave lots of line). I think its humane to do the fish a big and try and get it out using finesse tactics. If it happened to me, I would want anything done to get that thing out. I bought myself the 79 cent degorging tool, and naturally havent gut hooked a single fish. I had GH'd 4 in a row right before I ordered two.

[3dkicker]

I'm with Wargoth and Randy on this. Have posted on it before too. Use the method described and remove the hook.

[Jrob78]

The thing about it is, modern hooks don't rust like people think. If hooks rusted away easily we would all have tackle boxes full of rusted hooks. A bass with a hook stuck in it's throat is doomed. It is so easy to pop the hook out with minimal damage.

[TnTom]

I know sometimes I put away flys wet and they rust pretty fast. The hook is really small compared to bass tackle but Trout don't fair very well when left in. I always remove it being as gentle as possible.

[BeaverIslander]

Originally Posted by Jigger

Cut the line and leave the hook. I've caught lots of fish throughout the years that had varying stages of dissolving hooks in them that were healthy. The most memorable one had a length of mono hanging out its anus. I gently pulled on the line and out came the almost dissolved shank of a hook. The bend and point had already dissolved. The fish was big and healthy. Proof that gut hooked fish can and do make it. My theory is that they have a better chance of surviving a hook in the gut than a filet knife. Catch and release----even gut hooked bass.

I've seen half dissolved worm hooks in a bass mouth that still had mono attached to it that was in good shape.

It's just a reminder of how long mono stays in the lake and how important it is to keep your tag ends and loose pieces of fishing line out of it. It lasts longer than cigarette butts.