FS Digest

I have never fished before but will have my first attempt in a few hours. My area has a lot of wolffish, and they are far from endangered. However, if they aren't a certain size, I have to release them. My only question is, how in the hell do I unhook a fish that can chomp my hand off? Keeping in mind I haven't unhooked any fish in my life, but something that doesn't bite me sounds less intimidating.

Using a treble hook with barbs(they came already attached to my lures).

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by Throws_Potatoes

FS Digest

Use long needle nose pliers. You should be able to buy some for relatively cheap. I use medical hemostasis because of the ratcheting lock they have at the handle. Makes it east to lock on the hook then maneuver the hook out

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by atcbutter

FS Digest

Another thing you can do is to push down the tremble hook a bit with a plier. That makes it easier to remove the hook but doesn't make the tremble hook completely useless.

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by halfAbedTOrent

FS Digest

You can get a good grip by grabbing them on the gill plates just behind the head, and then use long pliers

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by Beamng47

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

I don't know if would work on a wolffish, but when we used to catch pike we would grab them with a thumb in one eye and the middle finger in the other. It paralyzes them and they don't flop and twitch or bite. Doesn't seem to hurt them either. Damn, fish are tough. Can you imagine if something treated you like that?

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

A forceps or a long-nosed plier should work just fine. Grab him behind the gills. You will not be as close to the teeth.

Jeremy Loc: America

At first I though this thread was going to be a joke about wolfy

badbobby Loc: Humble Texas

[quote=FS Digest]I have never fished before but will have my first attempt in a few hours. My area has a lot of wolffish, and they are far from endangered. However, if they aren't a certain size, I have to release them. My only question is, how in the hell do I unhook a fish that can chomp my hand off? Keeping in mind I haven't unhooked any fish in my life, but something that doesn't bite me sounds less intimidating.

Using a treble hook with barbs(they came already attached to my lures).

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by Throws_Potatoes[/quot

Extremely carefully
and throw that treble hook in the garbage
use a single hook and mash the barb flat
makes releasing a fish much easier on you and the fish

Ron620DVS Loc: Guntersville Alabama

The lean, pearly white flesh of the wolffish has a firm texture and a mild, sweet flavor, sometimes likened to lobster. The meat has a flake similar to cod's but not as large. Wolffish skin is edible, but since there are no scales, this species cannot be kosher.

The ferocious-looking wolffish gets its name from the sharp, protruding teeth it uses to feast on lobsters, clams and other shellfish. Found from southern New England to Greenland and the Barents Sea, the bottom-dwelling coldwater creature is primarily a bycatch of trawl fisheries targeting cod, haddock and other groundfish. Iceland, which has a directed fishery for the species, is the largest producer. Imports also come from Canada and Norway, which is developing wolffish-farming operations. The striped wolffish is one of three Atlantic species, which also include the northern (A. denticulatus) and the spotted (A. minor) wolffish. From a culinary standpoint, there’s little difference among the three. Wolffish can reach 30 or 40 pounds, but market size averages 10 pounds.


The Atlantic wolffish (Anarhichas lupus), also known as the seawolf, Atlantic catfish, ocean catfish, devil fish, wolf eel (the common name for its Pacific relative), woof or sea cat, is a marine fish of the wolffish family Anarhichadidae. The numbers of the Atlantic wolffish in US waters are rapidly being depleted, most likely due to overfishing and bycatch, and is currently a Species of Concern according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service.[1]
Apart from their unique appearance wolffish are distinguished by the natural antifreeze they produce to keep their blood moving fluidly in their very cold habitat, involvement by both the male and female in brood bearing, and the large size of their eggs. They are also an important factor in controlling green crab and sea urchin populations, which can become overly disruptive to habitats if left unchecked. Wolffish population success is also an important indicator of the health of other bottom-dweller populations, such as Atlantic cod...


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_wolffish

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MuskyHunter Loc: Torrington, CT

It will probably kill them. Definitely will blind them...take better care of fish unless you intent to keep them.

crsemus Loc: Eugene OR

Use an axe to cut the head off. Then pruning shears to cut off the lower jar from behind. With the jaws separated, you can't get bit. Then you can use a couple of pairs of pliers to unhook. If the fish is undersized, you hafta throw everything back, but it makes good chum.

Best just don't catch wolf fish to start with. (I've never seen one, but this oughta work.)

badbobby Loc: Humble Texas

you tellin me it ain't??

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

As I recall (it was over fifty years ago) we were eating just about everything we caught because we were on a canoe trip into the Canadian boundary waters and the only thing we had to eat was our catch and some bacon we brought along. But yeah. How do you do it? Most of the fish I catch now don't have teeth. That's a wolffish skull in the photo.

crsemus Loc: Eugene OR

Ron62---
Thanks for good info. Well done!