Gut Hooked My 2nd Bass.. Boy I feel very crappy about how I handled the situation when I accidentally gut hooked a very small large mouth bass.. it was probably only 1lb. And the poor...

FS Digest

Boy I feel very crappy about how I handled the situation when I accidentally gut hooked a very small large mouth bass.. it was probably only 1lb. And the poor guy swallowed my hook and bait. I tried my best to unhook it with just my hands because I didn’t have a set of long nose pliers handy. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the thing out so I resorted to cutting the line. I noticed the poor little guy swimming off VERY slowly, not energetically fighting like before. I took too long to get ahold of what happened and probably killed him.. It affected the rest of my fishing time and the entire night all I did was look up videos on how to properly get it out... regretting what I did and wishing I’d done differently. Is there an easy way to cope with this because I LOVE the sport. I just don’t like seeing them struggle and swim handicapped.

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by yungdutch_

FS Digest

I’m not experienced nor do I nor if this would be a good solution but since you are sport fishing maybe you can remove the barb from the hook for easy extraction?

Hopefully someone else has something better to offer.

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by wigako

FS Digest

You're doing the right things- figuring out how to deal with it better the next time it happens. When it happens again, the best thing to do is stay calm and analyze what's going on. Most times, you can clip the line and work the hook out backwards with needle nose pliers without causing too much damage. You absolutely need to bring some needle nose pliers with you from now on.

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by KingJohnHenry

FS Digest

For sure! Thanks for helping me stay at ease. Is braided line okay to work it through backwards without doing too much harm?

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by yungdutch_

FS Digest

Happens to everyone. I killed a beautiful pike that I had no intention on eating and felt like crap. Ended up buying some tools to prevent it from happening again and looking up tips and tricks on what to do if it does happen. It’s been a couple years and hasn’t happened since!

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by Lumarideal

FS Digest

What kind of tools do you need for that besides like a pair of needle nose pliers?

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by StevoTheGreat

FS Digest

I got a pair of really long plier type things that help a ton when the hook is deep in the fish. Also got this mouth opener type tool since I’m fishing pike.

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by Lumarideal

FS Digest

Can just put a finger under it's mouth and he'll happily open up for you

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by mataskietas

FS Digest

I know I'll take some flak for this, but whatever: this is a huge benefit of fishing for food instead of fishing for fun. When I'm fishing, I'm looking to take home dinner, not give a potentially lethal involuntary piercing in the name of fun.

But if you insist... the absolute #1 thing to learn here is to always be mindful when you have bait in the water. Always be ready to set that hook. Once you master this, your rate of gut hooks will go way down.

That being said, it's still sometimes going to happen. It really sucks.

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by esreveReverse

EasternOZ Loc: Kansas City Metro

Take the treble hooks off and put on singles and debarb them, for future fishing.

Andy J

There’s prob a lot of methods for this. To avoid it as said in a previous post. Set the hook quickly. It’s gonna happen sometimes anyway. I just clip the line as close to the hook as possible. They rust out very quickly. You do more lethal damage when your performing a hook removal operation. I’m always willing to sacrifice a hook to save the fish. It’s the worst part of fishing if your not planning on eating them. Treble hooks are a whole different story. The bright side is that dead fish won’t go to waste either way. Andy

Whitecat Loc: Mt Pleasant, Michigan

KingJohnHenry wrote:

You're doing the right things- figuring out how to deal with it better the next time it happens. When it happens again, the best thing to do is stay calm and analyze what's going on. Most times, you can clip the line and work the hook out backwards with needle nose pliers without causing too much damage. You absolutely need to bring some needle nose pliers with you from now on.

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by KingJohnHenry

Maybe not only needle nosed pliers, a good pair of forceps works exceptionally well too... these useful devices can be found in longer lengths, and are much narrower than needle nosed pliers. The smaller over all size of forceps can make it easier to see what you're doing. Of course, crushing the barb on a hook makes removal even easier.

Best Regards and Good Luck!
Fred Williams

kprzybyla

It happens... there are tons of studies on mortality rates of gut hooked fish and they have about a 97% survival rate... my best practice with this is, if you can't easily remove a hook, remove as much line as possible and set em free... you'll do significantly more damage to the fish trying to perform surgery to remove a hook. Their bodies will eventually push the hook out just like when you get a splinter.

EasternOZ Loc: Kansas City Metro

kprzybyla wrote:

It happens... there are tons of studies on mortality rates of gut hooked fish and they have about a 97% survival rate... my best practice with this is, if you can't easily remove a hook, remove as much line as possible and set em free... you'll do significantly more damage to the fish trying to perform surgery to remove a hook. Their bodies will eventually push the hook out just like when you get a splinter.

Welcome to FD KB

So this to shall pass, might feel like a kidney stone but it will pass.

Randyhartford Loc: Lawrence, Kansas

Whitecat wrote:

Maybe not only needle nosed pliers, a good pair of forceps works exceptionally well too... these useful devices can be found in longer lengths, and are much narrower than needle nosed pliers. The smaller over all size of forceps can make it easier to see what you're doing. Of course, crushing the barb on a hook makes removal even easier.

Best Regards and Good Luck!
Fred Williams

I will second Fred on the forceps. I use a pair of “locking” forceps that work like vise-grips. They are great for deep throat hooks.