Fish That swallow your hook

[LeRoy_Metz]

on my last outing i was catching some nice sunn fish but they all were swallowing the hook .I thought maybe they wouldnt inhail a jig they did!.So i was woundering what could i use to prevent this and also what should you do when a fish swallows your hook.Should a guy dig the hook out or cut the line? what would be better for the fish any advise ?

[ozzie]

set the hook earlier!!!! not sure what to do with the hook if removing it means they will die then it is a personal decision to cut and lose the .30 cent hook and posibly die or remove it and they surely will die.....for me it depends on the size of the fish caught and the lake I am on.....but I read somewhere they are not sure if leaving the hook in is the best thing either.....

[ocf1]

Are you keeping them? If we keep them we pull the line till the hook can be unkooked. If not skinny pliers... I feel you though, We couldnt tell if there was a fish on until we reeled up alot, they were sucking it in.

[ironman]

two things that will help you with deeply hooked fish. One if you know your going to be releasing alot of fish, think about pinching down the barbs...you'll be suprised at how little this will effect your catch rate..but its alot easier to remove the hook. After gut hookin fish: Get yourself a forceps...or whatever they are called...its those pliers/tweezer thingies that doctors and pot heads use. most bait shops carry them and alot of ice fisherman including myself have on hand at all times. then come in from the gills, grab the hook by the bend and back the hook our of the throat. If it doesn't come right out, work the hook so the shaft is pointing away from the mouth, then come in through the mouth grabbing the hook right at the bend and give a quick tug straight back...that should do it. If not then you've really done it this time!! chances is are its going to die. Hope this helps.

[EBass]

How about a larger jig? Just a thought - also I agree on pinching the barbs down. I do that to all the topwater/scum frogs I have. It makes a HUGE difference getting the hook out.

[analyzer]

I have always been curious as to why sunnies seem to always swallow the hook.... until 2 years ago. I have a 55 gallon aquarium, and my son decided to keep a couple sunnies, a crappie and a bullhead for the aquarium. Eventually, we also purchased a bass from a pet store. It was fascinating watching the differences in their feeding patterns. The bass and crappie would attack the minnow and engulf it, often they stuff themselves so full they can barely get another minnow in. They occasionally spit the minnow back out, turn it around, and swallow it again. The bullhead, wouldn't forage on any minnows more than a couple inches off the bottom, and would also spit and re-swallow to get them turned head first.

However, the sunny was different. Very passive. Often would wait until the minnow was right in front of it's mouth, maybe a 1/4" or 1/2" away... then poof, the minnow would disappear. But the sunny didn't bite/engulf the minnow, it merely flared it's gills and sucked the water through it's gills and the minnow would disappear. I think that's why they swallow the hook all the time.

As for removal. I don't know whether this is completely ethical, but I was once fishing at tanners lake, and this old man showed me an interesting technique. He took a stick, about a 1/4" in diameter that narrowed to 1/8" or maybe 3/16"... and was about a foot long. Picked the bumps or buds off it, so it was smooth. He would then grasp the line coming out of the sunnies mouth, and with the same hand that is holding the line, hold the stick down the sunnies mouth, so that it is in the back of it's throat. Can you picture this. He's not holding the sunny at all, only the line and the stick in the same hand. Holding both just above the sunnies mouth, so that his thumb and index finger side of his hand is facing down. He then swirls his hand like he's whipping eggs or stirring something, hook pops right out, sunny falls back in the water. PRESTO. I had him do it over land, so I could inspect the sunny. No visible damage, no blood, nothing. I have used the technique many many times, and it has not failed, and to my knowledge, it hasn't killed any sunnies.

[LeRoy_Metz]

thanks these are some great tips, i cant wait to try them out.

[fishinJohn]

Great tips, I have never though of going through the gills. Just an FYI, roach clips went out of style about thirty years ago!

Quote:

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Get yourself a forceps...or whatever they are called...its those pliers/tweezer thingies that doctors and pot heads use.

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[ironman]

Well, I didn't even know they were used for such things unti an ironworker buddy of mine saw my forceps clipped to my coat and informed me of my "drug paraphenilia". Whatever..but they work great. dude.

[hanson]

The "through the gills trick" is the best one out there.

I feed the line coming off the hook through the gills (closest to the fishes body). You can tug on the line and it will rotate the hook so the hook eye is pointing towards the tail and the bend in the hook is pointing towards the fish's mouth. A lot of times, just that tug will pop it out. If not, reach into the fishes mouth with your pliers, grab the hook in the bend, and tug it out. Piece of cake.

One day on the river, fishing crawlers on the bottom, and 30 some Sheephead lived to see another day while I was learning this trick.

[Northlander]

Longer hooks.

[Nick Kuhn]

Quote:

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The "through the gills trick" is the best one out there.

I feed the line coming off the hook through the gills (closest to the fishes body). You can tug on the line and it will rotate the hook so the hook eye is pointing towards the tail and the bend in the hook is pointing towards the fish's mouth. A lot of times, just that tug will pop it out. If not, reach into the fishes mouth with your pliers, grab the hook in the bend, and tug it out. Piece of cake.

One day on the river, fishing crawlers on the bottom, and 30 some Sheephead lived to see another day while I was learning this trick.

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I do it with northerns that inhale smaller lures. I just grab the lure and pull it back all the way through the gills (you are working against the way the hook was set so it comes out easily). There I remove the lure, and pull the free line back through the gills. Avoids the teeth and no need for a jaw spreader if it decided to really clamp down. Can easily be done with no damage to the fish, all of mine end up blood free and just about all of them still take off like a rocket.