How should I handle this?

[omahabasser]

Guys, I feel bad. This weekend I caught a hawg of a small mouth, 20+ inches. Pictures on film, will post when they get developed.

The problem was the fish swallowed my jig DEEP and I couldn't get it out. Someone told me the best way to handle this would be to cut the line and release the fish and the hook would work its way out.

This guy at work who is an avid fisherman told me I should have probably kept the fish and eaten it since it would die a horable painfull death with the hook in its gut.

What should have I done?

[ironman]

I think the hook usally just comes out after 1 day.That is what my dad said.

[WTL]

Thats not always true you know. You gave the fish a good chance. Sometimes the hook does work its way out.

I tell you once I stepped on a needle and it broke off in my foot, past where I could get at it with pliers. I walked around for 2 weeks with it sticking in there, and it worked its way out. Mechanically it probably should have stayed in there or I would have thought it would have, but evolution or God's design has equiped both us and the animals for such eventualities as getting gut hooked or having small foreign objects lodged in our flesh.

[Plitz]

To tell ya the truth I do not think that the hook is just going to come out.EAT IT THOUGH!!!!! I think you should of mounted it cause soon it will be turtle food.IMHO

[Snake2715]

When I was younger ~12-14 my grandmother lived on Gun Lake here in Michigan. We had a bluegill that was around one summer.

It had the gold eagly claw hook and leader(mono line) hanging out of its rear end for quite a while. I do not know how he passed the hook as I am sure that really hurt.

We stopped seeing him near the end of the summer. One of two thingshappened I suppose....

He either passed the rest of the leader and we didnt recognize him or he became food for something else.

So it is possible for the to pass it.

[betursweetbass]

Yeah, I hate when that happens, you said it was a jig right? Well thats going to take longer to errode in the bass's system, and there is a chance that it could die, but I'm in favor of releasing any fish instead of killing it. I am not schooled or educated in the science of fish anatomy, but I have seen fish with hooks in them that have obviously been there a while, and I would like to believe that the fish can survive this experience to live and be caught again. This is my feelings on the matter: I have been fishing for about 15 yrs now seriously, and in those 15 yrs, have caught hundreds of bass, and I can only remember foul hooking maybe a half dozen or less that resulted in the fish's demise. It's unfortunate, but I can live with those numbers.

[GorillaWarfare]

I heard somewhere (can't remember where) that hooks rust out after about a week. Therefore you should cut the line if the hook is burried deep down in them. I don't know how accurate this is but someone once told me that.

Gorilla

[omahabasser]

Thanks guys! I hope that fish lives. That fish was HUGE for my cabin lake. I usually only pull out 1 or 2 pound bass out of there.

[Bender]

Gorilla, the guys at BassProShop told me the same thing. They said that they even did an experiment with it and it worked.
I still had my doubts so I have a Gammy 4/0 hook sitting in a cup of water here at work. It has been about a week now and it does show some signs of corrosion, but nowhere near rusting through. I will try to keep you posted on the results.

[WTL]

Bender, I imagine the hooks corrode more from exposure to the animal flesh, salt, and perhaps regurgitated stomach acid than lake water. Also consider that the metal may cause the flesh directly around the hook to rot, thus loosening the hook enough to pass.

[3dkicker]

Sorry to tell you this but I've pulled up crankbaits in netting and the paint has faded away due to the algae growth on the body and the hooks still haven't rusted away. It takes a long time for today's hooks to rust.
One way to solve the problem is to cut the line 18" up from the knot. Slide the tag end of the line down the gill (not between or touching the gill) slit towards the tail. Once the line has come out of the gill slit then PULL DOWN on the tag end and using pliers pull up on the bend of the hook. Should pop free. Having someone to help or demonstrate is better than doing it alone. I've used this technique many times.
Also if you can not remove the hook and do release the fish it has been shown that leaving 12-18" of line is better than cutting the line at the hook. Mortality rate is much lower for some reason.
If the hook (bait) blocks the entrance to the stomach and the fish can't feed then more than likely the fish won't survive. Fillet the fish and get your lure back.

[zooker]

the acid in a fishes mouth just like you and i's spit. will eat thru a hook in 6 days. if it is "gut hooked" it will digest the hook and crap it out..

best thing to do if they are gut hooked cut the hook off -it is only a lure- remove skirts and trailers.. i highly disagree with leaving 12-18" of line tied to it.. in fact this just plum pisses me off when i do encounter a fish with the line trailing behind it. this is the BIGGEST pile of crap bassmaster has ever put in there mag.


zooker

[Rebbasser]

I keep a pair of side cutters in the boat for just such a situation. I cut the hook as short as I can and let the fish go. Leaving 18" of line hanging off it strike me as making the problem worse.

Smitty, I think this might be what you are referring to:

Hook Removal

[KenDammit]

yes...a hook in "fish world" is not the same as a hook sitting in some water. there are acids and all kinds of that good stuff that will eat through a hook good enough for it to break off. Just like WTL said, too..there is no creature on gods green earth whose body will not reject foreign objects.

You just have to remember, as an angler, that gut-hooking a fish and having to cut it and leave part or all of the hook is going to happen..to all of us. It might happen just once..but its gonna happen somewhere on the road. Bass are a lot tougher than most give them credit for.....and there are many of them. I won't kill any animal thats harmless to me, but its a part of life.

[Bo Dale James Jr.]

I just read this in F&S last night...The hook corrodes or is expelled.
I was always told with fragile fish like trout and Bluegill cut the line leave the hook. Bass are a little more robust, but I haven't had any problems releasing all the bass I have caught...(all 3 of them).....

[crankybait]

i think ill try an experiment, mixing vinegar, water and maybe some spit. the vinegar is the most acidic thing i have. anyways itll be a decently close reperesentation, better than just water

[JB]

i always carry sidecutters and needlenose pliers to get those hooks out, I think I deep hooked a bass last year on a tiki stick, but usually its a
rarity...

[WTL]

Cranky, urine and salt would be closer.

[crankybait]

i guess but that would be pretty grimy... never theless, i guess i can try that...

[JB]

I've always read that you must combine the urine with saliva tho, to get the correct acidic level required, plus they must be mixed with the tongue, so good luck with all that!

[crankybait]

ive got some ph paper i got from science to see random acidities. ill measure it out as close and as sanitary as i can get

[WTL]

Is any of this really nessesary? I was joking, good gosh, don't have a cup of pee on your desk. You're weird enough. Lol.

[crankybait]

chill lol id leave it outside ofcourse. and i aintgonan use piss. most liskely go with vinegar or lemon juice, whatever is more acidic

[3dkicker]

Rebbasser
Thanks for the article with the photos. This is exactly how it is done but as I said I leave 12-18" of line. In some fish it is very difficult to get your fingers inside the gill slits. I'd make sure that my hands were wet first before attempting to do it as shown. I'd also put the fish in some Rejuvenade/Bass medic water before releasing the fish. That's just me.
Now about hooks rusting inside a fishes mouth and leaving the line outside. Some of you don't feel this is the best thing to do but how you feel and actual facts may be two different things. Check out the article found at http://www.mnbf.org/conservation/hooksinout.html
This may shed a little insight on the topic here. It's not my opinion but has a little science behind it.

I'll recap what was found.
1) Hooks don't rust quickly in the fishes mouth, even in salt water. "After four months, 78 percent of the hooks were still imbedded."
2) Keeping the line outside the body is better than cutting it short. "Fish mortality was greater when all line was trimmed."
3) Actual studies were done to determine #1 and #2

[omahabasser]

Thanks Smitty! Verry Verry good information.