Deep hooked fish & Surgery

OK everyone, I never claimed to be the brightest bulb in the pack.... LOL

I've been thinking about the above subject line, it has been discussed here very often, and the latest thread about being hooked yourself, and how to remove the hook. I think I had an epipheny, not sure.

When ever I had a deep hooked fish, one where the hook is in the gullet, I have had to either cut the hook off, and leav it, or I had to cut the hook in half, and remove it in two pieces, or the the only other thing I ever did was to kill the fish trying to remove it... basically pulling the gullet out.

Now on TV we always hear them say they have to perform surgery, but they never show it. Now after our last discussion on self hookups I wonder if what they do is this;

Take a very sharp knife, maybe even something like a beltknife (you know with the razor blade) and maybe cut the gullet slightly to remove the hook.

Would this be less harmful to the fish than leaving the hook in that basically sews the gullet shut? I know we all tell ourselves the hooks rust out, but I wonder. Think about all the line we pull out of the water that has been in there for years and it still has hooks on it. Of course it doesn't have the fish's stomach acid... or so we tell ourselves.

I still think the best thing is if I can cut the point off, then back the hook back out, but if I can't do that, would using a sharp knife to excise the hook surgically be the next best thing?

Opinions?

Danny

Danny,
I have heard this discussed back and forth a million times. I was once fishing with Will Kirpatrick on Sam Rayburn and He always carried a pair of heavy duty extended wire cutters so he could snip the hook in half and release the fish as unharmed as possible. Will is a guide on Rayburn and is very outspoken on the idea of catch and release and to being as careful as possible not to handle the fish anymore than nessary in order to increase the chances of the fishes survival. He is convinced that the excess handling of the fish while trying all the other remedies to a gut hooked fish do much more damage than just reaching in, cutting the hook in half and letting the fish go. Will has done a lot of research on this subject and is on the fishing conservation board in the state of Texas and is considered an expert on the subject. So, that is what I do now too. I have saved many fish that I am sure I would have killed (as I did in the past) by trying to remove the hook.
Steve

Happy Fishin'
Leave your Mark...Not a Stain!

Do not cut the gullet or the fish will die. Leaving hook in and they will sometimes die but biologist say that if you leave it in and try not to tug on it too much the fish has a decent chance at survival. When doing this try to cut the line tag as close to the hook eye as possible. It has been proven a bass has a certain corrosive enzyme in their mouth and stomach that can rust out a hook in as little as 10 days or so.

I know they say to cut the line ane leave the hook be. I still carry a pair of wire cutters I tighten the line slightly to raise the hook up without pulling and cut the hook as close as I can and leave the barbed end in place.

On fish that are keeper size I like to push the line down thru the gill then with my finger I'll pull the line till the hook eye is thru the gill then push the hook out using the shank.
This is not too time consuming and seems to be of little or no stress to the fish. Obviously it is easery the bigger the fish and the smaller the hook. Try this the next time you deep hook a fish it's worked well for me.
Stoner.

i Always Cut the hook and put the fish in the livewell and put that blue stuff in there that helps them. I DOnt KNow What It is Called

Hey danny whats you last name. i think i know you. this is wendell anderson

Yep you know me. I know both you and your dad.

for obvious reasons, I don't post my last name on the web.

You guys fishing the Lake Malone club again this year?

Danny

Yea Lol. We got 2nd the other day at malone chris browning had a good fish weigh 9lbs had 20lbs in 4 fish , me and dad had 14lbs in 3 fish,We need go one time, i was going call you a couple times last year when you call but i couldnt find the number.Dad said hey.

Ok I will be calm, If you plan to release the fish, before you catch it pinch the barb down and then the hook will just slide out even if it is in the "gullet" otherwise plan to kill it, lakeside surgery will do the same after a couple of days.

SSKY,

The really good news about this is that I catch so danged few fish, I surely can't harm any fishery I go to. LOL

I imagine I will continue carrying my wire cutters, in fact just bought a new pair the other day, and will continue cutting the hook in half. By doing that, it is very easy to remove both pieces with very little additional damage to the fish.

I always figure I can buy new hooks, but try as I might, I can not create new fish on my own. LOL

Danny

Wendall

Check your private inbox on this site.

I can't remember, you should be close to your senior year now? Or, have you already graduated?

I'll talk with you later.

Danny