I have read, or been told by others that it is better to cut the line and leave the hook in a fish when difficult to remove.
Supposedly the acid in the fish will dissolve the hook?
I caught a HSB this morning that apparently the hook passed through the fish intact.
The hook was barbless.
Whadda 'ya think?
Your fish should be OK, it might slow your HSB's growth down temporarily while it heals up though. Typically hooks will rust out rather than get dissolved by acid. I have seen a LMB pass a jig with the curly tail still attached to it out at our pond. Chrome plated hooks are the one type of hook I do not like to leave in as they don't rust easily. I base this on expierence since one October I left chrome plated worm hook in a LMB's throat, the follow April I caught the same fish again and the hook was still in it's throat, the hook had barely began to rust. The good news was that the hook was now turned around and I could easily remove it, but that was one skinny LMB after 5-6 months with the hook in it's throat.
George was that what was left of a pellet fly ?
Coupla years back a caught a 14" spec with a gold plated hook impaled IN its stomach. There was no sign of fresh bleeding and indeed it looked like the stomack had healed around the hook. The fish was feeding and looked normal sizewise....
I personally believe the idea that hooks rust out quickly etc. etc. is exaggerated. Looks like George has proof.
If that hook would have had a barb on it I'll bet it would have been lodged somewhere and done permanent damage. Probably killed the fish.
When I am worm fishing for LMB in my pond I mash the barb down on the hook with a pair of pliers.
When I do hook a fish deep I cut the line about 18" above the hook. Then I feed the line down beside the gills & then gently pull on the line.
This should cause the hook to rotate making it much easier to get the hook out with a pair of long nosed pliers. The eye of the hook should be pointing toward the fishes tail.
This isn't original with me I found it on some fishing web site last year.
It does make it much easier to remove the hook w/o a lot of stress on the fish.
BOY AND WE THINK WE HAVE IT BAD PASSIN STONES
Since we are releasing everything we catch, what kind of hook should we use? I have heard about "circle" hooks, but don't know what that is. I like the idea of mashing the barb.
By the way, I agree...OUCH!
Let me provide a novice circle hooks user's view of them.
They are short-shanked and the tip is curved slightly inward (back toward the shank).
They are a little harder to get bait on than most conventional hook styles because of the inward-curved tip.
You don't set circle hooks, you let the fish set the hook itself while pulling away on the line. This takes a little getting used to. They are THE ABSOLUTE BERRIES for fishing on an infrequently watched line (the second pole that I set deep, throw long, and forget about) since the fish either hooks itself or not - when he let's me know he's on the line by pulling, I work on reeling him in.
I have had notably better success while fishing deep (say, 4' or more down) with circle hooks, since I have always had trouble setting hooks that far down. In shallower situations I still prefer an aberdeen, but fishing with circles has made me much more patient wrt setting hooks and I think is responsible for me doing a better job setting conventional hooks.
As far as circles not foul-hooking fish, IME they certainly have had a much lower incidence of hooks that I don't feel I can safely remove than conventional hooks. And in the few cases where I cut the line because I was afraid to kill the fish, the circle hook was not in as far as the gills and there wasn't any bleeding. In one case, a tagged RES I left a circle hook in was recaught about a month later with the hook gone and no apparent ill effects.
Lastly, every time I mention circle hooks at home, my wife looks at me funny and mutters something about finishing first and third in a fishing derby.
Remember that Circle Hooks make great X-Mas gifts for the wife too.
