When the fish swallows the hook....
 

What do you do? I do alot of bass fishing with live bait(shinners and small bream) and some of the fish swallow the hook so its stuck in their throat, I dont like eating bass that much I mainly fish for the fun of it. But when the fish gets a hook stuck in its throat alot of times I cant get it to just pop out so I cut the line and let him go, I figure this increases the chances of him dieing some and I hate to know that fish may die for nothing but I think ripping the hook out does way more damage so my question...what should I do?

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

iv herd and belive that after a while the hook like dissolves they say its best to cut all the line off and keep the hook in there

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

There was a post on here a while back about lots of fish dying in tournaments. I was so convicted in my heart that I was going to stop worm fishing. I use to let the bass run for a long time . Not good, they will swallow the hook and it's just not nice. So I decided to do this. When my fish picks up the worm and the line is straight , I count 1 thousand 2 thousand SET. None of my hooks have been swallowed yet.
I thank God for that.;)
Chuck

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

I am with you Chuck. It is really disturbing when you look down the throat and see that it is beyond the throat. When it occurs, I usually just cut the line. I have caught plenty of fish with other hooks still in the mouth and deeper. The circle hooks work better when you are fishing with live bait. When you detect the take you simply straighten the line and start reeling without a dramatic hook set. The curved circle hook will come out of the throat and usually hook up on the side of the mouth.

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

Chuck your intentions are honorable but in reality you can't wait or give em enough time in all situations. A fish and take a bait in and exhale it back out so quickly that you wont even feel it in some cases. Ever seen the videos of crankbaits that were chuggin along and a nice fish inhales them and just as quickly exhales them. The person reeling the bait didn't even know it. They have LIGHTNING quick reflexes.

Also, and I've heard Bill Dance tell this too many crowds, "They aint got hands"!!! That meaning what do you think they are playing with the bait with? Whenever you feel a fish SLAM HOME THE STEEL. No sense in playing with him, more than likely you will only tip him off that something is up and he will drop the bait and be gone!

There's new evidence that suggest leaving the hooks in do as much harm as cutting them out! Makes sense, in saltwater sure it would rust away quickly but todays super hooks will not rust out in freshwater anytime soon. All you are likely to do is kill the fish by starvation. The best way is to take a true pair of cable cutters, the kind that cut right on the end so you can cut exactly where you need to. Cut the hook in as many pieces as you need to get it out. Typically all you have to do is remove the barb and either push the hook all the way through or pull it back through.

Good luck,
RA

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

I agree with ya. The only thing is I used to let mine runfor 10 seconds. That is bad.I tried your way lots of times and never caught one. My 2 second wait isno guarantee but I do catch fish and have had no swallows yet.
There he is......1........2.......Nice Fish!;)

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

if u want to risk losing alot of fish u can take a plier and bend down the barb and most of the time no matter how far it goes in u can get it out because it is the barb that is what tears everyting up when unhooking them, if theres no barb u can almost always get it out

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

Not until this tournament is over.;)

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

Good idea! I haddent thought of that but im sure it`ll help me out some. Thanks.

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

My understanding of the "leave it in" theory has been
it is not the water that dissolves or degrades the hook
(though salt water could be an exception) but the fish
itself, it's acids. That said, I prefer cutting the hook and
removing with as little damage as possible. Removing
or using hooks w/o barbs is probably good too but I've
never done it. Until it's in my hand I have'nt caught it.

PKnTX

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

With myone 1000two 1000 method I havn't had one swallow it yet. When I first moved to Florida some old man taught me to let the fish run for a long time. :(Not a good idea for catch and release. Since reading a similiar post a couple of months ago I'm actually catching more fish. Alot of times when you wait the bass exspells the worm out of his mouth anyway. I caught 9 bass last week and had no close swallows.
God bless you all,
Chuck

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

Chuck7, old bill use to also say, the first tap you feel is the fish sucking the worm in, the second tap you feel is the fish blowing the worm out, and third tap is me tapping you on the shoulder and telling you that you done waited too long to set the hook. ;) there is no reason for waiting to set the hook while worm fishing. However, fishing something like a super fluke on top, I've always had to wait a few seconds before I hit.

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

I get alot of swallows on rooster tails.

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

What kind of fish swallows Rooster Tails.
Chuck

That is one of my go getter lures. Caught 9 bass last Sat.. 2 on worms6 on Rooster tail and1 on Rattle Trap.The Rooster tail is great for the first hour. I then use worm next. And then fish rattle trap later on deep suspended fish.
Chuck

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

I keep a pair of Hemostats in my tackle box for that reason. Its really simple to remove a swallowed hook. Just put the hemos in through the gills. Pull the hook upa little so you can grab the top of it. The angle that the pliars go in will give you the leverage to remove the hook with minimal damage. I saw that in an In Fisherman mag a few months ago works everytime.

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

I think smashing your barb, if you know you will be releasing the fish afterwards, is the best way. You may lose more fish but sliding the hook from any place where you can get pliers on it is easy.

RE: When the fish swallows the hook....
 

I don't fish sweetwater to often anymore but in the salt we use the new circle hooks. This way we can release under size fish. When you get a strike just hold on while the fish swims away, the hook sets itself in the corner of it's mouth, 99% of the time. The hardest part is not setting the hook out of reflex as this will pull the hook out of it's mouth. Worth a try if your releasing all your fish.