bassfighter Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 I read at another thread that suggest we carry a large 10" long cutter to cut off the hook in case the larger fish swallowed the lures. The fellow had two of the three treble hook embedded in his arm, used the cutter to cut it partially and have to go to the hospital to get it completely removed. OUCH! Too many accident happening with treble hooks when the fish trash right when we try to take the hook off its mouth. Does using a cradle help prevent more potential accident? Do we need rubber gloves? I have never carry or own one at the boat, Are they necessary to help land the bigger fish? Is there a better way of handling larger musky or pike , so we do not spend unnecessary time to take the hook off its mouth and the same time prevent potential accident? I remembered sticking my hand inside the gills of a pike the wrong way, my fingers got stuck and started bleeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwl Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 (edited) incidental catches are one thing, but if you take time to read back in the forum you will see lots of discussion about going prepared for the big ones. If you are headed out with the purpose of trying to catch a hog musky, you need to have the right stuff to do it for sure, not only for your own safety but for the fishes as well. A big net,heavy rod/reel/line combo to adequetly fight the fish, and yepper some sort of good cutters just in case....I don't generally go musky fishing by myself alone in the boat so also having a buddy with ya to help when you start to get into tag team landing a fish is always good as well. Over the lastfew years I have tended to shy away from musky fishing with big body baits loaded with trebles, I tend to use over sized spinner biats and plastics and such with only one big hook on them...I may not catch as many as some guys do on the big body baits at different times of the year, but if I do get a really big one..only one hook to deal with. Personally I don't like the way big pike and muskies hammer some baits and get a face full of hooks, I don't want to kill a fish I intend to release becase it's mouth got mangled from my hook. Read up on it and stuff,get some info off some of the die hard musky guys from the board or try and talk to someone from Muskies Canada and such. This past winter at the conservation club we had a great guest speaker from Muskie Canada who did a great presentation on this topic..safety being the main issue for both the angler and the fish. Edited June 22, 2008 by jwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry2Rs Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 A jaw spreader, needle nose pliers and bolt/hook cutters are a must! Big nets like a Fish Pen are also very helpful because you can leave the fish in the water. They thrash when you try to lift them, so fishing gloves can save your hands as well as your fingers. If a Musky is badly hooked, please cut the hooks off. I always have a handful of 5/0 treble hooks in the boat to replace cut ones... I bought several hundred when I was tying bucktails big-time, so if you don't have a source contact me. Garry2R's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucktail Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 Garry2r has it right. Cradles can be tricky and dangerous at times. Its easy for a fish to get the hook in the cradle before he is in it! Buy a big Beckman or other quality net with a bag that is easy on the fins and LEAVE the fish in the water as you get your cutters and or pliers ready. If its going to take more then a few moments with the pliers simply cut the hooks with the bolt cutters and get a quick picture and let her go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunkerbasshunter Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 worry about the smaller ones that freak out as soon as your hand gets close ot it. The bigger ones (pike anyway) seem to be alot calmer then the little ones. Most people myself including always takes the bigger ones more seriously. I have long pliers for big pike so my hands dont go near there teeth or the hooks. I have yet to be hurt by a hook on a big fish. Have been bit by the hooks from smaller fish though, to many times that i care to mention lol Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
addict Posted June 23, 2008 Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 this year on our annual pike trip we decided on a new approach for fish and fishermen safety.we bought a craddle and pinched the brbs on the hooks.pure genius,the cradle was awsome way le4ss stress on the bigguns and bonus no boat slime.barbless hooks were also great hooks came out very easily on the snot rockets and the giants also they hold almost as well as barbed except for the odd short stiker.but we found it to be a way better trde off miss the odd one release almost all un harmed.also the barbless hook was way easier to remove from my friends finger would have real ugly with the barbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F7Firecat Posted June 23, 2008 Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 Get yourself a nice big net. Beckman,Stowmaster etc. Get it in the net, let the fish calm down it will not die in a big net, let it recuperate and let yourself do the same. Make sure you have the right equipment Cutters (knipex are nice) Needle nose long and short jaw spreaders whatever else you think you need Take your time, if you give the fish the time it will calm down, but do watch out for the little snot rockets they can be dangerous believe me I know!! I have landed a few muskies and pike in cradles and bending over with a 40 incher just a few inches from your face with a mouthfull of trebles is not my idea of fun. The wfiey got me a stwomaster a few years ago and I will never usea cradle again. A cradle is probably only good to help revive a fish that is stressed and not staying upright by itself very good, even in a big net you can help hold it upright. A big net, along with the proper release tools its the best thing you can do for angler and fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassman Posted September 14, 2008 Report Share Posted September 14, 2008 How exactly do you pinch down the barbs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reelpro Posted September 14, 2008 Report Share Posted September 14, 2008 I use mini bolt cutters. to cut the hooks out. Just snip off the hook that is embedded, and unhooking is way faster and much easier on the fish. I leave them in a large net in the water while unhooking. If you hoist them into the boat they will spin and roll and tangle in the net. Make sure hooks are out before lifting for photos. I made the mistake ONCE of having a 17lb fish attached to my hand - 1 5/0 trble in him and 1 5/0 treble through the back of my hand and out the palm. It hurt. A lot. [email protected] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted September 14, 2008 Report Share Posted September 14, 2008 (edited) It's good to leave the fish's head in the water as much as possible but sometimes she has to come out in order to get at deep set hooks, whether to pull them loose or cut them off. You can get a very secure hold of her with your hand gripping her gill plate and it makes it much easier and often safer to remove the hooks that way. Very often she can stay in the water with only her head out which is much more preferable than holding her vertically by the gill plate. She may still thrash and roll, but without too much pressure you can control her safely. I always like to grab the gill plate on the opposite side of her head than the hooks. Just be very careful cause bad stuff can happen faster than you can say ouch. Edited September 14, 2008 by lew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK Posted September 14, 2008 Report Share Posted September 14, 2008 Through expereince you will learn to read the body language of muskie and pike when they are in the net or cradle....You can tell when they are ready to thrash....Body stiffens and a surge of energy enters the fish..Hard to explain, but at this point hands are out of the netting device to allow the fish to have its tantrum and settle down again. A good firm grip under the gill plate when fish settles is usually the ticket and then hook removal by cutting out trebles with side cutters or removing lightly hooked trebles with long handle pliers of some sort..... Most times when possible I never bring the fish into the boat unless its unhooked,bait cleared from net and everything and everyone is ready for a picture. As for gloves,I personally do not wear gloves when handling big fish only because if you do happen to be wearing gloves and get in the way of a fish thats thrashing chances are the glove will be penetrated and trebles drivin into hour hand reguarless and then what ?? Now you got to somehow peel the glove back to the hook to assess the cituation...... Anyhow, bottom line is, A cool calm head and steady hands will prevail in this time of landing big fish opposed to full blown out "chinese fire drills"...No offence intented to our Chinese brothers but thats what we call it in this neck of the woods. Perhaps Capt Hooked (Kevin@Lakair) could tell us a story of how he earned his nick name here on the board Cheers !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickNblock Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 Through expereince you will learn to read the body language of muskie and pike when they are in the net or cradle....You can tell when they are ready to thrash....Body stiffens and a surge of energy enters the fish..Hard to explain, but at this point hands are out of the netting device to allow the fish to have its tantrum and settle down again. A good firm grip under the gill plate when fish settles is usually the ticket and then hook removal by cutting out trebles with side cutters or removing lightly hooked trebles with long handle pliers of some sort.....Most times when possible I never bring the fish into the boat unless its unhooked,bait cleared from net and everything and everyone is ready for a picture. As for gloves,I personally do not wear gloves when handling big fish only because if you do happen to be wearing gloves and get in the way of a fish thats thrashing chances are the glove will be penetrated and trebles drivin into hour hand reguarless and then what ?? Now you got to somehow peel the glove back to the hook to assess the cituation...... Anyhow, bottom line is, A cool calm head and steady hands will prevail in this time of landing big fish opposed to full blown out "chinese fire drills"...No offence intented to our Chinese brothers but thats what we call it in this neck of the woods. Perhaps Capt Hooked (Kevin@Lakair) could tell us a story of how he earned his nick name here on the board Well said Bud!...I liked the referrence to Kevin as well. Something else I had learned eartly this spring from the TheNextBite is also something I heard FIRST HAND from Lew this year up at lakair when we fished together... Whenever youve gotten into something large with teeth.......as far as I know everyones knees start a knocking and heartbeats race and it can , at times be general mayhem....... GetTheNet............. Get a good net for the job. Once netted you can leave the fish in it in the water (its own livewell) ..sit back, have a smoke and prepare yourself for the task at hand. You dont get hurt...the fish doesnt get hurt. Win/Win situation. Cheers !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Penny Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 How exactly do you pinch down the barbs? Squeeze the open end with pliers. It'll make unhooking a lot easier. Mary Penny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunker Larry Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 There has been a lot of discussion regarding nets. In Muskies Canada we've gone through the whole gambit: boga type grips, gaffs, cradles, etc and have found that the new large 'pen' type nets like the Big Kahuna are the best for Muskie. You don't have to pay big bucks, but look for a net that is also fish friendly, meaning it doesn't have a bunch of knots and the mesh has been designed so it does minimal damage to the fishes fins. The old nylon green salmon type nets are OK if you're going to keep a fish, but they tend to cut up the fins pretty bad and scrape a lot of the protective slime off. My preference is I allways use one glove for the hand holding the fish. I keep the hand I'm unhooking with gloveless so that if the fish starts going nuclear, I don't get snagged up. Good bolt cutters (knipex) are a must for a quick release with minimal stress and damage to the fish. Add some sturdy long nose pliars and you're good to go. Catch and release with minimal time out of the water and, no vertical holds for big fish. See muskies canada Catch and Release Tips article: http://www.muskiescanada.ca/articles/2007_...elease_Tips.pdf Tight lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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