Hook cutters..

[Greencoachdog]

If you can't remove the hooks from a fish in a safe and timely manner... maybe you should practice on Bluegills and Perch until you can!!!

 

... or better yet, the next time (or the first time) you hook yourself... just cut the hook off as close to the skin as you can and see what happens!

[JohnF]

There have been occasions when for the sake of the fish I'd have liked to have had a good cutter handy. If and when I hook myself it will seem even more important. Now I carry those old Gray cutters that I found. I know they'll hack thru any of the hooks I use. When I start going out on a boat (or a kayak) I'll carry the mini bolt cutters I got at CTC.

 

For now I'm doing pretty well getting the hooks outa the fishies without doing any harm. I've only had to go in through the gills a couple of times but I wuz gentle, I think.

 

JF

[Jer]

I have had to remove hooks from myself more than a couple times (plus a couple trips to the ER to let the professionals do it, what that says about me, I don't know).

 

Without a decent set of cutters on-board, those occasions would have cut a fishing session short. If you can show me how to remove a single point of a treble hook buried in your arm (or leg, or neck) without cutting the shank of the hook, I'm all ears.

 

Granted, you have to be careful. Never, and I mean never (I speak from experience) cut the hook before getting the point through your skin elsewhere and getting a good grip on it. TO GCD's point, that hook can and will get lost under the skin (one of the above-mentioned trips to the ER included X-rays and minor surgery).

[Crazyhook]

Watch this video and let me know if they are a good thing to have in the boat

 

[Spiel]

If you can show me how to remove a single point of a treble hook buried in your arm (or leg, or neck) without cutting the shank of the hook, I'm all ears.

 

I've performed the following method a number of times, including a dog's paw once.

 

To remove fish hooks when impaled past the barb, follow these steps:

 

Press firmly on the eye of the hook.

At the same time use a cloth, string, or some type of wrap that can be wrapped around the curved portion of the hook.

While pressing on the eye, pull with one quick motion on the attached cloth. This is virtually painless. Irrigate the wound and bandage.

 

Like so........

 

 

Perhaps not a good method though if you think major arteries, veins or tendons may be involved.

[Pigeontroller]

Yes!

[Sinker]

Got any fish with teeth down there Dawg??

[musky66]

I have cut hooks from Musky many times- I always make sure to remove the leftover hook piece after cutting so nothing is left in the fish. After cutting, just a quick grab and tug with the jaws of the hook cutter will usually pop them free.

[Guidofisherman]

Hook cutters are a great idea. Here is a story of what happened to me....I may have posted it before???

This story is painful to retell. You never know what you are going to catch when fishing in Northwestern Ontario. The area is famous for Brook Trout, Walleye, Salmon, Lake Trout and of course...big Northern Pike. Now this summer day, the fishing was a bit slow for our targeted species, the Brook Trout, so we drifted over to a shallow, weedy area that we normally don't fish because it has pike. Not that I have anything against catching a few pike. They can be a lot of fun with hard hits, several runs from the boat and interesting releases. I continued to flog the water with strip leeches and jig fly patterns in hopes of stirring up a wayward brookie near the shore. My partner, on the other hand has less patience for the tedious hours of brookie fishing and decided to throw a lure more suited to catching some pike action.

 

"I got one" was all that was needed to be said to turn the routine of casting into a frenzy of excitement. Nothing big, just another snake not even worth getting tangled in the net. Contrary to our best practices policy, my fishing buddy, "Grappling Hooks" (but that's another story) hoisted the small pike out of the water suspending it over the side of the boat for quick release. I knew better than to grab a wriggling fish around the belly with my bare hand and try to pop out the hook with pliers in the other. Hind site is 20-20 and sure enough, that nasty, slimly, tooth-filled, predator snake didn't cooperate (that's the fish I'm referring to, not Grappling Hooks). The pike thrashed, the line tightened and the hook popped out of his jaw and into my finger. I expected to feel pain looking at my finger with the hook point buried and the line still under rod tension. Maybe now was a good time for my "buddy" to release the drag on his reel as my finger was pulled skyward. Still no pain, just an ugly situation that was getting in the way of fishing. With the hook buried under the skin and the point not poked through as the picture shows, it was time to practice field surgery. After several attempts to back out the hook, I asked my buddy if he debarbed the hook like we do in this lake. I just got a sheepish, blank look and an unsure, "Uh... I think so." Actually, with the excitement to get fishing, he couldn't remember if he had pinched down the barb and after all, I was the biggest thing he had caught all day. Since it would not back out with repeated tries, we decided to cut off the shank of the hook and poke the tip of the hook through the skin with a pair of pliers. Eager to help the situation, my fish'n partner grabbed the needle nose pliers stating he would nip off the shank. The pliers were built too light to cut through the stainless steel and after numerous fumbling attempts, my eyes were beginning to water. On to plan "B".

 

This time I would use lineman pliers, assuring him that, "he had helped enough." There was just a little twinge as I squeezed the pliers around the hook shank snapping it clean. With the tip still buried deep in the skin, I grabbed the newly cut butt end and tried to rotate the hook tip up through the surface of the skin. I would like to say this part didn't hurt, but repeated tries just bumped the buried tip into the underside of the skin layer like an infected pimple ready to break. Either the hook was dull or I was a wimp! Now is the time to remind people to keep their hooks sharp for just this situation and avoid being a wimp. We didn't have a choice. Either the hook point popped through on the next try or it was off to the hospital to get professional help. One deep breath, grit the teeth and twist the pliers to the groans of my squeamish partner as the hook point finally popped through. It was a good lesson learned. DEBARB YOUR HOOKS! After a swab of a sterilizing cloth and a band-aid, we were back fishing, joking and debating whether I was a "keeper" or should we practice "catch and release".

[JohnF]

Ouch.

 

JF

[mepps]

ouch!

 

 

hook removal tips...

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010601/2231.html

Edited June 7, 2009 by mepps

[Sandbag]

Yikes Guido...that hurt to read...

 

Cheers

 

Craig

[Greencoachdog]

Same exact thing happened here Guido, little 1 lb. Bass flipped off the hook just I grabbed the line... sling shotting the treble into my little finger.

 

 

Only thing to do is rotate the hook out of the flesh and thru the skin again... yeah, the flesh and skin "tents" up and has to be mashed down onto the hook point for penetration... lotsa cussin' helps with that!

 

 

I did cut the hook point and barb off, but could've pinched the barb down as well:

 

 

I didn't need a set of hook cutters though, my handy dandy Gerber Fishermans Tool did the job just fine

 

 

... they also worked well on the 3/0 treble I knelt down on, burying the hook into my knee and thru my blue jeans 6 yrs. earlier.

 

 

... but this thread wasn't started about cutting hooks that are embedded in people, it was started about cutting hooks off in fish and leaving the barbed piece in the fish!!! ... if the barbed piece is removed, no problem!... if it's not... leave a barbed hook point in yourself sometime and see what happens!!!

 

 

Sinker Posted Today, 04:20 PM

Got any fish with teeth down there Dawg??

 

Don't worry about how many teeth my fish (or family) have son!!!.. we have enough to gnaw a ham hock that was cooked in the pot of Butter Beans!!!

Edited June 8, 2009 by GCD

[Sinker]

No worries Glen, I also carry a Gerber

 

I've never had to cut hooks out of a fish, and if I did, the barb end would be coming out for sure. I'd only cut hooks for my own safety, not the fish........they're tougher than I am!

 

S.