Any good tricks for removing hooks?

[LimerickShaw]

Hey everyone,

IMO my Achilles heel when it comes to fishing is the removal of hooks when fishing for trout. I have the utmost respect for trout and I always try to catch and release but sometimes I hate trying to get the hook out in fear of hurting/killing the fish. I try my best to keep in a net I currently use a mesh one, I think I may transition to one of the plastic looking ones because I feel like the mesh always tangles the fish but sometimes it's a struggle.

Does anyone have good tips for removing hooks in the most efficient manner without risking hurting the fish.

Thanks!

 

[el jefe]

Are you using barbless hooks, or hooks with the barbs crushed down? That makes it way easier to release them, but you will also suffer more from a phenomenon known as the Remote Release (the fish coming off the hook during the fight). Most places I fish require the barbs to be crushed down, so I just crush them all down, and I'll never find myself in violation of any local waters' regulations.

 

[dillon]

Does anyone have good tips for removing hooks in the most efficient manner without risking hurting the fish.

Thanks!

Use debarbed hooks and pull the hook straight out. No twisting. Fingers usuallly work when hooks are barbless, but forceps help when the hook is deep. If the hook is too deep to safely remove, cut the tippet a bit longer than the length of the fish. Keep the fish in the water, even when taking a pic. Hero shots are passé... Most people only want to see the fish anyway.

 

[dennyk]

Barbless & crushed down barbs would be your easiest solution. And also easiest on the fish.

Denny

 

[LimerickShaw]

Thanks everyone. I'll trying crushing my barbs

 

[fishing hobo]

Thanks everyone. I'll trying crushing my barbs

This is what I do as barbs to me damages the delicate mouth of the fish if it doesn't come out easily. It also pays to remove the barb as if it gets stuck in your jacket or wader, there will be damages taking it out of the fabric.

 

[flav]

If you truly want to handle trout as little as possible, crush your barbs and use a hook disgorger. A net doesn't make releasing fish easier, and I think it's actually harder on both the fish and the fisherman.

The disgorger I use is made from a 6 inch piece of dowel with a cup hook screwed into one end. Unhooking a trout literally takes seconds and you never touch the fish.

 

[Bigfly]

LS......
If one is catching smaller fishies, then maybe a net isn't needed....but if you can net fish a little earlier in the fight, you save them from burning a bunch of extra calories.....As opposed to playing to-hand nearly exhausted, then they have a challenge to recover. Bigger fish, for some reason, have more trouble coming back from the battle. Lactic acid build up I think.
It's a courtesy to them........browns can often be scooped on the first pass if you're practiced.....bows...maybe a couple more.
As these other fishers suggest...pinch those barbs...if you care, and it sounds like you do..
A Ketchum release tool is good if you don't care to make a tool. mostly for very small flies.
For me, 70% of the time the other hooks fall out in the net...
As suggested, handle those gems as little as possible.
Keep them in the water...treat'em nice.

Jim

 

[acorad]

If you truly want to handle trout as little as possible, crush your barbs and use a hook disgorger. A net doesn't make releasing fish easier, and I think it's actually harder on both the fish and the fisherman.

The disgorger I use is made from a 6 inch piece of dowel with a cup hook screwed into one end. Unhooking a trout literally takes seconds and you never touch the fish.

Any chance you have a pic of your disgorger that you can show us?

Andy

 

[el jefe]

This is what I do as barbs to me damages the delicate mouth of the fish if it doesn't come out easily. It also pays to remove the barb as if it gets stuck in your jacket or wader, there will be damages taking it out of the fabric.

It also makes it easier to get the hook out of your tongue. I've tried that without the barb crushed down, and I'm now pretty convinced that it's easier to get the hook out when the barb is crushed down. Like they say, "Good judgment is the result of experience, which is the result of bad judgment."

 

[omas]

It also makes it easier to get the hook out of your tongue. I've tried that without the barb crushed down, and I'm now pretty convinced that it's easier to get the hook out when the barb is crushed down. Like they say, "Good judgment is the result of experience, which is the result of bad judgment."

Barbless also makes it easier to remove a fly/hook from your own ear.

 

[fishing hobo]

It also makes it easier to get the hook out of your tongue. I've tried that without the barb crushed down, and I'm now pretty convinced that it's easier to get the hook out when the barb is crushed down. Like they say, "Good judgment is the result of experience, which is the result of bad judgment."

:shocking: how on earth did that happen - more than once from sounds of things

 

[fishing hobo]

Barbless also makes it easier to remove a fly/hook from your own ear.

Debarbed all my hooks before I did that as it would have been a matter of time. Hooking my jacket was enough warning for me to debarb all my flies.

 

[dharkin]

Dr. Slick makes some very nice tools. This one can be connected to a zinger on your vest and used to crush barbs as well as a pair of forceps to remove a hook from a fish. It also has a needle to clean the eyes of your hooks that have head cement or other debris blocking it.

Dr. Slick Co • Catalog

 

[flav]

Acorad, here you go.

Simple to make, simple to use. Grab the leader a foot or two above the fish, hook the disgorger on the tippet and slide it down till it passes the eye of the hook and stops at the bend of the hook. Then keeping everything tight you lower your hand holding the tippet and raise you hand holding the disgorger (this raises the fish out of the water a little). You end up with the point of the hook pointing downward and the fish slides off the hook and into the water. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Tonyfishslayer]

Like everyone said use barbless hooks. I good pair of hemostats will also help.

I try to handle my fish as less as possible. Keep them in the water make great catch and release.

 

[el jefe]

:shocking: how on earth did that happen - more than once from sounds of things

Nah, just once, that's all I needed.

I was changing my rig on the San Juan, and had cut off both flies. I was standing there holding my rod pinned between my upper arm and chest after replacing the first fly. I pinched the fly between my lips, just slightly behind them, while I rummaged through my pack for another fly box. Somewhere in that process the fly rod slipped from its pinned spot under my arm, yanking the fly into my tongue. I had not yet pinched down the barb. I yanked it out as fast as it went in, knowing that was the best way to do it. There was a little skin on the fly and I was spitting blood for a while.

What I did find out on a later trip on the San Juan is that if you are on a drift boat, your buddy's fly will slice a nice clean line up the back of your head on his delivery cast if he has pinched down the barbs on his hook, especially right after you got a buzz cut. I was glad I was facing the same direction as him!!

 

[acorad]

thanks flav, that makes perfect sense. I have a ketchum release tool but the geniuses that manufacture it don't include a "how to" so I fumbled and blundered around with it a few times and then got frustrated and just threw it away.

I always carry hemostats/forceps, but they really do tend to trash the fly.

Andy

 

[fishing hobo]

Nah, just once, that's all I needed.

I was changing my rig on the San Juan, and had cut off both flies. I was standing there holding my rod pinned between my upper arm and chest after replacing the first fly. I pinched the fly between my lips, just slightly behind them, while I rummaged through my pack for another fly box. Somewhere in that process the fly rod slipped from its pinned spot under my arm, yanking the fly into my tongue. I had not yet pinched down the barb. I yanked it out as fast as it went in, knowing that was the best way to do it. There was a little skin on the fly and I was spitting blood for a while.

What I did find out on a later trip on the San Juan is that if you are on a drift boat, your buddy's fly will slice a nice clean line up the back of your head on his delivery cast if he has pinched down the barbs on his hook, especially right after you got a buzz cut. I was glad I was facing the same direction as him!!

Looks like you are living dangerously from time to time . I had a hook go into my finger when a rod slipped out from under my arm - I am glad it was debarbed.

 

[fredaevans]

Lots of barbless hooks available; I prefer them to the crushed barb as they were designed (from the get go) to be that way: Amazon.com: barbless fly fishing hooks