Just a side note for everyone, be aware of the type of hook your dealing with. I had a Berkeley frenzy crankbait buried deep in my thumb once and we tried the string trick, it didn't work. After a closer look at the hook, they have an inner bend back in to shank of the hook. May have still just been the operator, that's who I sure blamed it on in the moment but did make some sense after we seen it wasn't a Normal "J" hook.

I also wonder if it will work on sickle hooks as well??