Harming a fish you wish to release

I am curious how those of you who fish for panfish relate to this. Seems to me that, occasionally, a fish you catch will have the jig/lure deep in the throat. Recently, I was doing catch n release. With one fish, I got bit on tight line and was shocked that the bluegill had the jig deep in its throat. I figured it would be tough to get it out without harming the fish and I was right. Even with very narrow forceps, I saw blood. I then kept the fish in the livewell to observe, thinking that if it died, I would take it home for cleaning. Along with a couple of others because if I am going to clean a fish, I want to clean at least three. Well, that fish died and I mean quick. I was really surprised. Fish are fragile! How the heck could that fish die so quick? There had to be some serious internal damage. I didn't get rough trying to get the hook out but there was, obviously, some trauma. So, there you have it; catch n release didn't work for this one.

So, what do you guys do? Do you think you have some super technique to remove a hook with no harm? If so, what? Do you find that this happens sometimes no matter what you do? The problem with bream is they have such a tiny mouth. I don't recall this happening with crappie; if it has, it's been a very long time ago.

This is a common problem with bass, especially fishing a soft plastic bait such as a fluke, which looks like a shad. You better not dally or the bass will inhale it. There is a technique for removing a hook in a bass' throat by going behind the gill plate but I have yet to master it and it's often portrayed as an easy technique.

I just do not want to return a fish to the lake that may die, it seems wasteful. Yeah, turtles and such gotta eat but it bugs me. And sometimes, I don't want to clean fish if I have plenty!

i try to keep large ones if they look to be hurt badly .
but sometimes off they go anyway , if they dont come back up , i think they might survive

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

i try to keep large ones if they look to be hurt badly .
but sometimes off they go anyway , if they dont come back up , i think they might survive

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Sometimes that’s all you can do. I guess down deep with the gills it is pretty fragile. I would much rather miss a strike and not get one rather than injure it. No way I would take any fish home from my home water.
Bob

If I see blood on a fish, I keep him. Unless he is too small to clean, and I have cleaned some small ones!, then I throw him back and let the other fish eat him.

The fish, turtles and birds have to eat as well. My goal is to not injure any that I wish to release. It at times does happen

I don’t think I’ve ever had a fish take a jig too deep.

A bare hook is more likely to be swallowed, but a disgorger will take care of that 95% of the time. They’re much better than pliers or hemostats.

If it's deep and I'm ketching& releasing. I cut the line and he's on his own.

Sent from my E6910 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Attachment 403605I have been having too many brim and shellcrackers swallowing the #6 truturn hooks deep. I was thinking I need something better than Hemostats. I just made these 3 hook degorgers from some old broken carbon arrows. I'm hoping they work...

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Originally Posted by RobertFL

I have been having too many brim and shellcrackers swallowing the #6 truturn hooks deep. I was thinking I need something better than Hemostats. I just made these 3 hook degorgers from some old broken carbon arrows. I'm hoping they work...

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They should work fine. I bought mine on Amazon.

With the #8s I use it doesn’t happen often but it does happen. Had one this past weekend that took it in the area where the gills come together. He came back to the surface a while later but didn’t last long, osprey got him. Sickles also have smaller barbs which helps me get em out without damage. A disgorged can also be made from an old toothbrush.

I hold the line tight in my hand, then use my little finger to push the hook out. I use jig heads with a #2sickle hook. If I turn my finger nail toward the barb. I can slip my finger into the bend and push the hook free. Since my finger is filling the gap of the hook It will slide back out

I did think about using a tooth brush, but we have more than 300 arrows in our archery room so i went that way. I hope to get out in the next week so I will know if the arrow nocks work. A #6 tru turn fit about right in the standard Gold Tip nock, a #7 fit good into the narrower blue ACC nock.

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Originally Posted by RobertFL

Attachment 403605I have been having too many brim and shellcrackers swallowing the #6 truturn hooks deep. I was thinking I need something better than Hemostats. I just made these 3 hook degorgers from some old broken carbon arrows. I'm hoping they work...

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By golly, I think they will! You beat me to it, I was just thinking today I bet a fella could make a disgorger. It needs to be narrow. Like your arrow!

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

With the #8s I use it doesn’t happen often but it does happen. Had one this past weekend that took it in the area where the gills come together. He came back to the surface a while later but didn’t last long, osprey got him. Sickles also have smaller barbs which helps me get em out without damage. A disgorged can also be made from an old toothbrush.

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HEY, good idea, I got an old toothbrush! Maybe take a grinding wheel to it and form a "v" for the disgorger notch?

Bream have such tiny mouths, it needs to be narrow. I dunno, maybe even narrower than a toothbrush but I am going to try your idea, cool!

Dirt cheap on Amazon:

Amazon.com

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Originally Posted by deathb4disco

Dirt cheap on Amazon:

Amazon.com

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I am glad you posted that because seeing it, it reminds me that sometime in the past few years, I have bought one (or more) of these! I don't know where they are but I know I have bought it! Hmmm... where are they!

Using barbless hooks or hooks with the barb pinched shut with pliers helps a bunch.

Look for "cold snap hook remover". Works great on reaching in to a 'gill mouth and pushing the jig out. Or you can notch the fat end of your standard wooden chopstick from your takeout place, works pretty well too.

The arrow idea looks really super. A no cost option if you have old ones just gathering dust. Thanks for the tip!
Bob

Update on the homemade hook degorgers I recently made..I used them on 36-40 Brim and shell crackers this morning. If you want to release a fish back to the water then this homemade tool is not going to work for you. If deeply hooked The pointed end can cause further damage to the throat.. I was meat fishing and my fish went directly into the ice. I see I need to make a couple of modifications. I did find the tool worked better than hemostats for deeply hooked Brim, I'm talking about hook recovery. I am considering buying one of the plastic ones off of amazon because I do want to release smaller fish as needed. The homemade tool worked very well on hooks between throat and front of mouth, very fast and easy hook removal. Attachment 403755

Sadly, causing occasional damage to a fish is just going to happen from time to time and there's only so much that one might do to prevent or avoid it. I remember refusing to use treble-hook baits of any kind while bass fishing (for many years) after accidentally putting a four-pound bass's eye out... when (apparently) this particular bass elected to just "slap" at my crankbait (instead of biting it) and was hooked on the outside of its head and through one of its eyes. I always practice catch and release when it comes to bass fishing. I know it seems like a relatively small thing to some, but it caused me much anxiety and even sadness every time I would think of such a magnificent predatory creature having to live out the rest of its life blinded in one eye because of me. Since that time, I've caught several others that were missing an eye... I'm guessing for the same reasons as the one I snagged. It's always a sad thing to see for sure.