How do I remove a hook a bass has swallowed?

[hipster_dufus]

i was fishing at cewc, lake bennett, when i hooked a monster, fought him to the boat and went to take him in and the line snapped at the boat. i screamed in agony. this one was bigger than my previous 9# personal best. i cannot stop thinking about it. so the question is does anyone use a net, and can u reccomend one? i hooked this one not 50 feet from where i caught my 9 lber. i had a friend in the boat and this was his first time ever fishing, he saw what it was all about. strike king bleeding bait crank, w/ 14# test, god i cant stop thinking about it.

[roadwarrior]

Get a rubber net, it's good for you and easy on the fish. It's standard equipment for me.

[p-funk]

I net anything I think is of good size.  I'd hate to lose a  big hawg because of a line break or trying to lip it when I could net it.  It's pretty easy to net and hold the rod at the same time.

[Hillbilly_Hooker]

RW or others,

Are the rubber nets the WalMart carries as good a quality as any others?

[chevy]

When I fish in tournaments I use the net for every fish just to be safe. You don't want the fish jumping and spitting the hook right at the boat. That hurts inside :'(

[roadwarrior]

Hillbilly_Hooker,

Probably, but I don't really know. I bought mine at BPS.

[Ben]

If it's over about 13 inches, I'm gonna release it anyway, so if I loose him at the boat, no biggie.   I'm not into hanging fish on the wall, figure they are much more productive in the water so I don't use a net, it's much easier on the bass.

[roadwarrior]

Ben,

I don't agree, particularly if you are fishing treble hook lures. I have had many big bass suck a BIG lure all the way in on aggressive feeding strikes. I don't think those fish survive if the lure isn't removed. I want to remove all hooks, not because I'm so cheap, but for the sake of the health of the fish. I can assure you that gently landing a fish in a rubber net does the fish no harm, none what-so-ever.

[p-funk]

If it's over about 13 inches, I'm gonna release it anyway, so if I loose him at the boat, no biggie.   I'm not into hanging fish on the wall, figure they are much more productive in the water so I don't use a net, it's much easier on the bass.

For me it's a different way of thinking.  I don't really even consider a fish "caught" unless it's in the boat.  I still let them go afterwards, but it's not too exciting to me to lose fish by breaking off line or shaking loose outside the boat.

[Matt Fly]

Never used a net on a bass yet. It will take a big one, or one that is big, but a poor hookset. What happens when you encounter a trail that doesn't allow nets. No lip service!!!! I do applolgize, I just always assume that we all tournament fish. I know nets have come along way, but slime coats are still rubbed off in the newer improved nets. I also see RW's point as well.  We all try to do right in our own minds.  

[Yankee_Bassman]

I now use a rubber net under several circumstances:

The lake I fish almost exclusively has extremely thick weeds on the bottom. I was losing big fish at the boat because I couldn't find their lips under the sod farm they were tangled in.

I use a net when I am fishing with finger-attacking lures like Devil Horses and large jerk baits. One trip to the hospital, and one experience extracting a treble with needlenose myself, after getting impaled while lipping were enough, thank you.

I also use it when I can see that the fish is poorly hooked.

They're also a great help when a pickerel has grabbed your favorite lure, and you want it back with a minimum of pickerel slime on your hands, which invariably wind up being wiped on my pants.

I assume the same would hold true for Pike, and in any event, you don't wanna be lipping those suckers, or your friends are gonna call you "Stumpy".

As far as damaging fish goes, if you watch trout fishermen, who seem to be positively anal about how they handle fish to be released, they all use nets, and try not to remove the fish from the water. I've gotta believe that these guys have spent entire winters reading research into whether nets are harmful, and have concluded they aren't.

As to a recommendation, get a rubber net. I haven't had trebles tangle yet, and that is not the case with regular nylon or other braided type netting. My net has a long handle, and I added an elastic loop for my wrist, with one of those bungie ties that has a plastic ball on it. I get the fish in the net one-handed,  lever the net out of the water on the gunwale, put the rod down, and lift in the fish with both hands. Sounds harder than it is.

[Ben]

I think I was misunderstood just a little.  In 45 years of bass fishing, I've never had but one break off at the boat and that was because I let my line get under a portable 6 gal tan, this was many years ago.   Your could easily see the hammered place in the line but didn't realy know what happened to the line at the time but two days later, it got my rod tip, then I learned.  I have bunches break off in cover, but never one in open water.

As for getting the hook out, if it's suck down in his gills or throat, I cut it off with dikes and leave it alone.  Experts claim it does more damage to get it out than to leave it in, so I follow their lead.

I to don't consider a fish caught until I'm the one releasing it, and it does tick me off to have a big one get to the boat, say it's tired of playing this game, give my lure back to me and go on it's way, but I feel that's part of the sport and challange.  If I can't land it without a net, it wins that round.  

Just like when I bow hunted, I used a recurve, couldn't give me a compound.  Those things push an arrow faster than a 22 bullet.  If I wanted that, I would use a gun.   I play for the sport and challange, not just the kill.

[sinker48]

My choice is A rubber net. Net most all fish the docks I Fish from most of the time are to high from the water to lip the fish. The nets I have are Frabill brand. Added  A plastic arm socket to the handle gives more leverage when netting yourself.

                        Good  Luck !

                                     Sinker48                   .

[Rattlinrogue]

I catch,photo,and release.Have no problems with those who keep 'em.I don't use a net.I mostly just lip 'em.I do use a Berkley Boca (think that's what it's called).It grabs their lip.Don't use it because of losing fish.I got hooked twice in 2 weeks a couple of years back with treble hooks and had to get them removed at the emergency room.If  I catch one that looks like trouble ,I ****** her up with the Boca grip.

[Sam]

I always use a rubber net when a fishing buddy brings the fish close to the boat.

After netting the fish, I place the net and fish on the bottom of the boat and then go back to my place and start to fish again while my buddy takes care of unhooking and releasing the fish.

The rubber nets are easy to use; the hooks don't get tangled in the netting; and it saves me time as I don't have to help untangle the fish from the net.

The only down side to a net is that it takes up a lot of room and is awkward in the boat.

[bassackwards]

i was fishing at cewc, lake bennett, when i hooked a monster, fought him to the boat and went to take him in and the line snapped at the boat. i screamed in agony. this one was bigger than my previous 9# personal best. i cannot stop thinking about it. so the question is does anyone use a net, and can u reccomend one? i hooked this one not 50 feet from where i caught my 9 lber. i had a friend in the boat and this was his first time ever fishing, he saw what it was all about. strike king bleeding bait crank, w/ 14# test, god i cant stop thinking about it.

Like I said, lip the sucker after he's netted.  you might have done us all a favor for this perfect example.  so it wasn't all bad, lol  

[Glenn]

1) With the hook in the gullet, note which side of the fish's mouth the hook shank is toward. Note: For illustration sake, the line is eliminated here in steps 2 through 5. In reality, the line stays connected as this technique is performed.

 

(2) With a finger or two, reach in through the last gill arch on that side of the fish and push and pull down on the hookeye so the hook turns and . . .

 

(3) rolls out below the gill toward the side of the fish. At that point, amazingly, the hook, barb and all, almost always pops free from its hold in the fish's gullet.

 

(4) Reach into the fish's mouth and grip the bend in the hook (which is now up) and . . .

     

(5) lift it free. If the fish's mouth is too small to reach in with your hand, use a needle-nose pliers to grip the hook bend.

 

What needs to be emphasized is how resilient a fish's gills actually are -- far from being the fragile organs often suggest by some sources. And the occasional bleeding fish? Does it have to be kept? Just get the fish back into the water as soon as possible and, more often than not, the bleeding stops.

The technique also works superbly on walleyes, smallmouths, and other fish, usually taken on smaller hooks, often salmon-style hooks.

[Kana]

good article, learned quite a few things.  glenn, good post as well.  thanks for the contributions

[Guest avid]

this is one great thread.  Personally, I don't like netting bass.  My own feeling is that lipping it and getting it into the boat is the only truly sporting way to land it.  If it breaks off at the boat all it means is that the fish won.  The lesson is to retie more often, change to a stretchier line, don't "high stick" and so on.  Many Many Many 10+ lb bass are successfully lip landed every season.  The whole idea is to give the bass a sporting chance.  Better luck next time.

PS - I am not a tournament fisher.  For me the joy is in the process of fishing, not weighing in the biggest string.

[SuthernProg]

For me it's a different way of thinking. I don't really even consider a fish "caught" unless it's in the boat. I still let them go afterwards, but it's not too exciting to me to lose fish by breaking off line or shaking loose outside the boat.

Exactly!!!

SP

[extreme1018]

i never consider a fish cought unless you have control of the fish. control=possesion..no control=no fish cought

[IneedAnewScreenName9886691]

I am not a rubber net fan.  Too heavy and slow for me.  I prefer the soft cotton netting, still nice on the fish but much lighter and faster in the water.  This realy makes a difference to me if I am the one netting my own fish.  

[Guest avid]

reading this thread was like a walk down BassResource.com memory lane.

Remember Chevy? The cute, skinny Canuk

where you at girl?

LOL, Love these ancient threads.

avid

[frogtog]

Hmmm thought I was to old to learn something! Now I know better. As far as

the net goes I allways leave it at home. It has cost me more fish over the years

than it has saved. When you catch a fish try not to get excited and take your time, play him, enjoy the pull and don't try to horse him in. He will come to you when he is ready. I allmost lost a 30 year partner over a net. He had a monster on and didn't do the above, he was hollering get the net and that got me excited and i jumped in the middle of the net, had it all up around my knees. When I finaly got straight I put the net in the water and knocked the fish off. You would not belive the agony I went through for three weeks. I was talked about at

every tackel shop, Macdonals and Hardies. Anywhere he could get someone to listen to him. This fish went from probbly 9 - 10 lb to a world record over a net.

Thats why I leave it and him at home. 8-)

[Bud]

I always use a rubber net.  Why take a chance to get a hook in the hand by lipping one.