I try to unhook the fish in the net if possible. Small ones are more dangerous. The big ones have plenty of room in the mouth to grab without hooking yourself. If the hooks are in a precarious spot, I’ll grab the fish by the belly, or by the gill plate like a pike.

 

The real danger though is a large esox with treble hook facial piercings. 

My waters have lots of toothy fish so I always carry lip grippers.

 They work great with trebles except when they have a hook in the upper and lower lip.

Happens alot for me with walleye.

Funny story...

 

Went bank fishing with my brother last summer and we were a fair distance apart but within shouting distance.

Anyway, I hear him in the distance call out and it sounds like he's happy about something but eventually it sounds more like cries of pain.

After a minute or so I decide to investigate and there he is with his face in his hands andvhis face against the surface of the water.

He told he reached down to lip this smally when it flipped into the air and he caught a treble hook to the face. So dropped his rod,  grabbed his fish and pushed it against his face to keep it from trashing. Then he realized he had to get the fish back in the water to calm it, but not enough to revive it too much.

And yes, I did make him beg before I released him from his trap.

24 minutes ago, PaulVE64 said:

Funny story...

 

Went bank fishing with my brother last summer and we were a fair distance apart but within shouting distance.

Anyway, I hear him in the distance call out and it sounds like he's happy about something but eventually it sounds more like cries of pain.

After a minute or so I decide to investigate and there he is with his face in his hands andvhis face against the surface of the water.

He told he reached down to lip this smally when it flipped into the air and he caught a treble hook to the face. So dropped his rod,  grabbed his fish and pushed it against his face to keep it from trashing. Then he realized he had to get the fish back in the water to calm it, but not enough to revive it too much.

And yes, I did make him beg before I released him from his trap.

ouch!!  hahahha

 

my friend was retying a lure.  him and a buddy were fishing.  trouble is they were both throwing the same lure.  he picks up his lure, not realizing it was the one already tied to my friends rod.  my friend "Casts" and effectively put every treble hook into the guys hand.  they took that one to the ER doc to navigate. hahah..

I’m amazed I have yet to get myself hooked because I get them hooked on car seats, my shorts, my shirts, my jeans, rod sleeves, my daughter’s hair, every dang time!

Expand the smaller pic beneath the selfie and you'll see the hook buried in his thumb, and that's one mean hook.

 

On 9/27/2022 at 8:46 PM, gimruis said:

Do I dare ask HOW

I got the story last night. He leaned them up against the car, one of which had a popper tied on and hooked down near the reel. He forgot they were there and kicked them over as he walked around back of the car. 

40 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I got the story last night. He leaned them up against the car, one of which had a popper tied on and hooked down near the reel. He forgot they were there and kicked them over as he walked around back of the car. 

Its definitely time to re-evaluate your association with this individual.

2 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Its definitely time to re-evaluate your association with this individual.

Awwww, here now. Bill dance has done the same thing a few times 

I hooked myself and I wasn't even dealing with a fish.  Late for a fishing appointment, trying to grab my rods quickly and had a triple hook lure in the keeper.  First it snagged on another rod, and trying to unsnag that, I snagged myself, but GOOD, on the back of my hand below the middle finger.  First I had to get into my tackle back for my clippers to cut myself free.  There I was with a treble hook hanging off the back of my hand.  I was fine with it, other than the immediate problem, but my fishing buddy was ready to pass out.  We tried various things, he even went home to fetch some wire cutters for me.  He kept giving me this ridiculous story about how I should go the ER.  Nothing doing.  I wanted to fish that day.  Well, the even wire cutters didn't work, but in my determined effort, they slipped a little bit and tore the wound enough that the barb was able to slip out with a little yank.  The worst part was staunching the bleeding.  Direct pressure finally did it and my friend had brought peroxide and bandages with him.  It was mildly troublesome for a couple of days, and took forever to heal completely.  But I caught my PB bass that day.  Moral: Don't get in a hurry when fish hooks are involved.   

I would have appreciated a decent scar, but just a little bump to remind me.  

I've been waiting to tell this story for several weeks!!!  Thank you OP.