A few years back I had a pair of compound action diagonal cutters. Fancy name for well leveraged cutting pliers. Anyways, I used them to cut hooks in half whenever I had a gut hook or other tough to remove hook. After loosing them it took me years to find a replacement, but now a new pair is readily available and I wanted to share this info.

If you struggle with gut hooks, hooks in the cartilage and tendons of the corner of the mouth, and think there has to be a better way with less damage to the bass then try these pliers. To me it is worth cutting the 50 cent hook and retying rather than struggling to back the hook out. Cutting the hook works best when you can see both ends of the hook, but backing it out would be difficult and damaging to the fish.

Available at Lowes and many online locations for just under $20. As a bonus they can also cut line.

Crescent 9" Compound Action Diagonal Cutters.

You might better use a "Barb It" made. To debarb deeply hooked fish.

You would be better off learning to remove a hook from the gullet. Here's how:

You need a few feet of slack line. Stuff a wad off slack line in the mouth of the fish. With the mouth of the fish facing straight up, go up through the gills, pull the line out through the gill plate and step on it. Step on the line, not the fish. Put some tension on the line. This will rotate the hook so the point of the hook is pointing down, into the gullet. Keeping tension on the line, reach in with long nose pliers, and pull the hook straight up. It will come out easily, with little or no damage to the fish.

To do this by yourself takes only a little practice.

Well after getting a 3/8oz chatterbait to the face Sunday I will add it is still a good idea to have cutting pliers in the boat for more than hooked fish. With nothing to cut the hook I had it there until hospital maintenance brought up a pair to cut it.

Not familiar with the "barb it", but I'll look it up and probably get one to try out.

I am familiar with the line through the gill technique. It has it's time and place too.

And fortunately I'm not familiar with the hook to the face. Ouch.

I keep a pair of cutting pliers with me at all time when fishing due to hooking the gut or gills. Its a small price to buy a decent pair to help save a fishes life. I feel its a civic duty if I want to keep fishing.

I carry a set of Kipex cutters on my boat all the time. Musky/pike fisherman use them for cutting hooks for quick fish release. And if you ever get hooked yourself they are invaluable. They cut through any size hook onehanded.

I keep a medium sized pair of diagonal cuttlers with me, they will cut all but the big thick flipping hooks. While any hook is capable of getting us, it is the treble hooks that worry me most and with my cutters I can cut through a size 1 treble so I'm ok with that. I may be one of the few who carry cutters to free myself rather than the fish, not that I don't want to free the fish but being one who loves fishing jerkbaits, and alot of them having 2 sets of trebels, I imagine myself being hooked more than the fish.