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When bass swallow the hook....

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26 comments

  • jonk
    So far as the rust goes, I'm sure there are some digestive enzymes at work as well. I would suspect that in some cases it does just work/rust out and in others it does kill the fish. Probably depends what it is hooked into. But I too would appreciate more info beyond this.
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  • callktulu
    Well, when they swallow the hook on me, the end is still in its mouth, but the barb end is deep inside. I know for a fact it'll kill the fish if I try and take that hook out from its throat; that barb just tears up its digestive track.

    [:(]
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  • MMOMEQ-55
    I leave the hook in and let it rust. If they have swallowed the hook into their gullet you will kill them if you try to remove it.
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  • ljwrench
    Leave it in. You'll do more damage getting it out. Even if it doesn't "rust" out I doubt they'd mind it much.
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  • bigbill0910
    I like 'em fried!
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  • callktulu
    quote:Originally posted by bigbill0910
    I like 'em fried!


    Me too, but I like catching them more. The more I release, the more to catch again!
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  • hrbie
    I have actually heard that bass have digestive enzymes just like humans. And that those enzymes will break the hook down until it prett much dissolves. I wonder if there has been any studies on this?
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  • callktulu
    quote:Originally posted by hrbie
    I have actually heard that bass have digestive enzymes just like humans. And that those enzymes will break the hook down until it prett much dissolves. I wonder if there has been any studies on this?


    There's about to be, because I'm going to swallow a 1/0 hook and find out!
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  • bigbill0910
    Make sure and cut the line off. You will trip on it![:D]
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  • hrbie
    Dont forget to use powerbait....really good flavor.[:)]
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  • Knife Crazied
    I've always heard it will rust but I most of the time easy as possible try and take it out. I was told it won't kill them they will just regrow the insides. So, I find it more friendly to take the hook out. Just my opinion though.[:D]
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  • Sig220_Ruger77
    I haven't had too many times where I have had to leave the bait/hook in, but last summer I had to leave one of my Mini torpedoes in a little Northern I caught. Dang thing devoured it and there was no way I was getting it out without harming the fish. Felt bad, but there really isn't anything else a guy can do sometimes.

    Jon
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  • Liv2Fish
    I have caught fish that have a old hook in their mouth. The fish usually are thin and the hook is rusty. I have been able to remove a few but more times than not just left them alone and released the fish.
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  • evileye fleagal
    simple fix push line down an out gills. close to fish body there is a gap there if you look. you are wanting to bend the hook over itself. so you can grab the bend ,you know the bottom of hook. dont run the line over the gills but rather under them if any bleeding starts squirt a little sprite on them.take an extra one just for this poke a hole in the top so you can squirt a small amont its somthing bout citrus asid. hey just take my word for it hook will come right out after the the eye is pulled down toward tail of fish hold the line grab bend of hook with neddle nose you can thank me later when you prove it to yourself.
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  • bigoutside
    barbless hooks?
    I busted up a small mouth last year and, like you, felt pretty bad about it.
    I'm doing the catch and release deal as well (unless I'm hungry and paying an out of state license fee) So I started mashing down the barbs.

    Since they are going back anyway, I'd just as soon lose a few before they get to my hand in favor of getting them back in the water safely.
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  • bustinstainless
    i caught a big small mouth a couple weeks ago
    and it had some line and a hook in it from someone else
    the line looked pretty old but hard telling couldny see the hook
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  • fishhead896
    I have had jigs deep in a bass and just cut the line. If im gonna be on the water for a few hours,ill keep the fish in the live well and see how it does,on numerious occations the fish has worked the jig out of it self
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  • fishkiller41
    Stainless hooks have been outlawed in Florida, for a long time.Commercial species and many sport fish species have been studied for enzyme/digestive acids and they will and DO rot a steel hook.If u want to C&R fishing in the future, i suggest buying "CIRCLE HOOKS".They are as good, if not better at hooking fish as a reg."J" hook but u need to relearn how to "SET THE HOOK"..Using a circle hook, their is no more actually "SETTING".U merely allow the fish to pull the line tight, then you simply begin reeling.Allowing the fish to "SWALLOW" the hook is now what U WANT.The hook is designed to slide back up, out of the fish's gullet and hook it in the jaw.
    Good luck guys, and LEARN THE BENEFITS OF USING "CIRCLE HOOKS".
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  • oldemagics
    i finally get to give an educated answer to this question!
    son started a rather large aquarium and put several catfish and smallmouth in it
    two catties and one bass had swallowed hooks when he caught them
    less than 2 weeks passed before the hooks had been dissolved enough that the remaining line/hook eye were laying in the bottom of the tank
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  • woodguru
    If they swallow the hook they are eaters.

    We used to go to the Mammoth Lakes area in October right before the season close. My wife and her dad and I had gone down to the lake where we liked to fish and there was some big fat pig that had been there, we figured at the rate of pulling a fish out every few minutes he would be limited out in a little while.

    He was using power bait and ripping the hooks out with a pair of pliers and throwing pound and pound and a half fish into the water to float around dying or dead. I watched him do that to half a dozen fish and had finally had enough. I said that's it, he's leaving now. Jeanne's dad was trying to tell me we didn't need the trouble and I told him there wouldn't be any.

    I walked up and quietly told the guy he was done, he said he only had four fish so I picked up one from the shore and held it out to him and told him that was his fifth fish. He said no it wasn't as he had released that one because he wanted a bigger one. I simply told him to pack it up and if he had anything to say about it I'd get a warden over to count his dead fish with the same power bait in their mouth as he was using. He wasn't happy but he packed it up and left.

    Guys that are serious about releasing fish use flies or lures where 9 out of 10 are good to go for another day. Bait that gets swallowed is for meat fishermen.
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  • joshmb1982
    theres a difference between a hook just sitting in the water and a hook thats stuck in a fish. heck leave the worm on the hook for a few weeks and see how rusty it gets.
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  • Bamavol
    I tend to agree with fishkiller41. I doubt that a stainless hook will rust away. However the fish may encapsulate the hook with growing stomach tissue. I release most of my catch. But if deep hooked I will keep. I like circle hooks, but I fish with jigs and lures that have regular hooks. I try to avoid plugs with several triple hooks. A single hook is trouble enough.
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  • thermonuculer
    Huh?
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  • kumatelives
    get out the fillet board,be kind to your prey and kill it quick
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  • fishkiller41
    quote:Originally posted by kumatelives
    get out the fillet board,be kind to your prey and kill it quick

    We're talkin "FILLET&RELEASE" now.
    then U release the fillets into some got grease!![;)]
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  • brucey44
    quote:Originally posted by fishkiller41
    quote:Originally posted by kumatelives
    get out the fillet board,be kind to your prey and kill it quick

    We're talkin "FILLET&RELEASE" now.
    then U release the fillets into some got grease!![;)]


    No your talking why waste the line and the hook. :)
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