It was windy today and I was fishing a weightless senko, so I guess the fish took it before I could feel the bite. I set the hook and brought him in. It was a nice 1 lb 5 oz fish. He was hooked in the back of his throat, but it didn't look too bad, I could see the point of the hook.

So I took some pliers and got the hook out it came out very easily and I thought everything was normal. Then I looked at the hook and there was some whitish tissue on the end of it. At this point I still didn't think anything was wrong. The fish wasn't bleeding and he was still breathing. Then he quit moving...

This all happened very quickly, I was trying to get the fish back in the water quickly. So I bent down and put the fish in the water and he didn't swim off. His gills were moving and his mouth was moving but he wasn't swimming.

I gently moved him back and forth in the water trying to get oxygen in his gills, but he got worse and worse. The gills quit moving, it quit wiggling, then the fish couldn't stay upright on it's own.

I tried about a half an hour to coax this thing back to life but it seemed obvious it was dead.

This upset me quite a bit. I don't like killing fish (unless I'm going to eat them).

So I didn't know what to do so I beheaded him in case he was still somehow alive, then I cut him up and put the body back in the lake. I was frustrated and angry so I came home.

Having just started seriously bass fishing this is the first time this has happened to me. I know it's hard to say without being there, but is there something I could have done differently (other than obviously setting the hook sooner)?

Is there some kind of device that can cut the barbed part of a hook off so you can back it out without hooking anything important on the way out?

What vital organ do you think I destroyed when I pulled that hook out? It would have to be near the opening of the throat, there wasn't much blood at all, it was a small pea sized whitish object on the end of the hook.

Is this just something that happens in bass fishing sometimes?

is there a more proper way to try and revive a fish?

How long do you try to revive a fish before you can safely assume it's dead?

It's kind of embarrassing how much this is bothering me, should I turn in my man card? Am I being a wuss lol?

Next time, don�t chop off its head and cut it into pieces. Game Warden could consider that wasting game fish, if they were to come up upon you by some chance.


It�s a fish and it died, the sun will still rise tomorrow and a turtle was thankful for the meal.

I just didn't want it to suffer in case it WAS still alive and just in shock or disabled or something.

It happens, take it home and eat it.

+1

And if you don't want to eat it, give it to a crappie fisherman. A 1.5 pound bass will pair nicely with a couple crappie, pile of hush puppies and a cold beverage

It happens when the wind is up. Sticking to moving baits when it�s windy will keep this from happening.

You're obviously a thoughtful and gentle soul. Don't be so hard on yourself.

This is what I do:
1. Get small forceps (very small needle nose pliers) go through the gills to get a better angle, grab and twist the hook 180 degrees, push carefully toward the barb.
2. If that doesn�t work, if you can grab the bard end, grab it with your pliers, cut the line and pull it out backwards
3. If neither works cut the line as close to the hook and release fish. The digestive juices in a fish can dissolve bones so it should do its job on the hook. I have caught fish with the hook caught coming out of its a-hole.

I like to use my finger to remove hooks like that. Put your index finger in the bottom curve of the hook and gently press. The extra tactile feel your finger offers lowers the chance of injuring the fish in my opinion.

All that said, don't forget for one second that fishing is a blood sport. No matter how careful you are, some fish are going to die. It's the nature of the game. I try to be as careful and respectful as I can, but sometimes it is just a bad day for the fish. We are all going to have that bad day.

A lake is a violent environment where a fish is living in, and it's where a fish is either eating smaller fish or larger fish are trying to eat them.
If a fish doesn't get eaten by another larger fish it's going to be attacked and eaten by gators, gars, or birds that converge on a lake and eat tons of fish in this violent world.
Don't feel bad, but as mentioned, it was actually illegal to cut up the fish and throw it back in the water (waste) and had someone seen you would probably called a Game Warden and then you would have to explain it to him.
You fish long enough you will see a lot of things that will upset you, and it's just part of being out there in nature which can be cruel, so carry an ice chest or give the fish away as mentioned above if it's legal, and if it's undersize throw it back in and feel good that you are helping to feed the food chain.
You tried to revive the fish and did all you could, so you either keep it and give it away, or feed the turtles and birds, but mutilating it like it's cut bait can get you in trouble.
Reminds me of when my fishing partner threw an undersized fish back that was injured by a hook and bleeding badly, and he said,...."he'll have a better chance than being thrown into the frying pan!"

I would voluntarily put yourself on the TFF Wall of Shame

Stay off the TFF for 2 weeks

If you do that you might as well call the Game Warden and turn yourself in, and insist that you be given a ticket for wantant waste of a resorce, and pay a fine and restitution for the bass.

My thoughts are quit fishing, get counseling, start selling ice cream.

Just put it in the ice chest and on Sunday, go to confession on the way to the lake.

Here is a simple picture method of how to do it. Once you do this one time you realize how easy it is to do and works perfectly every time.


Gut Hook Removal

Youtube has a ton of videos on it as well.

I used to regularly fish a lake you couldn�t keep any bass over 16�, occasionally I would accidentally kill one over 16� the same way you did, I thought it was always wasteful bc you couldn�t eat them or share with someone at the ramp bc they were illegal fish. You�ve got to think about the bigger picture there are plenty more bass in the lake, something will eat the one you killed.

Honestly, as I improved as a fisherman and got slightly better rods and line the occurrence of this went way down. Maybe it was bc I switched to using baits that were less prone to gut hooking also, like a jig.

Keep fishing.

A short follow up story.

I caught a fish that was about 9 1/2 pounds out in about 25� of water, iit got barotrauma and couldn�t stay upright. At the time I didn�t keep clips or needles with me.

I put that fish in my livewell, learned how to use a needle, drove 2 hours round trip to get a needle, stuck it with the needle in the side in the parking lot of a farm supply store where it turned into a completely different lively fish, I drove back to the lake and released it, it took right off.

If you want to hear the crazy part to this story, this lake isn�t that big, and around the same time the following year I caught the same fish again! It had a missing eye, and the scar of the missing eye are identical on the fish in the two pictures I have.

Don�t think your efforts won�t payoff...catch and release is definitely beneficial. Learn as much as you can about fish care.

keep in mind according to biologists,each spawning bass will produce 2000-12,000 fry but typically only 5-10 will ever reach 10 inches long because the lake simply cannot sustain the huge number of fry that are produced each year...in the grand scheme of things,unless you were fishing in a tiny pond,the loss of one fish has zero effect on the fishery and actually may have been beneficial to the fishery rather than harmful...

Cut the line or mash the barb down on the hook next time, lol

This story wasnt that bad until you felt all guilty and cut it into pieces. Weirdo

Don't fish for post spawn fish if that makes you feel bad. I don't know how many 3 to 5 lb females I see floating after the spawn. They can die when you hook them in the lip.

If I think I might harm the fish trying to get a hook out I just get the bait off the hook and cut the line and leave the hook in.

Probably the weirdest story anyone has ever shared on here..... I wouldn�t of told anyone that you spent half an hour trying to save a 1.5lb fish. Or that u then chopped him up like Dexter...... Fish die from getting sharp objects stabbed into their faces sometime.... move on

forget what Jake said. If it had lived it would have thanked you for your efforts by biting again.

Plus one on this

GWIZZZ Where�s the french fries.

. I�m glad you said it because this is exactly what I was thinking.

You need professional help.

Back in the day there were probably thousands of 7 and 8 pound bass and larger subjected to an electric filet knife, and somehow fish populations survived.
Though legal, it would probably get you shot today or pretty much involved in a fist fight.
I'm certain it still happens, but nobody does it in public.

keep in mind that fish are a sustainable resource.....since the beginning of time,man has been harvesting fish from lakes,rivers and oceans...focus your concern toward those responsible for allowing grass spraying and placing grass carp in our lakes...

I don�t understand the whole going �dexter� on the fish?

That is truly the most bizarre narrative I have ever heard.
The end times are truly near.

I "went all Dexter" as you put it because if somehow the poor thing was still conscious in some way and just couldn't move or something I wanted to make sure and end its suffering quickly. I though it was merciful, but I guess it is illegal.

I will try to revive any fish I am planning on catching and releasing size don't matter (at least my wife says so)

I know it happens I'm not like suicidal or anything over it. I was looking for advice on how to avoid gut hooking, and tips on how / when to safely unhook the fish.

What? Is this a PETA commercial?

Fish don�t have a complex enough nervous system to feel pain. If they did you wouldn�t be able to catch the same fish multiple times. And after being caught once and feeling all the �pain� the fish probably would
Be very hard to catch again. I do feel bad for any animal or creature that suffers or struggles but it�s just something that�s going to happen if you Fish. But don�t get caught up to much in it because fish don�t have feelings they don�t have relationships they have instincts and are hard wired to feed, reproduce and maintain a comfortable living environment so they can do those things. That�s all Fish think about day after day after day.

WHAT !! would Donald do.

The bald eagle will explain it to you.

You didn�t say what lake you were on but a lot of lakes have slot limits and want this size fish taken out of the lake anyway so the larger fish can get larger. That was probably a 14 or 15 inch bass. Don�t beat yourself up over killing a fish this size. Most lakes need a LOT of these fish harvested and taken out every year.

That pretty much describes me through my early 30's.

He was trying to save the fish for good �fishing karma�. I get it.

Come on man, your killing me.

Lord,please tell me this post is a late April fools joke!

I'll quote the great Pete Hernandez "they ain't unicorns"

Is alvarado ramp open yet?

Where is Ashton Kutcher? Because I must be getting punked!!

If you fish for bass you will end up killing some. Its inevitable.

But the good news is they are totally a renewable resource. They're nutritious and delicious and the Bible says man has dominion over all the creatures. So sorry fishes, we own you. I would have taken that fish home and had him for dinner straight up. As a matter of fact I occasionally keep a few Bass about that size for dinner they're pretty good eating and I feel like Im gettin some ROI lol

Cut the fish up and returned it to the lake?...what the

IBTMTTB

Well, good on you for trying but it happens on occasion.

Nope, dang it

I guess I'm not understanding all the hate for trying to take care of a fish so it can be caught later.

Thanks for the help, those of you gave me advice on how to take care of this in the future, and how to avoid it in the first place.

I explained three times now my thinking on making sure it was dead and putting it back in the water so other animals could eat it, TFF says its bad logic, and apparently it is illegal. It made sense to me, oh well. If you can't tell I'm a little strange.

I would love to hear your process of when you decide to keep a fish and bring home for eating?

Do you put on ice or livewell? If ice, do you kill the fish before freezing it to death? If so, how?
If it goes in livewell, do you filet it alive or ice first or just drain livewell and wait a bit before knife?

It was illegal because you threw a legal fish back into the lake after trying to revive it and failed.
It being a legal fish is waste, and the fact that you cut it up and then threw it back in would be hard to explain to someone, and especially a Game Warden that you weren't trying to use it as cut bait, which is also illegal using game fish as cut bait. You weren't, but it would still require you to explain your actions and up to the Warden if he wanted to ticket you or not.
All your good intentions aside, anyone observing you would have been pizzed, and rightfully so, because in all my years of fishing, over 60 years, I've never heard of someone doing what you did, that didn't intend to do it, for the reasons stated above.
You will catch fish that are deep hooked and they may be undersized and require you to throw them back, but the law requires that you do that, but the law also states that you don't throw a fish back that is legal but may be dead, as that is considered waste.....Just look at how bowfishing has come under fire.

This is the most bizarre fish hacking story I have ever read on here.

agreed^ It worked also, got 4 pages.

Thread of the year so far?

You�re never going to keep from gut hooking them on accident, about the only thing you can do to increase the hook removal process is too smash/file the barb off the hook. I�m not sure how many you�ll have get off the hook though by doing that.

Seriously though, if those feelings are allowed to take over, it may be time to look for another sport!

When Jesus told his followers to cast their net on the other side of the boat and they pulled up the net that was so full of fish they could hardly lift it.......I don't think they tried to kill every fish they caught so they wouldn't suffer as they lay at the bottom of the boat.

Will be if he gets a knock on the door from Mr Game Warden.

Could you elaborate on why you did not take the fish home and eat it yourself, youknow the legal and moral course of action

Please seek help. Immediately.

Agreed

There was a guy selling cat pelts on the Trading Post last year, This has to be a runner up to him

If a fish is bleeding chances are it is going to die, now or later. So you have to mitigate the situation by leaving the hook in the gut, if you can't then ... oh well. It has been a long time since I gut hooked a bass, using live bait will increase your chances of gut hooking a fish. Funny story.

This poor guy is getting more grief than when I misspelled Lake Welsh.

Bass swallow hooks regularly, especially on weightless presentations. Don't stress over it. It is a fish and a small one at that. Too many folks think if you dig a hole and stock it with bait and bass in 20 years it will be full of giant bass. It doesn't work that way.

The bass proliferate to the point that if you don't remove the small ones every year you wind up with a lake full of stunted bass that may never exceed 2 pounds. I fished a beautiful private lake a couple weeks ago near Mineral Wells that had been electro-shocked the fall before. It was determined the lake was over populated with small bass. We were asked to kill every fish we caught 16" and down. We killed 78 bass out that day and threw them in a ditch for the buzzards.

Dunno if that makes you feel any better but it needs to be done every year.

Ill go first.

As a kayak fisherman ive got no livewell or large cooler. So I will place the bass or other fish on a Stringer and hang them over the side of the kayak. Sometimes I don't set out to keep fish but it occurs to me to do so. In such cases I'll rig up a makeshift stringer like MacGyver would have.

When the day is done I will throw the fish into my small ice chest and clean them when I get back home or back to Camp or what not. In this case a friend clean them for me. Hes much better at it than me. Thanks Tommar!

See example A. from Falcon back in January.



I am 100% behind releasing large fish. However I think when we started putting bass on a pedestal and acting as if they were untouchable we really did not help the sport and in a lot of ways we got away from why we, and our fathers and their fathers started fishing in the first place.

Prime example of why I�m hesitant to ever fish with a stranger from the TFF.

OH MY GOODNESS!

I forgot a vital detail in my story. This little lake (not telling where, I seem to have a lot of enemies on here lately) has signs all around it that say "Catch and release only" (not private but more pond than lake).

I wasn't keeping fish, and no one else was fishing the lake so no one to give it to anyway if it was legal to do so. I was bank fishing so no fancy schmancy live well. I didn't have a cooler with me, and it was a good 30-45 minute walk back to the truck so a dead fish might have turned bad by then? (How long will a un-iced dead fish last before it is not safe to eat it? It would have been about an hour until i got home if I'd left right away.)

If I could do it over:

-I would still be in the position of disposing of a dead fish I couldn't keep. I guess if I could do it differently I would just throw it back whole so I wouldn't look like a weirdo.

Even if it was legal to keep the fish:

-So given that I had no iced cooler to bring it home with, and assuming the fish would have been unsafe to eat by the time I got home, I'd still want to somehow put it back in the lake where it could be meal for other animals. However, I'd put it back whole, since I now know that fish can't feel pain (so it wouldn't have been "suffering" anyway even if it was alive) and it's illegal to cut up a game fish. As you all know, other animals would / will feed on a dead fish body, so in my mind anyway, that's not really a waste, especially since it was an accidental death in the first place. It seems like the least wasteful option given the situation would still be to put the body back in the water.

Ultimately

It sounds like my only good legal option really was to put the whole, un-mutilated body back in the water? I explained why I cut it up already, it made sense in my mind, quick death, making sure it was really dead (floating sideways so it probably was) not causing suffering ect.



On the rare occasion I did keep fish to eat (from a lake where it is legal to do so). I used to give them a good thump on the head and filet them right away and put them in a ice cold cooler. Or I would cut the heads off and put the bodies in the cooler. I found out this is illegal as well. I guess the Game Warden wants you to keep fish completely whole until you are done fishing for the day.

Honestly, I haven't kept fish since I learned that law. If I were to do so now, with what I've learned on here, I would put them quickly in a ice bath cooler, try to shock them quickly. But yeah if I had my druthers, I'd still process them into filets as soon I pulled them out of the water.

Lol

You guys are wrong. Funny though!

Do we have a �Weird Post� category? This one might be the winner.

I haven't read all the responses but when I have a fish that doesn't swim off I don't hack it up

Assuming its legal size I just toss it in the livewell and give it to someone at the marina or boat ramp. I have NEVER failed to find someone to take a dead fish off my hands even if its just one. Most lakes have a fishing pier or some sort of pay to fish barge. Just roll up to the dock and you will find someone who wants it.

All fish die, now or later, bleeding or not.

Been with a few gals that it was like being with a dead fish, but I did not hack them up. Couldn't get them to "swim" away either.

You're getting lit up on here. Don't worry too much about it. Hang around the TFF long enough and you'll say something to get the sharks circling...

I've grown up in the catch and release era. I've never really fished for bass to eat. I usually feel kind of bad if I catch a fish I feel like is going to die or release one after a weigh in that seems to be struggling a bit, so I get where you're coming from (right up to the beheading I guess--just throw it back to the turtles. They need to eat to).

Be glad it was a 1 pounder and learn how to remove a swallowed hook so that the same doesn't happen on a 5+ pounder. Someone else mentioned the going in between the gills technique. It's amazing how easy and effective it is, so learn that.

I just read all of this at once sitting on the back porch. I�m now going in to mix me a good strong drink and see what starts popping into my head as I try to process it. I�m thinking the drink will help.

I dont have the patience (or stomach) to read through all of the juvenile responses from the "cool kids" so I don't know if my solution has been suggested.

I suggest that you carry small wire snips. If you gut hook, push the point of the hook all the way through (if it's not all ready done) and then cut the bottom of the hook. Then grab the point of the hook and pull it through. This works about 80% of the time. About 10% of the time its too deep and 10% of the time it's simply too little too late.

Good luck as you get more serious about bass fishing and ignore the small men who are hiding behind thier keyboards. It makes some of them feel big to lie about thier day on the water and belittle someone who asks a question. Going forward you can ask questions on "Freshwater", "Kayak" and "Bankers"... You will receive a much warmer reception in these forums.

Do you think if we attached air bladders to the bottom of lakes we could raise the water level during droughts?

Yes I have seen this now, that's good advice.

Not the first time they've tore me up lol, I'm a big bot I can take it.

Also good advice, I cant always carry a cooler while bank fishing, but I can add a pair of wire cutters to my tools.

This is what i was looking for, thanks fellas.

In case anyone cares I'll repeat one more time: I was 99.9% sure the fish was dead, definitely it was not "healthy". I cut it up quickly up quickly in case the 0.1% was true, and it was still alive and somehow suffering. I couldn't get it home in good edible condition, and this little pond is catch and release only. I really didn't know what to do and was trying to not let an animal suffer SORRY

Trying to learn here lol.

...Any bad karma I deserve from this you all have deftly delivered lol. I ain't gonna apologize for caring for wildlife, even if my methods seem strange, my intentions were good. You guys just give me your phone numbers and I'll call for advice next time something like this happens

All is at peace with the world again, I have prayed that great spirit will take the soul of the bass to the big hatchery in the sky.

Mother Earth and Father Bass have absolved me of this sin, and today they blessed me with the biggest fish I ever caught. It was 2 pounds 9 ounces, and I caught it at the same spot. I know its not much, but it's the best I ever caught. Unfortunately I had my scale, but NOT my camera dangit!

Namaste


-All kidding aside, despite all the insults and pretty much ruining any chances of ever going fishing with any of you, I did learn something from this post and will more prepared next time. Most importantly I learned not to post questions in the bass forum no more! Happy Easter everyone!

Congratulations on your catch!

2.9lb is a good day in my book and is just shy of the average fish weighed in by 200 guys in last months TTO tournament... Some of which are "pro staff" with stickers to prove it

Congratulations and best of luck breaking 3lbs!!!

Interesting story. Thanks for sharing.

This is the only forum besides the Bunker that has rules for posting as a sticky at the top of the page......That right there should tell you something!

I think he meant to post this on April 1

So when you guys go deer hunting do you aim for the ankles? Or do you try to kill the animal quickly by hitting the vital organs? When your pet is sick, don't you try to put it down as quickly and painlessly as possible?

Same idea, I cant believe no one gets this.

When my 14 year old lab go so bad he was miserable I didnt Behead him. Haven�t you seen Ol Yeller

I think its the part where you hacked him up that concerns people. LOL

You are killing me man! I think I need to go fishing with you to see what what kind of other crazy cr@p you say & do. Chop off my pets head and filet it????



You are one crazy dude.

You guys are SO literal. of course you wouldn't cut off a pet's head but the principle of putting it out of it's misery quickly and humanely is germane to the conversation.

Maybe not thread of the year but certainly worthy of note.

It�s not over yet...

Gotta have some thick skin around here. You have to admit that these guys are pretty dang funny. I get a kick out of threads like this. You would probably be laughing too if it wasn't your thread.

If you hunt and fish you are going to have those moments where you aren't sure what the best approach is. Just do the best you can and move on.

You need to double up your fist and hit yourself right in the snot locker snowflake.

I'm having a great time lol

I tried this, but every time I did my nose slipped between my fists, maybe I should just use one?

Some intelligent person once wrote..
When you find yourself in a hole put down the shovel and stop digging.

I realize that this is the Bass section, and talking about eating bass is almost a stoning offense ... but it really is OK to keep a gut-hooked bass for dinner.

Now if you find yourself tossing back multiple floaters every day, its' time to consider barbless hooks or other alternatives.

4,600 views so you are on the way to thread of the year!

Kind of like the same as people rubbernecking a car accident!

Did you try Mouth to mouth recessitation ??? Kidding...

It happens...If I see blood I pour a Cocacola product and it stops the bleeding almost immediately!

Pretty amazing really... I know it sound crazy

But some fish die... it happens...you did everything you could... your forgiven by the fish Gods!

Maybe we need to start investing in defibrillators? �Everyone STAND BACK, clear�!!!

I'd like to see him try that with a catfish!

he did the right thing, bass suck at table fare

Fish die. Move on with life

this

^^^this is excellent advice.


and here is some more free advice

You serious Clark?

This sucker is almost over 6,000 views!

AM I NOT MERCIFUL. Gladiator ! And then cut his head off. ROFL

Did you even consider taking to a veterinary clinic?

Yes perhaps post of the year, he got us all, it worked.

Lots of posts in the thread so in case anyone missed it this little pond is marked with numerous signs "Catch and Release only"

Also again I was a long way (30-45 minutes from my truck and another about 20 to the house) so not sure how edible a uncooler-ed fish would be by then. What do you think? How long can a dead fish last without refrigeration before its not safe to eat?

I e-mailed the TPWD and told them the situation. I asked what the proper course of action would be. I got this reply...

Please leave it and allow nature to take its course.

Mike Mitchell
Assistant Commander Game Warden
Law Enforcement Division, Austin
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

I know, the point of the whole thread was to get advice on how to avoid gut hooking fish, and how to undo the bad hook when it happens. I got tons of advice. But yeah I know that ultimately things like this happen.

I looked it up, the nearest fish vet clinic is way up north of Dallas, I wouldn't have made it in time. Care-flite didnt have a helicopter with a aquarium in it.

Very good! it's not like you didn't try.

Lol! I can see a call in to 911 now.

OPERATOR: Caller, what�s your emergency?

Well, it was "Catch and Release". It was not "Catch and Release and Survive". You were ok from the outset with no worry. It shows the folly of "Catch and Release". You can't avoid an occasional gut hook and hence loss of fish. Sometimes they pick it up and you can't tell. It happens to me rarely but it does happen.

It is honestly disgraceful that you would harm an innocent bass.

This thread absolutely must rank in the top ten all time. I love the TFF. Some of the responses have made me laugh so hard it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you.