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.