Foreword: This is one in a series of tips forthcoming in the summer of 2022. These helpful suggestions are borne out of thousands of hours of on-the-water experience in pursuing white bass and hybrid striped bass in Texas using the in-line spinners in the MAL Lure family. With tens of thousands of the MAL Lures now in use (and most of those in Texas!) I want to help give current and future MAL Lure users their best shot at catching fish by sharing what I've discovered 'the hard way' in hopes of reducing your own learning curve. These tips are in no particular order.

TIP #2: Use curved-tip forceps (a.k.a. hemostats) for MAL Lure hook removal - If you are serious about catch-and-release, or consider yourself an ethical angler who tries to cleanly release under- or over-sized fish, you really must have this very inexpensive tool at your disposal any time you are fishing.




CAPTION: This is a photo of my lanyard which is around my neck 100% of the time I have clients on the boat. Note that this keeps my curved-tip forceps/hemostats handy all the time.




CAPTION: This is a closeup of my curved-tip forceps/hemostats; they are 6” long and have oversized thumb loops so I can use them with thin gloves on in the cooler months.

Why are curved-tipped hemostats so useful? There are a few reasons. First, unlike needle-nosed pliers which are quite fat at the base and taper toward the tip, the diameter of the hemostats is much more slender along its full length. Thus, especially on fish with small mouths, you can reach in more deeply without the base of the tool “bottoming out” on the fish’s mouth.

Next, because the tip of these hemostats are curved (not straight as needle-nosed pliers are), you can maneuver the tip of the hemostats while still having a full view of the fish’s mouth and of what you are trying to grasp. With needle-nosed pliers, your own hand and the tool itself block your view as there is no offset.

Additionally, the more quickly you can release the fish, the more quickly you can present your bait to other fish. When fish are schooled up and excited, getting a bait back down to them while they are still in that excited state is a big deal. If you spend unnecessary time using a poor choice of tools, the fish in and around the one you just caught can move off and/or cool down before you present to them again, thus leading to a missed opportunity.

Finally, hemostats are actually a form of clamp designed to pinch off blood vessels and/or surgical tubing. To accomplish this, they are designed such that the natural springiness of the stainless steel from which they are fashioned allows opposing sets of barbs on the thumb- and finger-holes to interlock, thus maintaining a forceful pinch with the tool’s jaws. This maintains a firm grasp on the target (your hook’s shank) without the user having to maintain pressure on the tool.

This feature is handy for clamping firmly onto the shank of a hook so the tool does not slip and poke further into the fish’s gullet or the roof of its mouth. The hemostats save a lot of wear-and-tear on your MAL Lures.

Simply grasping the shank of the hook (either with or without engaging the clamp), then pushing downward and simultaneously rearward (so as to disengage the hook’s barb if it had one) without twisting will cleanly remove the vast majority of hooks without causing gill damage or bleeding.

Even if some bleeding does occur, it will certainly still be less than that caused by using needle-nosed pliers. Getting the fish back into the water as quickly as possible is the next critical step.

Most of us would never select a hammer to remove a screw – it is just the wrong tool for the job. So it is with removing a deep hook with needle-nosed pliers.

A quick Google search of the term “curved hemostat” will reveal scads of options, most of which are stainless steel, many of which are self-locking, and some of which are under $3.00. If you only buy one pair, get a pair which is 5.5 or 6 inches long.

If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right! The future of your fishery counts on you being a good steward of it now.

GIVE THE MAL LURE A TRY: SEE ALL MAL LURES HERE

If you have tips of your own, feel free to respond to this post, or send a private message. I will give credit where credit is due!

Good stuff!

Any of the Mal lures come barbless ?

Sir, I offer the MAL Heavy, which has a silver blade and either a white tail or chartreuse tail, in barbless. The barbless hook is a VMC product, in size #4. As with all MAL Lures, this barbless hook has a short length of glow tubing to act as a focal point to prevent "blade strikes".

Here is a link: BARBLESS MAL

Here is a photo of the hook -- note that there is still a "wide spot" in the hook to prevent fish loss, but no true barb: