This summer I have picked up fishing and earlier today I gutted my first bass. I felt really bad. I feel like if I maybe had set the hook quicker it could have been avoided.

Anyways I could not get the hook out of the poor guy and he was bleeding everywhere. It looked pretty bad down in his throat. Poor fish. I then decided to put it out of its misery and I took a large rock to his head. I hit him 3 or 4 times on the head really hard and fast and he was dead instantly.

Did I do the right thing? Should I have just cut the line and let him try to survive?

it happens

It happens man... sometimes you can't feel the fish and it can't be avoided... even with a barbless hook if they swallow it, it will still tear them up. best thing you can do is cut the line and rehab the fish with some "Please Release Me" or any sure life labs product and hope for the best..

I am one that will pull the hook through and cut the barb.

Cannot stand the thought of leaving a hook in for the fish to try to pass or die of starvation.

I thought about pushing the hook through to pinch the barb down but it was really deep.

...

get someone to show you how to properly clean fish would be the first thing I would suggest.

this

I open its belly and clean it, then I put it on ice until I can fillet it.
Yeah, I catch and release, but I also eat fish. I eat krah-peh, bluegills, catfish, and occasional bass.

I then decided to put it out of its misery and I took a large rock to his head. I hit him 3 or 4 times on the head really hard and fast and he was dead instantly.

OH MY SWEET JESUS!!!!!!!!!!

As stated it happens. I had a fish die in a tournament this year for the first time in a long time. She enhaled a Rat-L-Trap and the treble hooks got stuck in her gills. She was right at 5#s and full of eggs, I was sick about it for a couple days.

There's a trick to avoid this. I can't find any of the 50 threads about how to do it but ill explain to the best of my ability..

First, cut the line but leave about a 3 inch tag end.

Look into his mouth to see which way the hook is facing

Take the tag end of the line and put it through the gillplate from the inside of the mouth going towards its tail UNDR THE LAST GILL.

Pull the tag end of the line and use your index to hold the bend of the hook to keep it from diggin any deeper(you want it to pivot,not go deeper)

Once you have the hook turned so that the eyelet is towards the tail,use your index finger on the bend of the hook and your middle finger to hold his guts in place so you donnt pull them out of its mouth.

While keeping the tag end taught, pull up with your finger that's on the hook and push down with the middle finger.

If done correctly, you should hear a pop( its the barb releasing from the skin) just lift the hook out carefully in the same position you extracted it(point down so as to not hook anything else on the way out)..

Throw em back and watch it swim away.

Ive started crushing my barbs so that way if I do hook it deep I can get it out easier. And if o get the hook in my self I can just pull it out.

SMH