Actually, it was ME! I was fishing in our new neighborhood lake in Grapevine this morning. I caught four bass already (pic is #4), and thought it would be great if I got my limit with #5 before I headed home and got back to work since we just moved in this week. So, I'm throwing a chartreuse and black square bill and get a hook up. Small bass, reel him in, grab hold of him by his back and proceed to extract the hook with needle nose. Little bass-turd does a shake, rattle, and roll escape manuever, extricates himself from said lure, and buries it was past the barb into my left thumb. I said a few choice words you can't say on TV, and look at this predicament with the fish on the ground, and a treble hook in my thumb and bleeding. I picked up the fish and tossed him back, and thought, oh great....I have to carry 5 rods and my coffee mug back to my car, load them in, and drive 3 blocks back home.

My wife is a RN, but not an ER nurse. I had her get me my needle nose, clipped all the rear treble barbs off, and got one of the others cut off the treble that was stuck in my hand. I had my wife cut a piece of braid, wrapped it twice around the U-bend of the offending hook, and tried to line it up like I've read about here on the TFF. I told her not to chicken out and give it a measly tug, but to pop it quick and hard. I held the eye of the hook down, and she gave it a yank and popped it free. So glad we didn't have an ER trip!

It's a little sore and red, but I'm sure in a day or two it will be fine. This is the 2nd time I've gotten stuck with a treble hook. What's the best way to avoid this? Us it best to lip the bass, or grab their body behind the gills? Seems like the smaller ones are more feisty and wigglers.

It was an enjoyable, quiet morning of pond fishing up to point. I'm grateful I had my wife around and not squeamish about helping me do this.

Jim

It's always those little ones that get ya! We lift them out of the water while they're still green and flopping.

When I take folks fishing and they hook a small bass on a bait with trebles I always tell them, "Leave him in the water til he quits flopping!"

Grab 'em by the back not the mouth.

Been there and been hooked. I always grab the back when it's a treble hook bait...crank bait etc. At least now I do.

We had a guy at our tournament today on gvine got a good one in the thumb. A guy at the ramp tried the line removal method to no avail. He gutted it out and showed up to weigh in and won big bass. Hate to see that happen to anyone. The only way to avoid it is to not fish crankbaits IMO.

Your gonna catch some good fish out of that lil tank!

Same thing happened to my old man about a yr ago... Just saw ppl do it on YouTube... Worked perfectly! Glad you got it out and caught a couple decent one before all hell broke loose!
PS the graph I baught from you still works like a champ!

lip em, it paralyzes them, grab the hook with the pliers and get it out. if they still try to flop just let em go and start over.

Great catch! You might want to go get a tetanus shot so infection doesnt set in.

Ouch never had it happen to me but I knoooooow my time is due... It's the sport we love

Grab them harder... I really don't know any good ways to handle a bass with a mouth full of trebals

Nice fish

always nice to catch