Fish on

[roffey]

This weekend my granddaughter caught a large mouth bass. This fish inhaled the hook. Up here in Canada bass get wormy this time of year and as the fish was on the small side I let it go but did not remove the hook as it would have killed it. My wife was a little upset with me and said I was further ahead to kill the fish then let it go a suffer a long death.

So my question here is who was right? I was told to leave the hook in if they swallowed it completely and it would rust or dissolve and fall out.

 

[gm280]

I can't verify this, but I was told the hook will dissolve and the fish would be okay. But I have never researched that to verify it... But I have to say, you probably did less damage to the fish then trying to remove the hook and it would have bleed out... JMHO!

 

[WIMUSKY]

That's all I've heard too since I was a little kid.....

 

[roffey]

ya, ill stick with that. I will tell her you old salts agreed with me.

 

[dingbat]

Maryland DNR did extensive research on the subject. As a result, leaving a hook in a gut hooked fish is not recommended.

http://www.nesportsman.com/articles/article11.shtml

 

[WIMUSKY]

Why didn't they run a test after they removed a swallowed hook and see if any of those fish lived? Not sure what they mean about "point up". Most swallowed hooks you can only see the shank. If you remove the hook you'll get part of the innards with it...

 

[roffey]

agree, you end up killing the fish if you take the hook out

 

[dingbat]

Why didn't they run a test after they removed a swallowed hook and see if any of those fish lived?

That would prove nothing except the skill of the person removing the hook

Because of the nature of the fishery, Maryland has done enough release studies to fill two libraries. The mortality rate of a deep hooked fish (Striped bass) is 50%, regardless of water temps or if the hook was removed or not. The location, relative to vital organs is the determining factor.

Fish subjected to abrupt increases in air temperature when removed from water prior to release (typically in June and July) were more likely to experience fatal disruption of their normal physiology.

I've had very few deep hooked fish since going to circle hooks. Circle take some getting used to, but they work very well once you figure it out.

I've not left a single hook in a released fish since purchasing a dehooker several years ago. They are very easy to use and work like a charm.