Print PDF
Favorite
Email
Step 9Remove Fish from Hook
The cold reality of fishing comes home when you catch your first fish - you now have to take it off the hook! It makes absolutely no sense to fish unless you are willing to follow through - and it is unfair to ask someone else to shoulder the burden of removing it for you after you have had the thrill of catching it. Even if you will not be eating what you catch, you must still remove the fish. This is much easier than you think.
The biggest impediment to removing the hook is that the fish tends to be flopping around. So, the first step is to hold the fish properly so that it is completely in your control and stops flopping. For panfish such as bluegills, you grasp the fish by coming at it from the back of the fish, placing your thumb on one gill and - with your palm over the fish's head and back - put your other fingers on the other gill. Hold firmly and the fish will stop flopping. Don't be tentative about this or the fish will get loose and flop around some more. Once secured, you can then grasp the hook and work it out of the mouth of the fish. It will normally be hooked through the lip. Work the hook around - the idea is to back it out at about the same angle that it went in. Getting the barb back out through the lip is the hardest part and some force may be necessary at times.
For hooks that have been swallowed a bit or are farther down in the mouth out of reach, use a pair of needlenose pliers to get at it. Lacking pliers, you can do almost as well with a small stick. It is often enough simply to push the hook farther into the fishes mouth as this most often gets the barb out after which you can ease the hook out of the mouth.
If you will be keeping your fish to eat, simply toss it in a bucket. The bucket doesn't need any water in it, assuming you will be cleaning the fish within a few hours. You can also use a "stringer" to keep your fish alive. This is a nylon cord with a metal ring at one and and a metal spike at the other, sold for a couple of bucks where you bought your pole and tackle. The spike is inserted up through the gills and out the mouth of the fish and then - for the first fish only - through the ring. The spike is then set in the bank and the fish go in the water.
If you are fishing for fun, simply toss the fish gently back in the water - it will be fine and may even bite again (fish aren't terribly smart). A bluegill about the size of an adult hand is a nice eating size and a "keeper". Smaller ones can be tossed back.
PARENTAL ADVICE: If you want to keep your sanity, I strongly advise making a firm rule that if you want to fish, you have to bait your own hook and remove your own fish. Not only does this foster self-reliance, it frees you up to go back to reading that book your brought with you or doing your own bit of fishing. Once my five-year-old daughter got past the "isn't it cute!" reaction to her first fish, she easily got the hang of taking the fish off the hook and had loads of fun. She now brags about her self-reliance to her more squeamish girlfriends. A very good thing in my book.
There is also a good solid safety reason for having kids bait their own hook. Imagine that your excited child is eagerly awaiting your efforts to make a doughball and bait the hook. They are holding the pole and you are holding the line and hook. Now imagine that your child sees that you have just finished baiting the hook. Seriously now - will your child try and race back to the water before you have let go of the line, or is your child patient enough to wait for you to say its OK? I know what MY kids would do. For the hook-baiter this is a no-win situation and is likely to result in a hook embedded in the baiters hand.
The biggest impediment to removing the hook is that the fish tends to be flopping around. So, the first step is to hold the fish properly so that it is completely in your control and stops flopping. For panfish such as bluegills, you grasp the fish by coming at it from the back of the fish, placing your thumb on one gill and - with your palm over the fish's head and back - put your other fingers on the other gill. Hold firmly and the fish will stop flopping. Don't be tentative about this or the fish will get loose and flop around some more. Once secured, you can then grasp the hook and work it out of the mouth of the fish. It will normally be hooked through the lip. Work the hook around - the idea is to back it out at about the same angle that it went in. Getting the barb back out through the lip is the hardest part and some force may be necessary at times.
For hooks that have been swallowed a bit or are farther down in the mouth out of reach, use a pair of needlenose pliers to get at it. Lacking pliers, you can do almost as well with a small stick. It is often enough simply to push the hook farther into the fishes mouth as this most often gets the barb out after which you can ease the hook out of the mouth.
If you will be keeping your fish to eat, simply toss it in a bucket. The bucket doesn't need any water in it, assuming you will be cleaning the fish within a few hours. You can also use a "stringer" to keep your fish alive. This is a nylon cord with a metal ring at one and and a metal spike at the other, sold for a couple of bucks where you bought your pole and tackle. The spike is inserted up through the gills and out the mouth of the fish and then - for the first fish only - through the ring. The spike is then set in the bank and the fish go in the water.
If you are fishing for fun, simply toss the fish gently back in the water - it will be fine and may even bite again (fish aren't terribly smart). A bluegill about the size of an adult hand is a nice eating size and a "keeper". Smaller ones can be tossed back.
PARENTAL ADVICE: If you want to keep your sanity, I strongly advise making a firm rule that if you want to fish, you have to bait your own hook and remove your own fish. Not only does this foster self-reliance, it frees you up to go back to reading that book your brought with you or doing your own bit of fishing. Once my five-year-old daughter got past the "isn't it cute!" reaction to her first fish, she easily got the hang of taking the fish off the hook and had loads of fun. She now brags about her self-reliance to her more squeamish girlfriends. A very good thing in my book.
There is also a good solid safety reason for having kids bait their own hook. Imagine that your excited child is eagerly awaiting your efforts to make a doughball and bait the hook. They are holding the pole and you are holding the line and hook. Now imagine that your child sees that you have just finished baiting the hook. Seriously now - will your child try and race back to the water before you have let go of the line, or is your child patient enough to wait for you to say its OK? I know what MY kids would do. For the hook-baiter this is a no-win situation and is likely to result in a hook embedded in the baiters hand.
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
 |
Add Comment
|
