The hook is out of sight - what do you do?

sagalout

sagalout

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Ok, it doesn't happen often but occasionally the hook has been taken so deep it is out of sight down the throat. What do you do?

Cut the line and hope is the only solution I can think of.
 
peter crabtree

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Cant say I've never deep hooked a fish,but if I do, I look at my rig and make changes to the shotting of my float, or feeder/ledger, shorten my hooklink.
 
Graham Whatmore

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There is more danger of killing the fish by poking a disgorger down a fishes throat than cutting the hook off as far down as possible. Their swim bladder is at the back of the throat and puncturing that means goodnight for the fish, quite how they get rid of the hook I don't know but they certainly do, especially in these days of barbless hooks. It is very rare to catch a fish with an old hook in its mouth and in all the years I have fished I have never caught one with line attached to the hook.

Never deep hooked a fish Peter? You must be the only angler in Britain that hasn't then.
 
tigger

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I don't understand why people think if you cut the line as far down it's throat it will be ok. If the hook's out of sight down the fishes intestines then in my opinion it's highly likely it's gonna pop it's cloggs in the near future. If your proficient at using a disgorger then I would say it's a good idea to try and remove the hook. If you fail and the fish is to big for bait then I suppose cut the line and hope for the best.
Don't forget that if you do use the fish for a pike/predator bait to get the lost hook out before using it.
 
geoffmaynard

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Good question. Difficult call sometimes and a lot depends on the species.

Some small and prolific species I have probably killed as many as I saved by attempting to unhook them. I have probably killed the same percentage of other fish by just leaving the hook in them and cutting the line. Fortunately I don't deep hook very many fish, but when it happens there's little you can do about it. It's one choice or the other and neither is likely to do the fish much good.

With pike it's sometimes possible to gently pull the stomach lining into view, unhook the fish and return it. I've done that more than a few times and have had recaptures so I know I made the right decision. I don't think I've ever knowingly lost a pike to deep hooking but it's been close a few times.
 
I

Ian Cloke

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Personally I use a slammo disgorger, with its rounded end I believe there is little chance of damaging a fish.

THIS is a slammo ;):)
 
sagalout

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Ian Cloke said:
Personally I use a slammo disgorger, with its rounded end I believe there is little chance of damaging a fish
Click to expand...
What I dont understand tho Ian, is if the hook is so deep into th efish it is out of sight in the throat, is how a hook can be dislodged and withdrawn. This is not 'avin' a go, I just dont understand how it can be done, surely the hook will just get pushed deeper and with the throat closed it can't come back out?
 
Graham Whatmore

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The truth of it is, all types of disgorgers work, some better than others admittedly but regardless of which disgorger you use if you can't see the hook you shouldn't attempt to retrieve it by pushing the disgorger down the fishes throat, it will almost certainly kill the fish and that isn't the aim of an angler now is it? At least give the fish the chance to dislodge the hook himself and the truth of that is that no one knows whether he can or cannot but as they eat very spiky things I suspect they may well do so.
 
Jeff Woodhouse

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With eels, if you can't easily see the hook in the mouth, cut the line.

Sounds brutal, but there is a better than 80% chance for it surviving, really, than if you try to get the hook out. You will cause terminal damage the fish if you try to remove it since vital organs are just at the back of its throat.

Same with perch.
 
S

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Ok, Now we have sort of Established what we should and more probably shouldn't do, how do we try to prevent the next fish from also being deep hooked?

Scenario -: First fish a Deep Hooked Perch, so you cut the line, re tackle up again, next bite, again it's a greedy little Perch and it is also Deep Hooked, so once again you cut the line and put on a new Hook or Hook Length.

What should you do next to try to stop the hook from being taking down so deep ?
 
tigger

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Use a bigger bait and hook and shot your float right down with your bottom shot 3inch from your hook. That's just one thing of many to try. Obviously strike at the first sign of a twitch. It's trial and error at the end of the day.
 
Jeff Woodhouse

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Stealph Viper said:
Scenario -: First fish a Deep Hooked Perch, so you cut the line, re tackle up again, next bite, again it's a greedy little Perch and it is also Deep Hooked, so once again you cut the line and put on a new Hook or Hook Length.

What should you do next to try to stop the hook from being taking down so deep ?
Click to expand...
Fish with bread. Perch don't care for it much.

:wh:);):cool:
 
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