I caught about a 24"-26" striper last night that took my Darter, Jenna Jameson style, all I could see when pulled it in was my coastlock. I couldn't believe it throated the whole thing. I damn near killed the fish, and it probably eventually died later from the stress, but my question is, is it better to sacrifice the $15 lure and let the fish take its chances with hooks rusting out, or to rip up the fishes mouth taking the lure out. The way I saw it was that it wasn't gonna have a high chance of survival either way, but it would have a better chance without a plug filling up its mouth.

Any other C and R ethics tidbits anyone has, please feel free to contribute, I see too many people too rough with fish when releasing.

i'd say it depends on the size of the plug... but even if it's small, it doesnt look good for the fish. obviously a large plug filling up the mouth will keep it from eating and it will die anyway.

so i say get the plug back.

it's not the ""proper"" thing to do. but it's the logical thing to do. if ya leave it in there, there is a 99% the fish dies of starvation and or exhaustion and you lose a plug. if take it out, theres like a 90% chance the fish dies from exhaustion/stress/blood loss/becoming diner and you get the plug back.

of course.. you could always clip the barbs of the hooks. and this problem rarely happens.. unless he's got it completely gutted.

i love my barbs while chunking. but for this reason, they come right off of my plugs.

Hi CircleHook,

For what it’s worth I have gone to barb-less hooks on all my plugs this year. Ground them off with a Dremil tool. I am sold. Do you loose a fish from time to time? I’m sure you do. But the damage to the fish is often much less. When you get a blue it makes it a lot easier and safer to remove the hooks. I believe it actually allows your plug to be fishing more as the release is usually so much faster.

It’s a shame there isn’t some was to keep a badly damaged fish, what a waste. I don’t think the fish-cops would understand.

Tight lines, (Especially when using barb-less hooks :beat:), Al

The barbs didn't matter at this point, it had it completely in its mouth, couldn't even wedge the pliers in. My brothers girlfriend is a nurse, and she got me some surgical scissors, so at least the cuts I made where sharp and clean, so it may heal, but it also took me 10 minutes to get it out.

Everyone should get a pair of surgeons scissors, they have gotten me out of a few jams now.

Should have just killed and and filet'd er up right there.Call it a day.Bury the carcass.That fish is dead ,no way after 10 mins out and bleeding will it ever make it on another hook or even back down south with the herd.I mean even if you dont eat them I'm sure you could have given the filets away.Why waste it! I don't condone keeping smalls but in certain circumstances your not left with much of a choice either put it out of it's misery or toss it back into it's torture chamber to die of stress or starvation.I would have kept it.Fishing two years in the Ocean state I've only kept one bluefish for my neighbor and it was bled out fast.Just my opinion here.I've never been in that situation but when it comes my decision will be alot clearer.As far as barbless hooks I've yet to try it.I don't catch enough to even allow that little room for them getting away.

If you released it with the plug wedged in like that, it almost certainly would have drowned before the hooks rusted out. (yes, fish can drown). The fish's gills can't work efficiently if it can't close its mouth.

Cutting the plug out was the best thing, for both you and the fish. It might not have had much of a chance anyway, but it has a better chance without the plug.

The barbs didn't matter at this point, it had it completely in its mouth, couldn't even wedge the pliers in.

you would be amazed. i hooked fish like that before. with out barbs, it's possible to literally jiggle the hook out, but just wobbling it around. you hardly have to push the opposite direction.

(back when i caught fish on plugs...) i've had a few like that. and i would have more trouble removing the plug then i would the hooks. by that i mean. the hooks would pop right out but while trying to get the plug out i would accidentally rehook the fish. it would take a few trys if they had it way in there. but never over 2 or 3 mins.

it sounds like yours was indeed a pain in the ass, but trust us on the barbless hooks. they would have made a world of difference. i try to keep a pair of those long tweezer like plier things on hand for that situation. had you had some of those and barbless hooks, that would have been a piece of cake.

Should have just killed and and filet'd er up right there.Call it a day.Bury the carcass.That fish is dead ,no way after 10 mins out and bleeding will it ever make it on another hook or even back down south with the herd.I mean even if you dont eat them I'm sure you could have given the filets away.Why waste it! I don't condone keeping smalls but in certain circumstances your not left with much of a choice either put it out of it's misery or toss it back into it's torture chamber to die of stress or starvation.I would have kept it.Fishing two years in the Ocean state I've only kept one bluefish for my neighbor and it was bled out fast.Just my opinion here.I've never been in that situation but when it comes my decision will be alot clearer.As far as barbless hooks I've yet to try it.I don't catch enough to even allow that little room for them getting away.


Agreed! Good point.

Barbless hooks, been using them for 20 years now, most times with a little patience you can get a multi hook plug out of thier mouth, if all hope will be lost then I get the plug back every time and the crabs have a ball. (Jenna Jameson only does women now, unfortunately.)

i fish barbless and i also cut one hook off each treble hook making unhooking easy becuuse you can push the hook down and slide it out without rehooking .

Absolutely take the plug out, even if you have to shred the fish. If you leave the plug in there, whatever scavenges the fish (bird, shark, seal, etc) could end up with the plug in it. Now you're in the running to kill two animals. Plus you've lost your $15.

pull the f#zking thing out .use barbless hooks ... u got a better chance....orrrr take it home....sh#t happens

Fifteen years ago a big bluefish (and a trip to the emergency room) convinced me to switch to all barbless hooks (singles and trebles, too) and I've never looked back. Crush all the barbs on your hooks and learn to sharpen your hooks with a comercial hook sharpener. It's so easy and quick, too. I seldom drop a fish, and even then it's almost always a bluefish that's gone airborne.

When I hook-up I don't even think about releasing my catch (I tag and release 100% of my catch if it's in good condition) because barbless hooks make that task so easy.

Does VMC make a barbless replacement treble? Or any manufacturer? If they don't, it looks like there might be quite a market for them.

Barbless is definitely the way to go. I think hooksets are even more efficient, because there's less surface area to jam through that jaw. Whether you pinch it down or grind it, leave a little nub of steel to help hold the hook in. Regardless, you'll kill a fish now and then, just the nature of the sport. I've kept two bass in the last ten years. One was foul-hooked deeply in the side with a barbed hook and took way to long to get the hook out. Another was a 46" fish that I landed in brutal surf on a rocky coastline, beat both the fish and myself halfway to hell.