gut hooked shorts

[MikeTLive]

What do you do when you gut hook a 20" schoolie?

Keep it cause that hook aint coming out until you fillet it?

Clip the line as deep as you can go and make believe the fish will be fine with that hook in his gullet.


Have you ever found some one else's hook and/or line in you fish?

[fishaholic18]

I cut ut as close as I can and let it go and hope it makes it. It's the law. I have never found other hooks in a fishes mouth that I can remember.

[Karl F]

more than once, reach down grab the hook, pulled it out, still hooked up shine the light down it's throat, grab the next hook, off they go!

I've also taken my hook out, and seen a piece of mono going down further... figured it was still hungry enough to bite my bait, must be OK, and swam off pretty lively when I set him free again/.

Also cleaned fish, and found remnants of rusted out hooks.
If your fishing bait, buy the ones that are not Stainless, or galvy, they will rot out in a couple of days inside the fish.

[striprman]

Ever use a hook disgorger?

[Duke41]

try circle hooks. they work fine.

[LinesidesontheFly]

I found a hook hanging out of the vent of a fish last year.

[Mike P]

Cut the leader as close to the hook as possible and throw it back. Even if it only has a 10% chance of making it, that's still 10% better than its chances in a cooler. At worse, it'll get "recycled".

The crabs aren't going to get hit with a fine if they get caught dining on a short.

[Backbeach Jake]

Cut the line and let it go, that's the law. I had a long discussion with an Enviro-Officer over this. He said that the fish, even if it dies, won't go to waste. Something will eat it . But the law says that I'm not allowed to. Acceptable to me. When I start feeling guilty about hurting fish, then I'll stop fishing.

[MikeTLive]

So if a person guthooks 40 schoolies and lets em go they are good.

If a person guthooks 1 schoolie and keeps it he gets slapped with a fine.

That makes a hell of a lot of sense ... NOT

[fishweewee]

1) circle hooks
2) avoid using sea worms for bait

[Fisherwoman]

MikeTlive, we caugth 2 nice fish last year in the 20 lb class on the boat that were both passing the mono out the anal fin and no sign of a hook so it must have rusted out. The fish were both really healthy and released again. without the mono. If you gut hook a fish don't take forever to make up your mind, best thing to do is cut the line as close to the mouth as possible so that the fish can continue to feed and get it back in the water.

If a person gut hooks 40 schoolies in a night he better start thinking about working on his fishing skills or start throwing artificial lures instead, then he won't guthook so many fish!!!!!!!

At least if you let them go they have a chance and if not something else out there has a meal!!!

[MikeTLive]

on the hypothetical 40 guthooks - I have only caught 3 stripers - ever.

first keeper C&R was corner of mouth - I think (6/7/03).
second keeper (dinner) was guthooked J hook (6/21/03).
Schoolie this year C&R - guthooked, clipped line close and released within 2 minutes.

My sons first ever was picture perfect corner of the jaw.
Again, schoolie. He hated to see him go but at 22" he was too short.

Very hard to do the right thing but I want him on the right foot from the start.

[MartinD18]

If it's likely that you're just going to catch schoolies in the place you're fishing, DON'T BAIT FISH!!! It's that simple. Use a light rod with small jigs, Slug-Go's or something similar with ONE HOOK. Yeah, anybody can catch schoolies all night long on seaworms or a Rebel or Yozuri with three gangs of trebles (guaranteed to take a long time to get out the fish and probably rip its face off in the process). Learn to fish single hook lures for schoolies if that's what you're likely to encounter. It's fun, it takes some skill, and it's better for both the fish and the fisherman. Just ask anyone who has had to remove a treble hook from their hand. And please don't believe that old myth that the hook rusts out in a couple of days. NO ONE has ever proven it. Put hook in hydrochloric acid and it would still take more than a couple of days to rot.

[Ron in Maine]

I live on a river right next to a bridge that draws fish all night long. I use only lures and no matter what you do, when you catch a large number of fish, odds are that at one point, you end up with one fish hooked deep, in the eye, or somewhere in the gill plates. You do the best you can to quickly remove the hook, or leave the hook where it is after doing the best you can to remove it. Here in Maine, you can keep a 20" fish... not the best thing to do, but, if the fish is bleeding bad and you can tell that all you are doing is feeding the seagulls, better you eat than a flying rat. If the fish is under the legal size to keep, you throw it back and hope for the best. Is it worth getting nailed with an undersized fish???

Ways to improve chances of fish living include removing treble hooks off of lures and relpacing them with single hooks. Also, flatten the barb down. Yes, your hookup rate will drop off some, and you will lose more fish after hooking them, but in the end, the fish is where you were putting him anyway. Just a little sooner than you had thought it would be.

[Mike P]

Lots of ways to avoid gut-hooking.

Hold the rod instead of spiking it.

Use worms instead of chunks and hit them quick.

When using eels, drop the rod and set when it comes tight. Don't throw it into free spool or flip the bail open and let them run for a 5-10 count.

Remove the middle hook on 3 hook plugs. Take the tail one off too, 90% of small bass will be hooked on the front hook anyway. Better yet, use light jigs instead of small plugs. Use a paddle tail grub as a trailer instead of pork and "swim" the jig.

[killerlexus]

i have found a storm shad in a 34" this year. the shads been long enough that it was dull and eyes weregone already.it still took my storm too,
hooks are ment to rust out anyways ,thats y they dont make stainless hooks..

[MikeTLive]

Ask Dr.Science...

I am gonna do a little experimentation.

I will stick a hook through a mackerel chunk.
shove that into a plastic mesh basket or eel trap, and drop it near my fishin whole.

I'll check on it regularly and we can see how long it takes for that hook to rust through.

This will be tidalriver/saltmarsh.

No salinity measurement though.


Anyone got an eel trap handy to add to the data sample?
Maybe hang a hook off your mooring and check on it to see how quick it rusts away?

[beamie]

In my eel trap in the North River I hang a mackeral chunk from a 7/O Mustad. The hook will last all season. I believe it is probably the acids in the fishes disgestive system that rots the hook. How long does this take, who knows but I'm sure it is more than a few days. IMO probably more like a 45 days.