Making the best out of hooking yourself...

[cracklebak]

On 9/8/2018 at 9:31 PM, Al Agnew said:

I've gotten an Excalibur out one time.  It wasn't a problem, mainly because the hook is thin wire and has a small, sharp-edged barb.  Just have to push down hard on the eye, and really give it a jerk.  I don't think it made any bigger of a wound than any other hook.  As for the Triple Grip, I don't think it would be a problem, either.  The hook that absolutely won't come out is that outbarb hook--can't think of who makes it--that has the barb on the outside.  I refuse to use those hooks.

Just two weekends ago I experienced an outbarb hook right through the meat of my middle fingerprint.  It was on an older Megabass.  And no, it was not fun prying it out... I don't know of a good way to deal with those besides avoiding them or smashing the barbs.  They sure are sticky though!

[kjackson]

Hmmm...just returned from a trip to Venice where I got hooked twice.  The first hook went into the calf of my leg when I brushed against a rod with a topwater on it.  We were fishing the jetties off Southwest Pass, and it was kinda rough, so I guess I kinda stumbled into the lure.  That hook was easy to remove with the string trick.  

However,  this lure had two trebles, and as I was the "patient", I had to hold the offending hook down, pressing firmly to ease extraction.  It doesn't take a genius to guess what happened-- when my buddy jerked the hook out, the second treble slid neatly into the finger pressing the first hook down. That hook went into the distal joint of my left index finger and under the pad of that knuckle.  It hurt like you might guess and really hurt when they (my buddy and the guide) tried to cut the second hook and when that failed, worked on removing the second treble from the split ring.  

The string trick worked again even though my buddy said it felt "like a chunk came out when I jerked". 

I'm treating this like a learning experience: take a pair of good side cutters along whenever I fish, remove other hooks before trying the string trick, and carry a good antiseptic to apply to any wounds. 

I don't have the pix back that my buddy took, but I should get them this weekend and will post for fun.

 

 

[snagged in outlet 3]

8 minutes ago, kjackson said:

take a pair of good side cutters along whenever I fish

This!!

[nomolites]

22 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

This!!

I have clean(medical use only) and good quality diagonal cutters and lineman’s pliers as well as a first aid kit with antiseptic and antibiotic ointment in the boat at all times.  Been stuck too many times or had others(including pets) stuck and it is better to have and not need than need and not have....  That said, I am much more cautious as I grow older and when handling large strong fish like big hybrids I use locking pliers made for that purpose to hold the lower jaw while I extract trebled baits.  My wound count has thus diminished....Go figure.

Mike

[snagged in outlet 3]

I just bought some 10.25" long needle nose pliers.  With a bass you can lock out their body movement by gripping the lower jaw.  Doesn't work on trout!  Trout are flopping around and hooks are flying everywhere.   

[Al Agnew]

11 hours ago, kjackson said:

Hmmm...just returned from a trip to Venice where I got hooked twice.  The first hook went into the calf of my leg when I brushed against a rod with a topwater on it.  We were fishing the jetties off Southwest Pass, and it was kinda rough, so I guess I kinda stumbled into the lure.  That hook was easy to remove with the string trick.  

However,  this lure had two trebles, and as I was the "patient", I had to hold the offending hook down, pressing firmly to ease extraction.  It doesn't take a genius to guess what happened-- when my buddy jerked the hook out, the second treble slid neatly into the finger pressing the first hook down. That hook went into the distal joint of my left index finger and under the pad of that knuckle.  It hurt like you might guess and really hurt when they (my buddy and the guide) tried to cut the second hook and when that failed, worked on removing the second treble from the split ring.  

The string trick worked again even though my buddy said it felt "like a chunk came out when I jerked". 

I'm treating this like a learning experience: take a pair of good side cutters along whenever I fish, remove other hooks before trying the string trick, and carry a good antiseptic to apply to any wounds. 

I don't have the pix back that my buddy took, but I should get them this weekend and will post for fun.

 

 

I think that was your buddy's fault.  He almost certainly didn't jerk at the correct angle, and the angle is very important.  You have to jerk the hook at the angle that the point and barb is in your skin, which on most hooks is exactly parallel to the shaft of the hook.  If you jerk at a more vertical angle, pulling UP on the shaft of the hook, the shaft rotates upward and will probably put one of the other barbs into your finger as happened to you.  You want the point of the hook to come STRAIGHT out of the hole.  If it's one of those hooks where the point is directed somewhat inward toward the shaft, you have to jerk at an angle that's even flatter than the shaft.  Just picture how the point up to the barb is slanted, and jerk in that direction.  In all the times I've gotten hooks out of myself and others, I've never had that happen.  The hook always pops straight out and usually goes flying off into the sunset away from my finger.

It also could be that it was YOUR fault.  You don't just press down firmly on the eye of the hook, you press HARD and directly toward the buried barb, not straight down into your skin.

[kjackson]

Al-- you may have misunderstood (or I've misunderstood your remark)-- the finger impalement (is there such a word?) was done by the second hook on the topwater. The mistake we made was leaving it on the lure when we pulled the first hook.  We should have removed it or turned it around and secured it so that the tines were pointed  opposite to the direction of pull.  The extractions themselves were painless--just a quick jerk was all I felt.  

However, your point is valid on what we did on the hook that was in my finger--we definitely could have done that better, but again, it didn't hurt and is healing nicely.  I should be able to get images this weekend.

The takeaway I get from this is to always have a pair of good sidecutters on hand and to pick up a pair of plastic fish grips for the kayak. The times I've brought a kicking white bass or catfish into the kayak between my bare legs with treble hooks flying around makes me think it is time to get smart.

[Al Agnew]

On 10/6/2018 at 7:27 AM, kjackson said:

Al-- you may have misunderstood (or I've misunderstood your remark)-- the finger impalement (is there such a word?) was done by the second hook on the topwater. The mistake we made was leaving it on the lure when we pulled the first hook.  We should have removed it or turned it around and secured it so that the tines were pointed  opposite to the direction of pull.  The extractions themselves were painless--just a quick jerk was all I felt.  

However, your point is valid on what we did on the hook that was in my finger--we definitely could have done that better, but again, it didn't hurt and is healing nicely.  I should be able to get images this weekend.

The takeaway I get from this is to always have a pair of good sidecutters on hand and to pick up a pair of plastic fish grips for the kayak. The times I've brought a kicking white bass or catfish into the kayak between my bare legs with treble hooks flying around makes me think it is time to get smart.

Okay, I get it now!  Yes, the sidecutters should be in every angler's tackle, and with most lures today, it's pretty easy to just clip the split ring so that you only have to work on the embedded treble, not the whole lure hanging from you.

I never used to carry a net, but now I do in the boat.  Still don't carry one in the canoe, but I'm rethinking that as well.  I am a little wary of the fish grips, because I think they can do more damage to the fish's lip.

I've never had to get a spinnerbait out of anybody, but I think the sidecutters would be very important to getting one of them out, as well, since the spinnerbait arm would be in the way of getting the hook into position to push it in the right direction.  I think I would cut off the arm right at the head, so I could push on the head as if it was the eye of the hook.

[kjackson]

If you need inspiration to carry side-cutters, perhaps these images will help.  If we'd thought of removing the second hook before pulling the one in my leg, then the hook in the finger would not have happened...

[snagged in outlet 3]

Ouch!  I took one under the index finger nail a couple weeks ago with a trout on the other treble shaking like crazy.  Barb was pinched and I was able to get it it out quickly but it still hurt.