21 1/2 Inches Long

[yaknar]

I have been out several times since my last post, by myself and with the grandkids. Well it finally happen to me, i buried a treble hook in my finger and one in my leg. The first happened when I was trying to remove a lure that got hung up in one of the bungee cords on my kayak. As I was trying to removing it from the kayak, I buried in my finger, passed the barb. I'm standing waist deep in the river with one hand stuck to my kayak. So I walked the kayak over to the bank and got to work.  I decided to yank it out.  I knew I had to be committed to the yank. After two yanks it came out. Wasn't pretty but it came out and bleed pretty good. I carry a zip lock bag of first aid stuff, but I now carry a can of  'spray on bandage.' Next trip out was with the grandkids and it happened again, this time in the leg. I tried the yank but that didn't work so I pushed it through and cut off the barb. It did take a little effort to push it on through, but it worked. I have been carrying carry a pair of small needle nose pliers just for this. Bleed a lot less this way. The grandkids got to watch so now when I tell them to be careful .......I was fishing another time and thought I had a fish, set the hook, and nothing. When I reeled it in it had a big old scale stuck on the hook. It was bigger on the river then in the picture. It dried out when I got home. Don't know what it was. And finally, I caught my biggest fish this year. Caught her on a 5 foot, Light action, Ugly Stik. I assume it's a redhorse?  She put up a real good fight. Lot of fun.I also caught smallmouths. Released them all.....Great days on the river

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[Seth]

That sucker sure would have been some good eatin!

[yaknar]

I forgot to post a picture from my Monday float. I don't know if  you can see them but, I had 3 deer come down to the river to visit.

[Gavin]

Big suckers put up a heck of a fight! Similar to a brown trout.

 

[Al Agnew]

You really need to remember the string trick to get hooks out.  Pushing the barb on through is neither pleasant nor necessary, and just jerking takes a real man (or an idiot  ).  Google "string trick for removing hooks".  I carry a length of old fly line and a pair of sidecutters on every fishing trip, because I've had to get hooks out of myself and others more than a dozen times.

[fishinwrench]

3 hours ago, Al Agnew said:

just jerking takes a real man (or an idiot  ).

Well, the string trick requires 2 hands, so when you can't do that you grab some pliers and become a real man.  

If you don't have pliers THEN you're an idiot. 😄

[Al Agnew]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

Well, the string trick requires 2 hands, so when you can't do that you grab some pliers and become a real man.  

If you don't have pliers THEN you're an idiot. 😄

I've gotten hooks out of myself using only one hand three times.  Just gotta be a bit creative.  What I did was find something solid and protruding enough that I could press the eye of the hook against it to get the same effect as pushing down on the eye of the hook, and use my other hand to jerk on the string.  Besides, Yaknar had it in his leg, where he COULD use two hands.  And yes, I do carry a multi-tool with a good set of pliers as well.

[fishinwrench]

Pardon my dirty hands.... I've been working all day, but do you see that shadow under my thumbnail?

That's from a Johnson Silver Minnow at the young age of 17, and I STILL carry the scar.   You've never experienced a more painful hook extraction than that beefy hook with it's insane harpoon barb.... directly under your thumbnail.  

I genuinely passed out cold, came to about 5 minutes later, then almost passed out again two more times.  

The juice from an Uncle Josh pork strip added even more insult to the injury.  

Ugh! 😵 Everything else since has been child's play.

 

[Al Agnew]

Yep, that's a bad one.  Another really painful spot that I can speak of from personal experience is the area where your upper lip meets the bottom of your nose.  Stuck a big treble hook there in far younger years, before anybody knew the string trick.  Had to push it on through, like a ring in my nose except just a tad too low.

I came very close to sticking one of those little Excalibur trebles that were so extremely sharp straight down THROUGH my fingernail past the barb...the barb was just barely still exposed.  That would have been not good.

[snagged in outlet 3]

Just had front treble under index finger nail and trout under back treble flopping around.  This one. Nearly 20 inches.  I Apologized when I pinned it down to get it loose.