TackleTour

I have been using this technique on bass for a few years now and it works awesome. I ran across this video and it is something all bass anglers should watch. I was fishing with a buddy the other day and he gut hooked a bass and cut the line and let it go. As the wildlife guy says on the video, the new hooks don't rust out fast and will kill a fish if left in. I usually don't need to cut the line. I often don't need to pull my plastic off, just depends on the hook position. Works with jigs, C/R rig, T/R rig, anything you have room to twist on.

https://youtu.be/3RGTL9RBG2s

I've fished with a lot pros over the years that haven't yet figured this out. As the video says, modern hooks don't rust out. The summer worm bite is under way and I am already beginning to see giant worm hooks in many of the big and skinny (dying) fish that I catch. The fish with hooks left in the stomach are often unable to feed properly. This will make them skinny in a hurry.
The guy in the video needed to say that you should wet your pliers to cool them down and to limit the damage to the gills. Also, most fish hooked in the stomach will be bleeding. So, you need to perform this operation immediately and over the water if you don't want to clean your boat. The fish in the video would have most likely died had it been bleeding because the guy took way too long to remove the hook.

Good information. I for one didn't know about it before and will keep this in mind in the future.

I never could master that technique for some reason, so I went to crushing down the barb years ago and it made my life and the bass's live a lot easier. Everyone warned me that with no barb I would lose fish. It did not happen.

Most guys in my club don't mess with it and cut the line then the tournament director has to do it during weigh in.

could help save alot of fish. Thanks for sharing

Thanks for posting! I've been doing it this way for years. Glad to know I can do something right!

brownhl wrote:I never could master that technique for some reason, so I went to crushing down the barb years ago and it made my life and the bass's live a lot easier. Everyone warned me that with no barb I would lose fish. It did not happen.

I am a barb crusher also.

Just found this, this past fall, got to try it once or twice before the ice set in and I couldn't believe how well it worked! Great technique to know how to do!