With the upcoming season only a couple months away, I figure now is a good time to re-post an old article on hook removal. Please take the time to try this techinique on all gut hooked fish if you have not already. You might end up saving a future state record fish.
…to all who already practice this. Thanks and good luck this season!
Great info, learn something new everyday!
That’s a great reminder! I forgot about that technique. Thankfully I have yet to gut hook a flathead. Mostly due to using circles, but this year I intend on using the octopus style hook when conditions permit.
I am curious to hear about others estimated ratio of gut hooked cats is. Seems to me that it doesn’t happen very often or that people haven’t reported it much. If that is true, I wonder if it has to do with the way flatheads eat, possibly cradling the bait in their mouth for a period, crushing the bait before swallowing thus releasing the hook, size of the bait or size of their mouth has anything to do with it? Or, I suppose, possibly a combination of those factors. Either way, this technique is nice to know if and when it does happen.
I have to agree that the gills are more resilient than people think. I would avoid touching them as much as possible, but it isn’t a death sentence either if you have to touch them. However, a fish hooked in the gills is not a good thing!
I dont gut hook fish very often, it would be impossible to come up wth a *average guthook ratio*.. it depends on the habits of the fisherman, and the feeding mood of the fish.
I always get the hook out if there is enough of the shank exposed to manipulate the directon of the hook. Grabbing the hook and carefully rotating the hook in the proper direction for the barb to come out usually works. By the time you get the hook turned 180 degrees, you just pull the hook out backwards and they pop right out.
I dont go through the gills. I usually am not fishing for fish small enough that would require going in through the gills… Flatheads you just reach in and carefully do your removal and hope you can keep the mouth open so they dont chew on your forearm while your removing the hook.
I probably gut-hook more sheepshead than anything in the fall while sturgeon fishing. One or Two sheephead are a welcome addition to my cut bait table so any means neccessary to get my hook out is acceptable 
I dont see why on smaller fish a person couldnt access a deep hook from the gills if being very careful.
Great article. Was lucky enough to not have any gut hooks in the last 2 years. But you never know when the info will come in handy.
this brings up a question that i have. when fishing for bullies, i seem to get a real bad hook pretty often. have been thinking about using some small size circles when catching them. would these work well on the bullies like they do on the bigger fish?
Is cutting the line a valid option too?
Howard
I’d say get the hook out where possible. It’s always a judgment call for me. If I work on a fish more than 30 seconds, depending on species and time of year, I will opt for cutting the line.
bgreen..
I feel your pain with bullies swallowing the hook.. circles wont help much!
The best I have found to do is to switch rigs. I drag a phelps floater rig tipped with a larger leech. The larger bait presentation, and larger jig helps avoid deep hooks. *dragging* is keeping the bait moving.. if you feel anyting different, set the hook. It doesnt take long for them ugly little eating machines to put anything down. They dont swallow it most of the time if you dont give them the chance… keep your line tight and bait moving.
Quote:
Is cutting the line a valid option too?
Howard
I did not have any gut hooked fish last year but the year before I had several. Most of them were smaller fish from 5 to 15lbs. I think these are the fish that are affected most because of the hook size in comparison to their gullet opening. A big fish might be OK with a hook in its gullet, but why take a chance if you can get it out in a minute. Its really not hard. If I can do it, anyone can.
Keep in mind these hooks are big and thick, 7/0 to 10/0. Many are stainless or nickel plated. They wont rot out over time like thin wire hooks. The hook is going to obstuct the gullet and make eating difficult or even impossible for smaller fish. All those 40 pounders were 10 pounders once. I will cut the line as a last resort, especially with small fish.
With bullheads I pinch the barb down on the hook. Helps alot. 
Flattening the barb is a great idea. It’s funny how many bullheads I catch that won’t even have the hook set in them. Once they have the bait in their mouth, they pretty much won’t let go until taken out of the water. Especially the smaller ones who could barely swallow the bait, much less the hook.
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