Removing Gut Hook Through the Gills

I tried it for the first time the other day. A bass was hooked in the back of the mouth where the esophagus begins. I had my doubt because I didn’t think the barb would come past the skin because there was tension.

I realized there was no way to pivot the chatterbait 180 to pull it out and even if o could, it probably would have done more damage by pulling and ripping.

I was nervous putting my old rusty pliers past the gills. I knew and small knick would probably cause it to bleed to death.

I carefully navigated them past the first set of gills and made sure I would pinch them when I squeezed down onto the hook. I grasped the hook and much to my amazement, it didn’t take much effort to unhook the bass. I carefully navigated the pliers back out and the bait. She was good to go!

I am mostly bringing this up to suggest you always have a good pair of pliers. I’d find one with the shortest mouth/gap to help prevent crimping down on the gills.

Yep been doing it for quit a few years. I prefer a curved pair of forceps about 6-8″ long over any pliers. I have not done this on a crank bait but when lindy rigging for eyes its the cats meow!

Yeah, curved forceps sound like the perfect tool. I have a pair of straight ones and didn’t think of using them. The main reason is my forceps don’t grip and lock down on bigger hooks as well as pliers do. I suspect that there are better ones out there, I think I got mine a long time ago at a tackle shop.

2 things that bug me about forceps is the finger holes seem small and I always get caught in there with my knuckles. The other thing is the locking teeth which sometimes lock before I want to lock them.

I prefer a forceps also. Much easier to maneuver thru the gills without hurting the fish.

I hear ya on getting my knuckles stuck in the finger holes, bugs the crap out of me.

Everyone should learn this trick for gut hooked fish. It really does make a world of difference.

I think a lot more fish would live if everyone did this. I guess if I can remove a hook in seconds and send the fish on its way without a hook in its gullet I can’t see why I’d just cut the line.

For the unseasoned angler I think cutting the line is the way to go. The DNR officer I talked to about this agreed it’s best to remove the hook this way if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t, then just cut the line. A fish with a damaged gill is a dead fish, so be carful.

I always wanted to do a video on this but I know nothing about making a video. The main thing I’d like to show is where to access the gill. Never go between the gills (even slightly touching the red part of a gill can kill a fish) always enter the fish between the gill plate and gill rakers. (See picture)

Tool selection is also key. When you grab the shank of the hook and you try to roll the hook out the pliers needs to be strong enough to not twist. Yet not too big that you damage the gills. A needle nose in most cases for panfish and walleye is too large. A sturdy short nosed hemostat (forceps as some call it) is my preferred tool.

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I agree 110% with the technique. I like to think I have saved alot of fish over the years doing this. The whole key to it in my opinion is the tool. Curved forceps works best. If you go jamming in there with a regular needle nose pliers or split ring pliers I think you do more harm than good.